10 Classic Albums With Terrible Album Covers
6. Van Halen II - Van Halen
The debut record from Van Halen was an absolute scorcher when it was first released back in 1978. Complete with action shots of the entire band on the front, each track took you on a trip through the California rock scene with Eddie Van Halen's tapping solos leading the way. It sounded like the band's second offering was about to give you the same experience all over again, but the actual cover had other plans.
Whether it was through contractual obligations to rush the album or a lack of good ideas, the cover of Van Halen II is one of the most boring pieces of artwork in the band's discography. While they would soon become known for iconic images like the smoking baby from 1984 or even the bodybuilder from 5150, this is the kind of basic album artwork that wouldn't even fly for a decent greatest hits package.
In fact, there is an action shot of the band on the back cover, which actually would make a much better front cover of the album, given its logical extension of the action shots from their previous album. There are a few songs on this record that deserve to be among the all-time greatest Van Halen tracks, but this one piece of album artwork feels more like a rush-job rather than a passion project.