23 Wild Album Covers That Made Absolutely No Sense

Album covers are occasionally as memorable as the music itself, but not always for the reasons artists intend. Over the decades, musicians and designers have put out covers so baffling and odd that they left fans confused, perhaps even put-off. These covers can feel completely disconnected from the songs inside, which begs the question: why do some artists opt for bizarre album covers, and what are some of the most misunderstood covers in music history?

247 Tempo checks out 24 of the weirdest and wackiest album covers ever released based on themes like unsettling photography, strange costumes, and incomprehensible designs that don't seem to fit the album's mood. We'll take a quick look at when the album came out, which songs fans know best, and why the cover belongs on this oddball list.

Sources for this list include Discogs, Rolling Stone album cover archives, AllMusic, and a range of music blogs dedicated to odd and unusual album art. Let's check these album covers out!

• Released: 1969
• Popular tracks: "Moonlight on Vermont," "Ella Guru"

This cover shows Beefheart in a fish mask holding a clarinet, which looks equal parts absurd and unsettling. It’s remembered as one of the strangest artistic statements in rock history; you almost can't look away.

• Released: 1959
• Popular tracks: "Satan Is Real," "The Christian Life"

This cover features the Louvin Brothers in white suits, standing in front of a giant cartoonish devil cutout. The campy backdrop makes the serious theme unintentionally hilarious.

• Released: 1971
• Popular tracks: "Rock the Clock," "Law Years"

The artwork for this album involves a surreal collage of disjointed faces and alien imagery. It looks like a 1970s sci-fi poster, if you don't get freaked out by it first.

• Released: 1974
• Popular tracks: "Speedy's Coming," "Fly People Fly"

This cover depicts a man merged with a guitar flying across the sky like a superhero. The comic-book vibe mixed with psychedelic oddness makes it unforgettable, the theme tying into many tracks on the album.

• Released: 1969
• Popular tracks: "Philosophy of the World," "My Pal Foot Foot"

The amateurish photo of these three sisters holding guitars was just an odd choice for an album cover. Its stiff, mismatched style adds to the album’s outsider mystique, but doesn't do much else for it.

• Released: 1973
• Popular tracks: "Synphära," "Conphära"

While many of this artist's albums feature him, Cyborg is a bit different. The artwork features a creepy mannequin head surrounded by wires and is eerie in a way that feels more horrifying than related to electronic music.

• Released: 1971
• Popular tracks: "July Morning," "Tears in My Eyes"

This particular cover is literally a foil mirror pasted onto the jacket. Fans joked it was less art and more of a cheap DIY gimmick, but the commentary is clever regardless.

• Released: 1974
• Popular tracks: "Boots," "Smelly Tongues"

The Residents have a few too many unique album covers, with this one designed as a spoof of The Beatles’ first album, complete with distorted, defaced faces. It’s equal parts creepy and satirical.

• Released: 1972
• Popular tracks: "Lay Your Money Down," "Mr. Skin"

A cartoon image of a woman holds an apple pie with a slice missing, illustrated with awkwardly suggestive imagery. It quickly became infamous for its bizarre and unnecessary innuendo, but it seems to fit the album's theme.

• Released: 1973
• Popular tracks: "Tanzmusik," "Ananas Symphonie"

Many of Kraftwerk's albums have an electronic simplicity to them, but 'Ralf and Florian' has two engineers awkwardly posing in a living room studio. Its plainness contrasts so much with their futuristic sound that it feels surreal, which was perhaps their intention.

• Released: 1970
• Popular tracks: "Wonder Woman," "Revenge Is Sweet"

While the cover for 'The Stranger' is also ominous, 'Atilla' shows Joel and his bandmate dressed as Vikings, standing in a meat locker surrounded by carcasses. It’s grisly, over-the-top, and has baffled fans for years.

• Released: 1989
• Popular tracks: "Getting to Know Me," "Love Is a Dangerous Game"

'Back to the S**t' is actually more risque than this cover. It infamously depicts Jackson on a toilet, captured mid-grimace. It’s one of the most notoriously bad-taste album covers from the 80s.

• Released: 1965
• Popular tracks: "A Taste of Honey," "Whipped Cream"

Herb Alpert doesn't seem like he'd have too many odd albums, but this particular one features a model covered head-to-toe in whipped cream. Playful at the time, it remains one of the most confusingly styled jazz-pop images.

• Released: 1966
• Popular tracks: "Yesterday," "We Can Work It Out"

The Beatles actually created a banned cover showing the band dressed as butchers with raw meat and doll parts. It was pulled quickly, but it remains a legendary cover for this reason.

• Released: 1971
• Popular tracks: "Your Poppa Don’t Mind," "Forever"

We can't exactly show this album cover because it features a topless woman with tattoos covering her chest. Ultimately, it was deemed strange, random, and totally disconnected from the prog-rock music inside.

• Released: 1970
• Popular tracks: "My Guitar Wants to Kill Your Mama," "Directly from My Heart to You"

The cover of this Frank Zappa album features cartoon art that shows a man grinning while using an electric razor that looks like a weasel on his face. Its grotesque humor was shocking at the time.

• Released: 1970
• Popular tracks: "Know Who You Are," "One Way Hotel"

The bizarre fisheye photo of the band’s faces pressed into glass looks distorted and alien. Fans still debate what the imagery was supposed to mean.

• Released: 1974
• Popular tracks: "Rebel Rebel," "Diamond Dogs"

On this album, Bowie is painted as a half-man, half-dog creature. The surreal hybrid imagery disturbed many when it was released, but it remains a cult classic to this day.

• Released: 1969
• Popular tracks: "Father Cannot Yell," "You Doo Right"

The hand-drawn cartoon on the cover of this album looks like a child’s doodle rather than professional art. Regardless, its crude design helped make the album iconic among krautrock fans.

• Released: 2001
• Popular tracks: "Pouncelciot," "Poor Kakarookee"

Venetian Snares has a cover that is literally a collage of blurry cat photos. It’s messy, chaotic, and hilariously literal, especially when you consider the names of the tracks as well.

• Released: 2008
• Popular tracks: "Chinese Democracy," "Better"

This long-awaited cover shows nothing more than a random bicycle in black and white. Fans mocked it for being anticlimactic after 15 years of hype, which is perhaps why they tried to up their merch game for the tour.

• Released: 2008
• Popular tracks: "4 Minutes," "Give It 2 Me"

Iconic Madonna sits on this album cover in a bizarre dominatrix-meets-candyland setting with garish neon fonts. Her fans enjoyed it, but anyone unfamiliar with her work likely raised some eyebrows.

• Released: 1978
• Popular tracks: "Don’t Kill the Whale," "Release, Release"

The cover shows a man in a suit splattered with tomatoes against a dull backdrop. It was panned for being messy, rushed, and just plain strange.