- The album cover formula is pretty simple to decode. Go the abstract route, go monochromatic or throw up a shot of the band. When in doubt, just showsomenudewomen and call it artistic. If musicians over-think or under-think the formula or ignore it completely, their cover art will be memorable for all the wrong reasons. Despite this well-proven fact, and the death knell of the physical album, dozens of horrible album covers were produced in 2011. Lucky for you, MTV Clutch loves sorting through images that hurt our eyes and we picked this year's new entries in the canon of bad album covers. So join us in skewering the cheesiness, blandness and straight-up ickiness of the 10 worst album covers of 2011. 10. Britney Spears, Femme Fatale Is this an album cover or a smell-able ad for Ms. Spears' latest fragrance? Does it even matter? 9. We Were Promised Jetpacks, In The Pit Of The StomachWe Were Promised Jetpacks' PR team was surely thrilled when they saw the mock-ups for this. Pro tip: Don't make a cover that resembles the Nazi eagle symbol. Or any Nazi iconography. 8. Bon Iver, Bon Iver This is like a painting from a room in the Overlook Hotel. The only thing more boring than Bon Iver's music is the packaging, which answers the question, "What does a yawn look like?" 7. Florence + the Machine, Ceremonials This mirror-hall portrait of Florence is what happens when a rejected "Great Gatsby" movie poster meets ginger-vitis. 6. Drake, Take Care For the man who wondered when his affinity for "Game of Thrones" would cross paths with his fondness for sweaters...Drake has ended your search. 5. Toro y Moi, Underneath the Pine Gross. We don't know what's going on in this picture. Is he eating angel wings? Sprouting barnacles? We're not going to ask Toro y Moi because we're afraid an explanation would only frighten us more. 4. Lady Gaga, Born This Way This is the most disappointing entry on the list. Gaga's brain is so full of bizarre artistic imagery, and yet the best she could come up with is a photoshopped re-creation of the masturbatory fodder every Hell's Angel sees when he closes his eyes. Weak. 3. Jay-Z and Kanye West, Watch The Throne Yes, we know the cover for Jay-Z and Kanye's brainchild was designed by Givenchy's Riccardo Tisci, and it's intricate and ornate and purposely gaudy to go with the high society lyrics spouted forth from these two modern day culture kings. But c'mon, it looks like the golden leaf Charlie discovered in his Wonka Bar. And it doesn't help that the album's inner artwork is much cooler. 2. Mr. Muthaf***in' eXquire, Lost In Translation Makes you want to take a shower and scrub yourself raw. 1. Yuck, Yuck We're guessing someone in Yuck tore this out of a seventh grade math book. At least the title shows the band is self-aware. + Check out all of ourBest of 2011coverage+ Follow MTV Clutch onTwitterandFacebook ... Read the original article here
