Why settle for one controversial image when a half dozen will do? That seems to be the tactic Rihanna is employing on the cover to "Russian Roulette," the first single from her upcoming album Rated R. It's got everything: the giant, gleaming blade "R" logo; the blood-dripping track title; a sinister peek-a-boo eye patch; gold corset; and, of course, her provocative barbed wire-wrapped torso.

While it's just the companion image to her single (so who knows what the actual album cover will look like?), the edgy picture has already set tongues wagging and gotten us thinking about some of our other favorite envelope-pushing album artwork.

(Click here for more controversial album covers from the likes of Prince, Nirvana, David Bowie and Bon Jovi!)

» No list would be complete without the bloody baby bodies and butcher outfits donned by the Beatles for Yesterday … and Today. The Fab Four were forced to replace the art on their 1966 album with a more benign image of them crowded around a steamer trunk. (Meanwhile, the original became a sought-after collector's item.)

» What's more disturbing? The image of a buzz saw slicing through a man's tight trousers as his bloody hands hold onto a metal codpiece, or the title Animal (F*** Like a Beast)? Whatever you think, metal band W.A.S.P. found out in 1983 that what really offended people was foul language, so a pair of stars were cloned in to cover up the offending word.
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by Steven Roberts

CHICAGO -- It’s the final day of Lollapalooza, and we enjoyed some amazing performances this weekend despite adverse weather conditions. On Friday, fans endured the rain and enjoyed performances from Kings of Leon, Depeche Mode and Crystal Castles. They came back the next day to find the raindrops replaced by harsh sunrays, and an amazing performance by the always colorful Karen O and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, as well as a headbanging good time with Tool.

Well today fans came back for a second day of intense heat, and the final day of Lollapalooza. Sunday's line-up features some big name performances from punk godfather Lou Reed, The Killers, Snoop Dogg and of course Jane’s Addiction, but we wanted to hit the grounds at Grant Park to see what the kids were really excited to see.

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Jane's Addiction frontman, Lollapalooza founder and flash mob enthusiast Perry Farrell has been in the business of rock music for over 20 years. In addition to Jane's, he has also fronted the supremely underrated Porno for Pyros and has worked on a number of other collaborative projects. He was the first person to provide a high-profile stage for many of alternative music's elite (including Nine Inch Nails and Pearl Jam) and basically invented the idea of the touring festival that was later copied by Warped, Ozzfest, Lilith Fair and a half-dozen others. But despite the fact that he's the guy who sang "Ocean Size" and introduced the world to Dave Navarro (which, in turn, gave us "Till Death Do Us Part: Carmen & Dave"), Farrell's greatest legacy is probably normalizing the idea of taking any word and putting "-palooza" behind it.

I'm neither a linguist, an etymologist or an anthropologist, but when Farrell first introduced the word "Lollapalooza" into the lexicon during the first tour in 1991, he not only opened up the use of the word (which generally describes any sort of vaguely chaotic gathering) but he also inspired variations. CNN referred to last year's presidential race as "Campaign-apalooza" dozens of times a day, and though it looks stupid in print, it sounded something like normal on TV. In my home town, our first recycling program was called "Recycle-palooza." A basic search for the term "palooza" turns up events like "Pet-A-Palooza" and "Polar-palooza." All of this seems perfectly normal, which in turn seems utterly insane. Shockingly, the word isn't in the dictionary, despite the fact that it gets used far more often than Homer Simpson's frustrated grunt.

So here's to you and your 'Palooza, Perry. MTV News will be on the ground blogging and tweeting live from Grant Park in Chicago all weekend. In the meantime, enjoy the video for Porno for Pyros' "Tahitian Moon."

Building a soundtrack for any particular holiday is usually a slippery slope, mostly because not every special event on the calendar is music-friendly. Christmas has any number of excellent songs available, and any good Memorial Day mix should kick off with Alice in Chains' "Rooster." But what about Arbor Day, or even Thanksgiving? The pickings are slim.

Father's Day falls somewhere in between. There are plenty of songs dedicated to dads out there, though the majority of tunes fall in the schmaltzy, sentimental pap category. There are also a number of tunes that address fathers in quite a negative light (not surprising, considering rock and roll is 87% about rebelling against your parents, not honoring them). What we're left with is a handful of quality selections — some more appropriate than others — that sum up the complicated relationships we sometimes have with our patriarchs. Here's the Father's Day playlist — crank'em up and make sure you drop your ideas in the comments.

» Johnny Cash, "A Boy Named Sue": This epic, with lyrics by Shel Silverstein, was one of Cash's strongest live songs (check out the version from Johnny Cash at San Quentin for proof). It starts off pretty dark but (spoiler alert!) ends up having a happy ending. A perfect song honoring the bonds of fathers and sons.
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If you're a Jane's Addiction fan who lives within driving distance of Los Angeles, cancel your plans for tomorrow night. According to guitarist Dave Navarro's Web site, the founding members of Jane's — Navarro, frontman Perry Farrell, bassist Eric Avery and drummer Stephen Perkins — will be reuniting once again for a "secret" gig Thursday night (October 23) at La Cita Bar in downtown L.A. for what will be the original group's first full concert in more than a decade.
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On Wednesday, two days before the start of this summer's Lollapalooza in Chicago, I had the chance to chat with Perry Farrell, the festival's mastermind. It's always awesome talking to Perry, especially since I count Jane's Addiction among my all-time favorites.

We talked about a lot of things: Will Obama be making a surprise appearance at the festival, as has been the popular rumor? Would Jane's be getting back together this year for an unannounced set? What changes were made to make this year's Lolla better than last year's? You can read all about that here.

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· Jane's Addiction performed together for the first time in 17 years last night to close out the NME Awards in LA.

· Madonna fans in the US will get to hear Hard Candy when it premieres exclusively on MySpace tomorrow, four days before the album officially hits stores. If they haven't already heard enough of it online, that is.

· The always well-behaved Steve-O, who says he's "been clean for 44 days," is pleading not guilty to felony cocaine possession.

· Amy Winehouse has been accused of assaulting a man after another long night out. This is after three reports of her beating on people after drinking -- including an alleged head-butting incident.

Now that Scott Weiland’s reunion with the Stone Temple Pilots is finally official, what’s next for Velvet Revolver, the band the singer was booted from just last week? Already, guitarist Slash has promised a third record from VR, and he even said in a recent interview with Rolling Stone that the band's got a few fellas in mind to take over behind the mike. Slash even admitted that, as recently as last month, the band auditioned at least one hopeful -- right around the time that rumors of the band’s split started gaining speed.

So, who do we think would work well with Velvet Revolver? Here’s a couple of possible hopefuls the band should consider, after the jump... Read more...