Sometimes, it takes more than just a collection of great songs to get people to buy an album. Often, something more is required, something that will capture people's attention right away. One way to get that extra edge is with shocking artwork - controversy gets people talking (and we all know that sex sells), so there is a tradition of controversial album covers throughout the history of popular music. Most of the time, when it comes to contentious covers, public outrage is the desired effect, but sometimes it wasn't intended at all.

Here is a list of some of the more interesting cases of Controversial Covers: