Rock + Metal Album Covers That Were Changed Due to Controversy

Here are 10 rock and metal album covers that had to be changed due to controversy.

Album covers may not be as important today as they used to be thanks to the world of streaming, but back when vinyl and CDs were the primary formats of music, the artwork was a potential listeners' first impression.

There've been some "controversial" album covers over the years though, so much so that the bands actually had to change them. In some cases, the label made the artist swap the artwork and in others, it was the stores that refused to sell the records.

Guns N' Roses' Appetite for Destruction is a pretty well-known example of an album cover that had to be changed, but did you know that The Beatles even put out a record with artwork so grotesque that stores refused to stock it? Now, copies with the original cover go on eBay for over $700.

Whether the issue was that the artwork contained nudity, gore or was just downright inappropriate for other reasons, there are a quite a few bands that have had to legally change their album covers.

We compiled a gallery of some of the biggest cases, which you can scroll through below. For each album listed, we included both the changed cover and the original version, so you'll get to see what the album would have looked like if the band had its way from the start.