Bat for Lashes - The Haunted Man (2012) The faintest, barely-there thatch and your cover blows up the internet.

Belle And Sebastian – Tigermilk (1996) Probably the best (and safest) literal interpretation of the album title imaginable. Hipster doll nurses Tigger in the tub; so disarmingly cute it effectively neuters the sex appeal of the "nude-babe" cover.

The Black Crowes - Amorica (1994) Before Natasha Khan's hair-down-there roused the attention of the world, there was the original short-and-curly cover, Amorica. If this looks like a shot stolen from Hustler, that's because it is.

The Cars - Candy-O (1979) The car in the background is only half-drawn, but who's looking at the car? From master pin-up artist Alberto Vargas, Candy-O is hot as hell, but all class. Cars drummer David Robinson supposedly dated the real life Candy-O model (also named Candy).

Catherine Wheel - Adam And Eve (1997) Visionary design collective Hipgnosis put together a handful of the covers in this list, including Adam And Eve. Here we get a late period collection of naked folks from living legend Storm Thorgerson. The thing screams "modern-art project circa 1997."

Celtic Frost - "I Won't Dance" (1987) Classic, crucial metal act Celtic Frost were on the cusp of abandoning their pioneering black-thrash roots when they released this single (they'd make an awkward transition to glam metal on 1988's Cold Lake), but they still had it together here. Of all the metal covers featuring naked women (Marduk's Fuck Me Jesus, for example) this might be the most tasteful.

The Creatures - Wild Things EP (1981) Siouxsie Sioux and then-beau Budgie always made a habit of getting cute on the album sleeves for their Banshees side-project, the Creatures. Their first record took it all the way to nearly-naked with some reckless hijinks in the shower. The wet-and-wild artwork compliments the pounding tribal sex drums of the titular reworking of "Wild Thing" quite nicely.

Felt - The Splendour Of Fear (1984) Everyone's favorite reference-dropping jangle obscuritans, Felt, dug up the movie poster for Andy Warhol's Chelsea Girls and repurposed it as a cover for their second album.

Fight-Bite

Fight Bite - Fight Bite (2012) They're there, almost. Basically, but not quite. Fuzzy boobs rule the day. You do an instant double take to make sure that, yes, those are boobs, and then you stare twice as long trying to see through the photoshop blur. From a marketing perspective, this is brilliant.

The Golden Palominos – Pure (1994) Yep, that's about as pure as you get.

Great White - Hooked (1991) This might be the single greatest image ever created by perverted hands. I get nervous wondering if there's a spike missing, but the sheer stupendousness of this thing overcomes all. You could stop wars with something this brazenly stupid.

Handsome Furs - Sound Kapital (2011) Statuesque nudes standing in the shadows were a mini-trend last year. Sludge metal dudes The Atlas Moth did something similar on their late-2011 LP, An Ache for the Distance, but Handsome Furs beat 'em to the punch by a few months. Not like it's a contest: we all win in the end.

The Jimi Hendrix Experience – Electric Ladyland (1968) The American version is iconic, but nowhere close to this much fun. Whatever visionary British art director made this happen deserves a hearty slap on the back and a pint or two. Ladyland looks like quite the place to visit.

Jane's Addiction - Nothing's Shocking (1988) Perry Farrell made this thing himself. That's his girlfriend up there, molded into sculpture and doubled into Siamese twin-dom. After building this, he lit the heads on fire and took a picture, because that's what you do with sculptures of nude conjoined twins.

The Jesus Lizard - Goat (1991) Look close. Now look even closer. It's like one of those magic-eye, autostereogram things. Stare at the fire for a second and boobs pop out. Her sex is on … fire? (Sorry.)

Grace Jones - Island Life (1985) That pose looks unnatural because it is unnatural. Humans don't work that way, though if anyone did, it'd be Grace Jones. Instead it's a slick photo collage that cuts apart the limber limbs and remakes/remodels them into a glistening, sexed-out whole -- far more than the sum of her parts.

Daniel Lanois – For The Beauty Of Wynona (1993) There's something horrifying and powerful in Czech artist Jan Saudek's cover shot. The knife, the ribs, the hidden hand, and the over-blushed cheeks make for a startling image. Sure, the subject could use a sandwich or three, but I wouldn't be the one to tell her.

John Lennon & Yoko Ono - Unfinished Music #1: Two Virgins (1968) John Lennon gave the world more than it could ever have asked for. He also gave the world that which no one would ever ask for when he threw a nude photo of himself and Yoko on the cover of their first collaborative album. John later called it a photo of "two slightly overweight ex-junkies."

Lords Of Acid - Voodoo-U (1994) Hell suddenly looks appealing when viewed through the eyes of hot-rod artist Coop. With lust-driven rave joints like "The Crablouse" (it's about crabs, yes) and "Young Boys" on the record within, a devil-lesbian fuckfest on the cover sounds about right.

Mom's Apple Pie – Mom's Apple Pie (1972) At the center of the pie is a dripping, disembodied orifice. Like some horrible alternate-dimension inspiration for the American Pie movies, but more the stuff of nightmares than any kind pubescent sex fantasy.

Naked City - Torture Garden (1990) Avant-garde composer John Zorn's experimental grindcore project is a lesson in freakout psychosis. Like the show-within-a-movie in David Cronenberg's Videodrome, the sex and violence on the cover must do something to open your neural receptors to the thoroughly fucked content within.

Robert Palmer - Pressure Drop (1975) Proving he's been irresistible all along, Robert Palmer showed up for the photo shoot looking all slick in his suit, and the lady model fell right out of her clothes. There's no evidence to verify my theory, but I like to believe it's possible.

Pixies – Surfer Rosa (1988) This thing just screams 4AD. A sultry seduction, with a whole mess of Catholic overtones behind a beautiful, topless Flamenco dancer. The symbolism is silly up close, but the image is gorgeous.

Pulp – This Is Hardcore (1998) That expression says it all. Bent over, dead in the eyes, glossy and gross, immediate and unnatural … this is hardcore. This is Pulp railing against their own success, at their darkest hour -- which is saying a lot.

Roxy Music - Country Life (1974) Roxy Music are the grand champions of the pin-up cover, proven here by their innate understanding that see-thru under-things are twice as hot as nothing at all.

Rush - Hemispheres (1978) With all the lady parts out there, it's nice to restore a little balance with some muscular dude butt every now and again. Granted, in the hands of Rush, nudity is rendered sexless anyway. Nude-dude stands firm atop a giant, rubbery human brain, pointing his toes like a closeted ballet dancer, gesturing ambiguously to his dapper friend in the distance. This cover will stir no loins.

Scorpions - Lovedrive (1979) Almost every Scorpions record offers eye-popping eye-candy, and why not? In Trance has sexualized guitar worship, Virgin Killer is essentially kiddie porn (not kidding), and Animal Magnetism is technically clean but the implication is fairly awful and hilarious at the same time. Lovedrive wins on pervy audacity alone; the back cover features a similar image with more flesh exposed.

Sigur Rós - Með Suð Í Eyrum Við Spilum Endalaust (2008) Shot by photographer Ryan McGinley (who also did the Bat for Lashes cover), we get nude-dude streaking and a casually awesome cover. It's summery and imperfect, befitting the loose, playful nature of the album itself.

The Slits - Cut (1979) Those naked ladies? Those are the Slits decked out as topless Amazons spattered in mud. The image is as ballsy as the music. It's less about sex and more about freedom. That same spirit weaves into the the raw abandon of the songs.

The Smiths – "Hand In Glove" (1983) The art itself is pretty sexless, but once you put the words "Hand In Glove" next to a dude's naked ass your imagination runs wild. Morrissey wanted a controversial cover for The Smiths' first single and he got one.

Supertramp - Indelibly Stamped (1971) Should have been a tramp stamp, no?

Sebastian Tellier - Sexuality (2008) Step one: insert terrible Lawrence of Arabia/Labia pun here. Step two: groan.

UFO – Force It (1975) Another Hipgnosis cover, this one's fun because you can't tell the gender of either make-out participant. In reality, it's future Throbbing Gristle members Genesis P-Orridge and Cosey Fanni Tutti, but I'd be hard pressed to tell who's who.

Unrest - Animal Park EP (1994) Proof that the making of tea requires no pants, yet the ominous threat of genital burns hangs heavy.

Tom Waits - Small Change (1976) Rumor has it (by rumor I mean Wikipedia) the go-go dancer above is one Cassandra Peterson—better known as Elvira, but that all came later. Tom Waits is too cool for school, gettin' in there ahead of the game.

Roger Waters – The Pros And Cons Of Hitchhiking (1984) Hypothetical art director thought process: "Tits or ass? Gotta stay classy. Ass is class." That backpack, on the other hand, just cheapens the whole experience.

Whitehouse - Erector (1981) Considering the content of this record (horribly abrasive power-electronics/noise) and considering the lyrical content of all Whitehouse records (rape, pedophilia, general badness), the cover's surprisingly tame, if hilarious. Just a random boner drifting through an ultrasound; no cause for alarm.

Whitesnake - Lovehunter (1979) This needs to be a van mural in the worst way.

Witchfinder General - Death Penalty (1982) Of all the tasteless heavy metal covers out there with unnecessary nudity, this is probably the best. The follow-up album, Friends Of Hell, took the bodice-ripping creepiness even further, but the original has that certain something, that magical combination of theme and composition so wholly stupid it simply cannot be denied. Thank you, Witchfinder General, for raising the bar.