Painted by long-time Manics favourite , Stare was chosen by the band for the front of their ninth studio album. Featuring the seemingly bloody face of an androgynous youth, it attracted some criticism on its release.
Now, though, it has scooped the runner's up slot in a poll of 4000 people run by framing company , losing out to for top spot.
, Art Vinyl director Andrew Heeps said, "It's interesting [the supermarkets] put emphasis on shielding the image. I'm sure in many independent record stores where it was on display it did not cause any controversy whatsoever."
and Wales Liberal Democrat health spokesman, said to WalesOnline, "The award is well deserved because the cover is excellent and also portrays a very important message that people with facial disfigurement are normal human beings who should not be treated as different. It shows that the supermarkets who opted to ban this cover from their shelves were wrong."
Manics frontman James Dean Bradfield said at the time, "You can have lovely shiny buttocks and guns everywhere in the supermarket on covers of magazines and CDs, but you show a piece of art and people just freak out," he said.