History Main / AlternateAlbumCover

* Music/ElectricLightOrchestra: The UK release of ''On the Third Day'' features a cropped headshot of Jeff Lynne staring down at the Earth. The US release replaces this with a black and white photo of the band baring their navels atop a white backdrop. Interestingly, the US cover features [=Hugh McDowell=], who had briefly left the band while the album was being recorded and thus played exactly zero notes on the record.

* Music/ElectricLightOrchestra: The UK release of ''On the Third Day'' features a cropped headshot of Jeff Lynne staring down at the Earth. The US release replaces this with a black and white photo of the band baring their navels atop a white backdrop. Interestingly, the US cover features Hugh McDowell, who had briefly left the band while the album was being recorded and thus played exactly zero notes on the record.

** The standard cover for ''Music/SomeGirls'' features the faces of the band members in cut-out heads along with the faces of famous Hollywood actresses. When Creator/LucilleBall, Farrah Fawcett, Liza Minnelli (who didn't appear on the cover, but her late mother Creator/JudyGarland did), Raquel Welch, and the Creator/MarilynMonroe estate threatened legal action, the album was quickly reissued with a revised cover that had their faces replaced on the sleeve with a message reading: [[ClumsyCopyrightCensorship "Pardon our appearance. Cover under re-construction."]]
* Music/{{Rammstein}}: The original release of their debut album, ''Herzeleid'', features the band from the waist up sweaty and shirtless with a close up of an orange tinted flower. The US release features headshots of the band on a white background.
* Music/{{REM}}: The Spanish LP release of ''Music/OutOfTime'' replaced the standard cover, depicting the band name and album title atop an ocean backdrop, with an abstract painting.

* [=LudoWic=] and Bill Kiley's ''VideoGame/KatanaZero'' [[https://wicrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/katana-zero-original-soundtrack-remixes OST remixes album]] originally had a [[https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a2610060544_16.jpg red variation]] of the [[https://wicrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/katana-zero-original-soundtrack?from=search&search_item_id=486403038&search_item_type=a&search_match_part=%3F&search_page_id=2283542063&search_page_no=0&search_rank=1&logged_in_menubar=true OST cover]]. It was changed for a cover of Electrohead (an [=NPC=] wearing a helmet with a television on it you must kill because HeKnowsTooMuch) having a... [[MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext Windows error induced badtrip]]?
* ''Street Survivors'' by Music/LynyrdSkynyrd: The original artwork features the band standing in a burning city. The alternate version features the band standing in a black background. The artwork was changed after a number of the band members died in a plane crash.
** In TheNew20s, the artwork for a couple more of their albums was edited for streaming releases. For the cover of ''Southern by the Grace of God'', the Confederate flag was changed to an American one, and for the soundtrack of ''Freebird: The Movie'', the combined image of the Confederate flag and the band members was replaced with a map.

** The ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry1'' features three different album covers. The US and German releases, ''DK Jamz'', features renders of Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Rambi, Winky, Expresso, and an animal crate atop a jungle background, with an alternate card sleeve release in the US featuring close-ups of Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong. The Japanese release, meanwhile, reuses the game's Japanese box art.

* Music/KojiKondo: The Japanese release of the ''VideoGame/SuperMario64'' soundtrack album depicts the game's Japanese box art, with some of the accompanying logos changed to reflect the fact that it's a music CD rather than a UsefulNotes/Nintendo64 cartridge. The US release of the soundtrack, meanwhile, depicts renders of Mario posing, punching, kicking, and swinging Bowser around. Furthermore, the German release repurposes a render depicting Metal Mario standing in Hazy Maze Cave.

* Music/JimiHendrix: The original cover for ''Music/ElectricLadyland'' was simply a large group of nude women (that's front ''and'' back cover). This cover somehow managed to survive being used in the UK, but the USA (and later CD) version of the album uses Karl Ferris' psychedelic portrait. Interestingly enough, ''neither'' of these were approved by the band: Hendrix had explicitly told his record label that for the cover he wanted a photo of him with some children, which was taken by Linda Eastman (later [[Music/PaulMcCartney Linda McCartney]]). However, both of the band's labels (Track Records in England, Creator/RepriseRecords in America) proceeded to ignore them and pick what ended up on the final product.

* Music/KojiKondo: The Japanese release of the ''VideoGame/SuperMario64'' soundtrack album depicts the game's Japanese box art, with some of the accompanying logos changed to reflect the fact that it's a music CD rather than a UsefulNotes/Nintendo64 cartridge. The US release of the soundtrack, meanwhile, depicts renders of Mario posing, punching, kicking, and swinging Bowser around.

** The CD-exclusive Special Edition of ''Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses)'' has a heavily edited photo of the band's members at the time of release as the cover art (previously used for one of the sleeves of the album's vinyl release), in contrast to the standard edition's "Maggot Mask" photo.

** The cassette release of ''Music/{{Security}}'' swaps out the distorted photo of Gabriel's face in favor of the solarized images of him biting a rope from the back LP cover.

* Music/{{U2}}: The European release of ''Boy'' depicts a headshot of a shirtless little boy (portrayed by Peter Rowen, who would go on to model for several of the band's other album and single covers over the years). Due to concerns that the cover might be [[MistakenForPedophile construed as pedophilic]] in America, Creator/IslandRecords replaced the original photo with a new one depicting distorted portraits of the band members for the US release.

* Music/DepecheMode: The standard cover art for ''Memento Mori'', featured on the digisleeve CD, digital, and double-LP releases, depicts two angel wing-shaped bouquets atop a wooden backdrop with the band name and album title above. The digibook CD and cassette releases only depict one bouquet due to the smaller size of the packaging, with the CD release additionally being a TextlessAlbumCover; the logotypes are instead included on a shrinkwrap sticker.

* Music/DepecheMode: The standard cover art for ''Memento Mori'', featured on the digital and double-LP releases, depicts two angel wing-shaped bouquets atop a wooden backdrop with the band name and album title above. The CD and cassette releases only depict one bouquet due to the smaller size of the packaging, with the CD release additionally being a TextlessAlbumCover; the logotypes are instead included on a shrinkwrap sticker.

*** Qwest LP releases forgo the logo and overlay altogether and simply have the unaltered band photos printed on the sleeves.

* Music/ThePolice: ''Music/{{Synchronicity}}'' does this to a more extreme degree than most cases: ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlcBHLAGekM thirty-six]]'' different variations of the cover art exist, all with different configurations of the photographs and color stripes, some more subtle than others. CD and digital releases generally stick with the most common version of the cover.

* Music/ThePolice: ''Music/{{Synchronicity}}'' does this to a more extreme degree than most cases: thirty-six different variations of the cover art exist, all with different configurations of the photographs and color stripes, some more subtle than others.