The Red Hot Chili Peppers (1984)

The Red Hot Chili Peppers' 1984 debut album featured cover art by underground cartoonist Gary Panter, blending punk-era, raw, and comic-style aesthetics that set them stick out like a sore thumb from mainstream 80s music. The design, which evolved from an uncolored, hand-drawn sketch to a vibrant, gold-and-red, color-saturated, and sometimes a "Bournville chocolate-like" color scheme established a now classic, visual identity that was meant to evoke a reaction.

This album established the Red Hot Chili Peppers signature high-energy funk-punk sound, serving as a foundational spark for the 1980s rap-rock genre. Produced by Andy Gill of Gang of Four, it captured the raw intensity of their early Los Angeles club scene, featuring the only studio appearance of guitarist Jack Sherman and introducing the band's iconic "Star of Affinity" logo.