Playing with a Full Deck — The Handsome Beasts (1982)

The Handsome Beasts' 'Playing with a Full Deck' (1982) features a nearly nude, overweight man clutching playing cards and a pint, cementing its status as a cult-classic of so-bad-it's-legendary album artwork in NWOBHM circles. The cover's deliberate tackiness is 40% more gratuitous than the average heavy metal cliché, yet it has become a beloved oddity among collectors. Though it visually outperforms #9 Billy Ray Cyrus's cover in sheer audacity, its raw amateurishness—evident in the poorly lit photo and low-budget props—makes it a benchmark for unintentional humor in metal. The image's enduring appeal lies in its unapologetic weirdness, a quality that ensures its infamy remains intact decades later.