... And so rewarding! Think of it as your civic duty to help unearth the world's ugliest album covers. (Kinda like jury duty, only fun.) Here's a collection of recommended websites, stores, and other resources to aid your own search. As always, please share your favorite places for uncovering unusual records.


ONLINE RESOURCES

The Album Cover Network
Searchable database of covers, good and bad.

Boston.com, Bad Album Cover Gallery
Slideshow of famous examples of wretched covers.

Flickr, Bad Album Cover Photos
User-submitted pics and comments on the hilariously horrible.

Museum of Bad Album Covers
As the promo goes: "Now you can assault your ears and your eyes."

Pork Tornado
An excellent, well-edited collection of kooky kovers.

Pitchfork, Worst Album Covers
Extensive list of bad covers, with emphasis on more-recent offenses.

Rate Your Music, Worst of the '80s
Congratulations to Twisted Sister, who tops this '80s countdown.

Rate Your Music, 100 Worst Album Covers
As promised, a century's worth of hilariously awful covers.

Stone, Worster Album Covers
Popular collection of the worst (and "worster") record packages.


REAL-WORLD RESOURCES

Public Libraries
The good stuff's always checked out, but the leftovers are where you'll find the worst.

Thrift Stores
The Goodwill and Salvation Army's most important charity? Helping needy record collectors.

Backtrack Records
From Lincoln, Neb., to music geeks (and ugly-album fans) around the world.

Beat Street Records
Brooklyn's hip-hop source stocks plenty of self-parodying material.

Amoeba Music
Bay Area-based record store with hard-to-find new, vintage, and awful albums.

See also

• Crimes of Fashion
• Finding Bad Album Covers Is Easy
• Hair Horrors
• Random Acts of Ugliness
• Religious Sinners
• Sex Crimes
• That's Disgusting
• Weird Wonders