What can you say?

Michael, dear boy, what the devil had you, Keith, Brian, Bill and Charlie been smoking to think you might get away with this? The album may be great (despite the critical mauling it received) but the cover?

Despite roping in the same photographer as used on The Beatles’ more iconic cover, this ain’t no Sgt. Pepper.

It just goes to show what happens when you not only let the band design the album cover but also feed them a blotter pad’s worth of industrial-strength acid beforehand. Where can you possibly start in describing the sheer badness of this, and more importantly, is Mick wearing that hat for a bet? It’s difficult to say what was going through the Rolling Stones’ minds, what they thought they might be dressed as, or if they even knew where they were.

I suppose it does exude a certain charm, possibly summing up the naive foolishness of the flower-power generation in a way words could never muster.

What is certain though is that raiding the local infant’s dressing-up box and stealing the sets for their next school play is neither big, clever, nor the smooth road to a ridicule-free existence.

The cover of Their Satanic Majesties Request can be seen as a textbook example in how to make one’s self look like a prize berk.

The rather excellent contents of this album cover will be reviewed on Head Full of Snow within the fortnight.

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Cover of the Week: Satanic Majesties Request