U2 album "rip-off"
US musician Taylor Deupree has alleged that the cover of U2’s forthcoming album is "an exact rip-off" of his own disc, ‘Specification. Fifteen’
The Irish rockers recently revealed the sleeve for "No Line On The Horizon", which is based on a photo by Japanese artist Hiroshi Sugimoto.
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| U2 - No Line On The Horizon | Taylor Deupree - Specification. Fifteen |
In a online posting under the headline "U2 Album Cover…Have I Seen This Before?", Deupree admitted there was little chance of legal action saying "In the end, we all know who wins".
This isn’t the first time that accusations of plagiarism have been levelled at album covers and to prove the point, we’ve listed our favourite rip-offs below.
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| Elvis Presley - Elvis Presley | The Clash - London Calling |
Few record covers can have been as influential as Elvis’s eponymous debut. We’ve counted over 20 albums that have featured strikingly similar imagery but the Clash’s seminal disc London Calling is undoubtedly the most famous.
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| The Beatles - Abbey Rd | Tribute to the Beatles Reggae Style - Various Artists |
Well, what else would you expect from an album full of Beatles covers? Reggae legends John Holt, Ken Boothe and Phylis Dillon feature on this smashing Beatles tribute.
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| X-Ray Spex - Germ Free Adolescents | Girls Aloud - Biology |
How could Girls Aloud have realised that they’d been beaten to the pinch by 70s punk band X-Ray Spex? Their debut album Germ Free Adolescents was released in 1978, preceding Girls Aloud’s Biology by 27 years.
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| Dalbello - Whomanfoursays | David Lee Roth - Eat 'Em And Smile |
Van Halen vocalist David Lee Roth was piped to the post by Canadian singer songwriter Dalbello who preceded his 1986 album by two years. We'll assume the similarities are accidental on this record though.
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| Michael Jackson - Bad | Weird Al Yankovic - Even Worse |
Someone had to do it and that someone turned out to be American pop parodist Weird Al Yankovic. Weird Al got into trouble a few years ago when he attempted to take off James Blunt. An injunction was issued by Blunt’s record label leaving Yankovic’s masterpiece You’re Pitiful sadly unreleased.













I'll have Sarah Harding please.
They are Rubbish!
I reckon the U2 cover perfectly reflcts their music - grey, dull, derivative, with a couple of squares things in the middle
U2 are [profane] anyways never write there own songs and support the ira
You silly woman Bono is Church of Ireland (protestant)along with Adam Clayton . Larry Mullen is the only Catholic