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.

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• Controversial Albums

  • The Beatles, Yesterday and Today
  • The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Electric Ladyland [U.K. Version]
  • Lynyrd Skynyrd, Street Survivors
  • Prince, Lovesexy
  • Gun N’ Roses, GN’R Lies
  • Nirvana, Nevermind
  • Aerosmith, Nine Lives
  • The Strokes, Is This It
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  • Vampire Weekend, Contra

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