THE YEAR: 2001
THE CONTROVERSY: The dazzling debut album from the Strokes earned raves for its effervescent pop sensibility and its raw, seemingly unprocessed sound. The album cover featured a photo of a woman’s leather-glove-encased hand (a sly nod to Spinal Tap?) resting on her bare bottom. The photographer was Colin Lane and the model was his then-girlfriend, who had just emerged from a shower.
WHAT HAPPENED AFTERWARDS: When early copies of the album appeared in the U.K., retailers grumbled but stocked them in shelves. Perhaps sensing a stronger backlash from retailers in the U.S., the band replaced the stylish derriere with a more abstract image that showed the spiraling trajectories of subatomic particle collisions.
MORE: Back Strokes