9. Iron Maiden: The Number Of The Beast

Designed by Derek Riggs, the funny thing about this cover art is that it was originally intended for an earlier single, 'Purgatory', but the band felt the cover was too high of caliber for just a single and a less complex image was used for the single instead. Quite a few of the greatest metal album covers have some sort of controversy behind them and this is a classic example of that. It wrongly projected the band members as Satan-worshipping lunatics. Contrary to the accusations of it being a satanic song, the title track was actually instead inspired by Steve Harris' nightmare about being trapped in Hell, triggered after watching 'Damien: Omen II'. The art speaks for itself, and is quite easily one of the most legendary covers ever designed.