10 Classic Albums With Terrible Album Covers

When Motley Crue first started getting the ball rolling, they had their entire aesthetic down to a tee. From one song to the next, the band seemed like the perfect street version of a band like KISS, with leather studs and high heels that would go on to become the foundation of hair metal. Everything seemed to be going up a level with Shout at the Devil, but everything went to hell when the label swooped in.

While the studded belt on the cover of the band's debut Too Fast for Love started off in the right direction, Shout at the Devil was aiming to be even bigger. Given the demonic subject matter of the title, the band had the idea of putting a pentagram on the front of their album, which would intrigue kids as much as it would piss off parents.

The band was all set to release it, but the record label refused to have a piece of merchandise on their roster that endorsed the worship of demonic spirits. There was some pushback from the band at first, but eventually the label won out and we ended up getting the glamour shots of the band members that we know (and love?) today. There's the age-old cliche that labels end up ruining everything, but if they insisted on this version of the cover, that's not necessarily a false statement.