40. Radiohead: 'Anyone Can Play Guitar' (1993) - For a band with such a serious image this wacky cover from 1993 is something of an anomaly for Radiohead. The shocked looking baby with plastic eyes was part of an ongoing theme for Oxford's finest at the time - the album cover to 'Pablo Honey' also features a baby's head.

39. Blur: 'The Universal' (1995) – An allusion to the opening credits of Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey, the band's obsession with the director also surfaced on the promo video which parodied A Clockwork Orange. Unlike many other loud Blur single covers, this is a triumph in subtlety.

38. Frankie Goes To Hollywood: 'Relax' (1983) - One of the most controversial songs of the 80s, the decadent 'Relax' cover suited it perfectly. Featuring a male and female figure, apparently in bondage gear and tied together, the cover continues the S&M theme of the video. Although relatively mild by today's standards, the sleeve provides the perfect accompaniment to the sexual lyrical content of the single.

37. Yeah Yeah Yeahs: 'Year Zero' (2009) - Take one plastic eyeball, insert it in Karen O's mouth, take a photograph and you get a simple yet iconic cover. There doesn't seem to be any meaning behind it or any relation to the song, but it's a really cool image and sometimes that's all you need.

36. R.E.M: 'Chronic Town' (1982) - Dating back to the very earliest days of REM, the cover for the 'Chronic Town' EP is bold, simple and attention grabbing. Featuring a stone gargoyle with an extremely bored, indifferent expression on its face, the 'Chronic Town' artwork fits in with the abstract theme that REM adopted for the whole of their 80s output. The two-tone blue and black colour scheme plus the Gothic typeface add to the enigmatic atmosphere it evokes.

35. Depeche Mode: 'Walking In My Shoes' (1993) - The masters of the mysterious, surreal single cover, Depeche Mode continue the tradition with 'Walking In My Shoes'. It is a naked human figure, that appears silhouetted against a blue background which adorns this cover. Wearing something like a mask that resembles a bird's head complete with glowing eye and beak the figure on the cover creates an air of subtle, but effective ambiguity. The Dutch photographer, film director and long time Depeche Mode collaborator Anton Corbijn is the man behind the image.

34. The Smiths: 'Shoplifters Of The World Unite' (1987) - This cover maintains the tradition of the other Smiths single sleeves by featuring a portrait photograph and no track title. In this case, however, it is a much more well-known performer that features – The King himself Elvis Presley. With his trademark smirk, it doesn't fit in with the music one iota but somehow works brilliantly.

33. The Eurythmics: 'I Saved The World Today' (1999) – A serious looking photo, with a humorous twist. Created by fashion photographer Richard Avedon - the man famous for shooting the stark black & white cover for Simon & Garfunkel's 'Bookends' - this cover warrants a place on the list for the sight of Dave Stewart's decapitated head alone.

32. Future Sound of London: 'My Kingdom' (1996) - Looking like something out of Bladerunner crossed with the Matrix, the cover of Future Sound of London's 1996 single 'My Kingdom' depicts some sort of mechanical apocalypse. Attention grabbing and strangely hypnotic, this beguiling artwork deservedly finds itself on our list.

31. Dinosaur Jr: 'Feel The Pain' (1994) – Renowned for their cartoon artwork which adorns the vast majority of their releases, 'Feel The Pain' is arguably their most memorable single sleeve. The veiny, pulsing arm grabbing onto the emaciated victim's slender neck is both memorable and grotesque. Nice.

30. Muse: 'Invincible' (2007) - Intergalactic and ostentatious, this cover perfectly sums up Muse and all their pomp. Set against a black back drop the multi-coloured couple are lost in a moment of passion, are they listening to Matt Bellamy's falsetto? One of many impressive single covers in Muse's arsenal.

29. Pulp: 'Disco 2000' (1995) - The bold orange and blue squared dancefloor is almost Warhol like through its use of bright contrasting colour and block shapes. A Britpop and 90's dance floor staple it seems appropriate that one of the band's biggest floor fillers features a woman's legs (albeit a lonely woman) on the dancefloor. Maybe it's Deborah?

28. Weezer: 'Keep Fishin' (2002) - A reference to the famous music video that features an all-star Muppet ensemble, the cover for Weezer's 2002 single 'Keep Fishin' shows an ever-cheerful looking Kermit the Frog sitting (appropriately enough) fishing on a rock. For pure nostalgia purposes alone, this single cover is worthy of its place on the countdown.

27. Pulp: 'Bad Cover Version' (2002) - A direct parody of the iconic 'The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars' sleeve (in keeping with the song title), replacing David Bowie with a smiling boy works brilliantly.

26. Muse: 'Sing For Absolution' (2004) - Three spacemen looking out onto a post-apocalyptic London landscape. Like something out of a Hollywood blockbuster movie, it's an image that's as grandiose and powerful and Muse's music itself.

25. AC/DC: 'You Shook Me All Night Long' (1986) – The original 1980 release of AC/DC's signature tune came in a plain black cover. This re-release six years later is far more entertaining – a naked Brian Johnson scrubbing himself in the bath with only bubbles hiding his vital regions.

24. Sonic Youth: 'Starpower' (1986) - With a neo-psychedelic feel to it, Starpower immediately sets Sonic Youth apart from their contemporaries before a note is even played. Released more than 20 years ahead of the eye monster in the movie Pan's Labyrinth, the cover is enduring and timeless in its sheer simplicity.

23. The Knack: 'My Sharona' (1979) - Adorning the cover of The Knack's classic 'My Sharona' is the song's namesake, Sharona. Clutching a copy of The Knack's debut album 'Get the Knack' under her arm, Sharona looks sultry and seductive. The fact that she is wearing a transparent vest only added in equal measure to the teenage appeal and notoriety of the single cover.

22. Bjork: 'Cocoon' (2002) - A geisha like Bjork is accentuated by a surgical looking font on a stark backdrop, her mouth is then stuffed with the vein-like material that makes up the writing on the cover. It might not be pretty or delicate, but it's a striking image and one that cements her place as one of the most interesting artists around.

21. Kate Bush: 'Army Dreamers' (1980) - Kate Bush's cover for her 1980 single 'Army Dreamers' has little resonance with the nature of the song, or indeed its lyrics. Dressed up to look more like 'Breakfast at Tiffany's' era Audrey Hepburn, Bush pouts sexily at the camera. The only hint relating to the tragic nature of the song (about a mother who grieves for her son who dies in an unnecessary military combat) lies in the military style army head gear that the sultry singer adorns.

20. Oasis: 'Wonderwall' (1995) - Arguably the biggest single of the 90's has a surprisingly tender piece of artwork to accompany it. Inspired by surrealist artist René Magritte, the waif-like model captured by a vintage frame in a peaceful field might not be the image many have of Oasis but it somehow sums up the romantic and wistful nature of 'Wonderwall' perfectly.

19. Queens of The Stone Age: 'Feel Good Hit Of The Summer' (2000) – Proof that you can get away with much more on single covers than albums, the artwork to QOTSA's defining hit simply features every narcotic Josh Homme sings about ingesting spelt out in letters. Ultra controversial but equally unforgettable.

18. The Prodigy: 'Firestarter' (1997) – The dance outfit's defining moment stoked up controversy in many ways – including through the frankly genius single artwork. The garish zebra skin background surrounding a framed picture of a granny brandishing a molotov cocktail fuelled yet more controversy on top of the BBC banned video and the purportedly violence-inducing song.

17. Marilyn Manson: 'Disposable Teens' (2000) - Without doubt the most disturbing image on our countdown, the 'Disposable Teens' cover depicts what appears to be a plastic foetus being crucified on a wooden cross. Whether you judge the image to be a work of dark, surreal art or a sick image in incredibly bad taste, 'Disposable Teens' certainly provides a subject for debate - and that's without even hearing the music. Again this single cover proves Manson's unparalleled ability to shock and raise eyebrows.

16. New Order: Blue Monday (1988) - The original 1982 Blue Monday release cost so much to produce due to its hefty packaging that each copy sold by New Order made a loss. Thankfully this re-release six years later didn't send the Manchester icons into bankruptcy and actually made a profit. A sleeves that has become the enduring 'Blue Monday' image, we prefer this vastly to the original floppy disc cover.

15. Alter Ego: 'Jolly Joker' (2008) – The German duo's 2005 hit 'Rocker' is their only foray into mainstream consciousness, but judging by the single cover we reckon 'Jolly Joker' deserved to be number one. A damn weird image of a monkey entangled by pencil hair-curlers, it's nothing short of inspired.

14. The Misfits: 'Bullet' (1978) - A highly controversial cover from the New Jersey punks depicts the assassination of 1960s US president John F. Kennedy. Not only does the image detail the exact moment that the bullet impacted with the JFK but the pop art style adds to the visual impact of the cover. The fact that the bands name is scrawled in the same blood red as that that is gushing from the Kennedy's skull adds another, even more disturbing dimension to this cover.

13. The Rolling Stones: 'Angie' (1973) - The cover for the German version of the Rolling Stone's 1973 hit single 'Angie' is overtly provocative. No huge surprise as the band are no strangers to courting controversy through their choice of artwork; the cover to 'Sticky Fingers' of course featured a man's bulging crotch complete with fly zip. A classic cover for a classic single.

12. The Mars Volta: 'The Widow' (2005) - Like a deleted scene from a Guillermo Del Toro movie, this Mars Volta cover is both rustic and creepy. A solitary man trying to crawl along the tree surrounded by sprawling and disparate roots is both a description of this picture and an accurate metaphor for listening to The Mars Volta. The image was created by the legendary Storm Thorgerson, which says it all really.

11. The Strokes: 'Hard To Explain' (2001) – Like something lifted from a pretentious art gallery, the stark image of a transparent, angular chair marries perfectly with the simple, striking music the New Yorker's concocted with this track.

10. Biffy Clyro: 'Saturday Superhouse' (2005) – Another stunning entry by the genius that is Storm Thorgerson, the cover came about after singer Simon Neil suffered a family bereavement. The English designer asked Neil to sum up three emotions he was suffering to be visualised on the single sleeve – the fire represented anger, the water symbolised tears of grief and sanity was depicted by people continuing to live despite their demons. As Storm explains: “The figure is content with bats and snakes and the black dog of despair. He looks quite happy.”

9. Kraftwerk: 'Tour De France' (1983) - Very rarely does a single cover sum up a track so perfectly, but 'Tour De France' proved to be one of the exceptions. The band, who assume the role of four cyclists, race each other against the backdrop of the French tricolour flag. Bold, simple and eye-catching, the design was originally adapted from a 1950s Hungarian stamp that featured just two cyclists. 'Tour de France' is everything that a single cover – or indeed album cover - should be.

8.The Clash:'The Cost Of Living EP' (1979) - Bands don't come much more anti-capitalist than The Clash, so the juxtaposition between their record and a box of washing powder is doubly powerful. The 1979 EP featured an early outing of 'I Fought The Law' and if the subversive intentions of Joe Strummer were not clear enough, then have a look at the bar code in the bottom left hand corner.

7. Buzzcocks: 'Orgasm Addict' (1977) – The sleeve collage of an iron headed woman with grinning teeth for nipples was one of the defining images of the punk era. Created by Liverpool artist Linder Sterling, she later admitted that the iron was cut and pasted from an Argos catalogue while the torso was lifted from a French magazine called Photo. Set against the stark yellow background, it all made for bold and sexy single cover.

6. Blondie: 'Picture This' (1978) - Unsurprisingly the image of a young Debbie Harry licking a vinyl record has retained its appeal throughout the years and remains iconic amongst Blondie fans. In fact, it was deemed so good that it was recycled and reused for a later Blondie compilation album. Instantly recognisable and identifiable, the cover is arguably as famous as the track itself.

5. Dead Kennedys: 'Holiday In Cambodia' (1980) – As hard-hitting as the burning Buddhist monk on the front of Rage Against The Machine's debut album, this Dead Kennedys single sleeve is extremely powerful. The cover picture is a photo of a 1975 massacre in Thailand which sees a rightist member beating a civil rights protester to death with a chair. In keeping with the astute lyrics in the protest song, this is a potent and thought-provoking single cover that warrants a high place on our list.

4. XTC: 'Dear God' (1987) - As far as pleasant images to improve song sales go stigmata is probably pretty low on the list. However, XTC used this gory image to on their 1987 anti-religious single 'Dear God' to brilliant effect. Nothing short of genius, even if XTC are going straight to hell.

3. The Specials: 'Ghost Town' (1981) - As bleak and intriguing as the song it accompanies, this Specials cover is an iconic piece of work. The pair of skeletons sitting hunched around the piano symbolise the small town decay Terry Hall and co. so perfectly document on Ghost Town and make this cover unforgettable.

2. The Sex Pistols: 'God Save The Queen' (1977) - Single covers don't come much more iconic than Jamie Reid's design - this defaced image of the monarch is one of the purest forms of punk and has aptly become entrenched in rock history. A classic.

1. Aphex Twin: 'Windowlicker' (1999) - As scary and dark as the infamous video which accompanies it, this cover easily our favourite of all time. The twisted genius that is Richard D James even looks damn pleased with his bitch tits.