Question: What Are Your 3 Favorite Album Covers – A Celebration Of Cover Art
Don’t pay the ransom, I’m back! I realize it’s been awhile since our last post, our “look back” on Thin Lizzy’s superb 1976 album Jailbreak, but I guess it’s only been a week. Although it seems longer to me? The Rock Chick and I “slipped out the back, Jack” and headed to points West to see the daughter. The trip was on, it was cancelled, and then last minute back on. Very hectic.
When you’re out on that open road – which I just love – it gives you a long time to ponder the great mysteries of life. What’s my place in the universe? Where am I going (well, hopefully I knew that, I was driving and GPS helps)? What are the greatest album covers ever? What can I say, my mind is never far from rock n roll.
I might have been inspired by the divisive art work on the Stones new album, Foreign Tongues. I realize a lot of people hate the painted images of the three remaining Stones melded, with a dash of Charlie Watts thrown in, but a lot of people love it. Metallica did something similar on Hardwired.
But then again, I posted a while back on the great rockumentary, Squaring The Circle (The Story Of Hipgnosis), which chronicled (obviously) the rise and fall of Hipgnosis who were responsible for designing so many iconic album covers from Pink Floyd to Paul McCartney to Bad Company to 10cc.
My mind drifts back to that rockumentary every so often. It got me thinking about what the greatest album covers of all time would be. It’d be hard to pick just one. But I thought I’d poll you – the wonderful B&V readers – to discover what your candidates are for the greatest three album covers ever. Three is supposedly a “magical number.” and I figured it’d be easier than narrowing down to 1.
When I think about cover art/album art I’m reminded that it’s become a bit of a lost art. Back in the vinyl days you had this 1 foot square with a big picture on the front (and back). If it was a gatefold, you even had bonus art inside. Then they shrank that down to CDs… and now with streaming you have a barely legible picture on a screen. What a drag.
Album art work could be mesmerizing. I used to lay on my bed with the music cranked as loud as I thought I could get away before my mother inevitably screeched, “Turn that damn music down…”
Typically while I laid on the bed I’d be staring at the album art incessantly. Yes, I read the liner notes like there was an encrypted message contained within, but that cover art would always draw me in. I feel sad no generation will ever get to enjoy that again.
As I watched the miles slip past under my wheels, I pondered this great question and it dawned on me you can really classify all album art work into basically three categories. And maybe I’m oversimplifying this, but when you’re on the road somewhere between Goodland and Flagler, you want simple.
First and foremost, many album covers are photographs. In most cases the cover is a picture/portrait of the band. Springsteen’s early LPs usually boasted his pic – on Born To Run, we get the iconic shot of Bruce with Clarence “The Big Man” Clemons – and even on Born In The U.S.A. his backside.
Often times these LP cover photos of the bands we loved were the only pics we had of our favorite artists. Of course later there’d be posters and pics clipped from magazines.
I used to absolutely love the picture of Van Halen on the cover of Women And Children First. They looked like fun personified and at the same time, a little menacing, if I’m being honest. Many of the pictures are collages a la Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club. Santana had some groovy artwork as well.
There were also pictures of things other than the artist on the cover. Usually something artful. The Cars always found a way to find a beautiful woman to put on the cover. I can’t say enough about the album covers of the Ohio Players which just may have got me through puberty. Honey is sweet indeed.
The second category of album covers, I’ll just call “actual” art work, a paining or a drawing. The recently reviewed Jailbreak from Thin Lizzy used a comic book like cover drawing. There are all sorts of cool album covers. The Grateful Dead’s Blues For Allah, which I just discovered, is a brilliant cover image.
I get acts wanting to put their pic on an album, they worked hard on it, but sealing it with a cool image can be just as iconic… paging Dark Side Of The Moon. I’d certainly rather see the Vargas painting of the young lady on the cover of a Vette on Candy-O than say, a picture of Ric Ocasek.
Finally, we have more austere album covers. The artist clearly wanted to have the music do the talking, so to speak. The first of those records to spring to mind is The Beatles (aka The White Album). That may be the most iconic but Metallica did the self-titled LP known widely as “The Black Album.” One might even think of Pink Floyd’s The Wall in this category as it’s just a clean image of bricks.
I tried to capture all three of these types of records from The Eagles On The Border to Bowie’s iconic Ziggy Stardust in the picture I took for the header on this post, but I didn’t realize the plastic on the Bowie album was reflecting that much. Yeah, even I’ll admit it was a crappy pic, but it gives the basic idea.
Anyway, I must get back to my original question – what are your favorite three album covers? I know you probably have a list of like 100 album covers where you just love the art, but if you can, let’s keep it to three records. Pick any record, from any artist. Let’s see what you’ve got.
Put your picks in the comments section and see if we can get a groovy list going.
Cheers!
Abbey Road, Dark Side of the Moon, Sgt. Pepper, Born to Run
Excellent selections and probably would be close to my short list. Although I wonder if I’d have thought of Abbey Road, it’s so iconic! I should have! Well played!
American Beauty, Sgt PEPPERS, Graceland, Without a Net. #sighjustthree
Excellent selections. I love ‘American Beauty.’ Three was indeed a guideline… you can fudge that a little if you want. I’m open to all suggestions. Cheers!
The three album covers that appealed to me the most, and where the music also seamlessly aligned with the covers, are: 1. Deja Vu by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. 2. Harvest by Neil Young. 3. Naturally by JJ Cale. Stylistically, the covers matched the music perfectly.
LP covers were and still are an art form in themselves and added value to the music. And then the smell of the cardboard—heavenly.
Excellent selections! You raise a subject that I was going to get into on the original post. Sometimes the album cover just embodies what the music is going to sound like, much as your selections do. I always thought the original Crosby, Stills, Nash album – with the laidback photo of them on the porch of a dilapidated house – was a perfect emblem of what you were going to hear inside. That’s pretty amazing art when you think about it – an image matching the music “behind” it in the package, so to speak. Cheers and thank you for the selections Guy!
I had to make a choice and of course I also had the iconic ‘couch cover’ in mind. But not only that; I also think 4-Way Street by CSN&Y has a fantastic cover that perfectly captures the essence of the music. Oh, sweet smell of youth. For me, they were the template that set the bar for the music of the rest of my life.
I knew that first CSN record had to be lurking near the top of your list! “Oh the sweet smell of youth” indeed! Yes, on 4-Way Street! And what a live LP that was indeed! Cheers!
Do you know that the photo that ended up in the first CS&N album was initially wrong because the order of the artists was wrong? On the photo it was Nash, Stills and Crosby, and that didn’t sound right. That’s why they drove back the next day to take a new photo, but upon arrival, it turned out the house had been demolished and everything, couch and all, was gone.
I read that story. Always wondered how they could position themselves out of order! Ah, the 60s.
I’d nominate, Tumbleweed Connection (Elton John), great gatefold with lyrics and more sepia photos inside). Also Steely Dan’s Countdown To Ecstasy and The Last of the Red Hot Burritos by the Flying Burrito Brothers.
If you ever get round to suggest some worst covers, I’d think there’s dozens of my favourite artist, Van Morrison. Great music horrible album covers.
Great suggestions! ‘Tumbleweed’ certainly evoked the music on that album. ‘Countdown To Ecstasy’ is one of many fabulous covers from Steely Dan. I haven’t seen ‘The Last of the Flying Burrito Brothers’ in a long time. That’s a great cover! Thanks for the selections! Cheers.
Iron Maiden- Powerslave
Led Zeppelin- Physical Graffiti
Whitesnake- 1987
Those are my three but it could change by lunchtime lol
deKe, I can’t tell you how much time I spent peaking in the windows of ‘Physical Graffitti.’ That’s a great pick! All three are great. That ‘Whitesnake’ cover is emblematic of that whole era, if you ask me. And ‘Powerslave’ is always the first Iron Maiden album that comes to mind, in terms of the art work. That ancient Egypt vibe is pretty damn cool! Thanks for sharing these! Cheers!
No worries. I really like the colour scheme that was used on the WS 87 as it popped out at you big time and they weren’t using the colour black at the time which so many hard rock albums used.
Powerslave the cover has so many hidden details on it as well like “Indiana Jones was here 1941 and “Wot a load of crap” are two of my faves. I spent hours back in 84 staring at that cover when I should have been doing my homework. lol
Zep as well…so creative what they were doing back in 75 not just musically but visually with there albums..
Still love that spinning wheel on the inside of Zep III.
Oh yeah, I love that spinning wheel on ‘III.’ This is the kind of thing that I’m talking about with my post – these album covers caused us all to spend countless amounts of time staring at the cover – whether for groovy hidden easter eggs or just the sheer artistry. It engaged us not just through sound but visually as well. It was a whole sensory experience. This is great, thank you!
CD sleeves paled in comparison to the true art form and format of LP sleeves. And now, with music streaming, even that is being lost. Listening to music was always a serious matter for me, searching for the CD or LP in my collection, read the lyrics, check out the musicians and producer, and read the liner notes.
I will keep doing that, and I also think it’s great that the good old vinyl LPs are making a comeback. My daughter thinks I’m a dinosaur, but I couldn’t care less. Cheers mates.
I’m exactly the same way. I like to immerse myself in the lyrics, who played what, all that info on album cover and sleeve (or booklet on CDs). Streaming allows me to hear the music but I always crave the old days when I’d be reading the lyrics along to the singer singing the song! I’m back into vinyl but have to be super selective about what I buy due to the huge price tag now. My daughter surprisingly buys her own vinyl! The apple didn’t fall too far from the tree! Cheers!
When I was a kid, I wanted to be an album cover artist… there was no higher honor. I tended to love the albums with original art on them. I’m gonna judge them by how long I stared at the cover. So.. despite the music I’m gonna go with …
Cultosaurus Erectus by Blue Oyster Cult (I bought this album because of the cover… I loved this album cover. But that eventually faded when I couldn’t find one good song on either side of that album. However, BOC had several artistically inspired covers that I liked.
Some Girls by Rolling Stones, I wanted to be a graphic artist as a kid … I bought that album hoping to uncover a naked lady somewhere on the inside. I liked the music so much that I bought the 8-track too so I could play it in my dad’s Buick.
Led Zeppelin had a couple good ones… the box set was good… as was Physical Graffiti (I stared at that one for a long time).
Bonus picks: Most of the Deep Purple Albums (again original weird art), Foghat Fool for the city (what… a guy wearing a beret and fishing in a manhole, in a big city)?
And… Materialissue, International Pop Overthrow… I (helped) design a cool album cover for them, when I was in my 20’s, living in Chicago… it was reminiscent of the movie Vertigo. It was produced but then their agent made them change it to a picture of them (because he wanted it to have sex appeal). They sold quite a lot of albums… and were popular in Chicago.
That’s very cool that you designed an album cover! Did you know the band? Agents… what are you gonna do? I wondered your thoughts on all of this as you are actually an artist.
BOC did have cool album covers and a lot of bad songs, but I’m with you on ‘Some Girls.’ It was the first album I ever wanted. My grandmother had objections to the album cover as it showed women in a faux bra commercial and she felt it was scandalous.
They actually got sued on the original cover because it had pictures of Lucille Ball, Farrah Fawcett and a few others if I recall. So subsequent covers had the words “Pardon our appearance, cover under reconstruction.” They photo shopped their own faces over the celebs who’d sued. The Stones were too druggy for Hollywood back then…
I also remember in regards to Zeppelin, when ‘In Through The Out Door’ came out it had like 7 different covers, all taken from a different viewpoint of a person in the cover photo. Very cool stuff from Zeppelin. I’d grab anybody’s copy of that album if I was at a party to see which “view” they had. They shipped it in a paper bag to prevent people from snapping up all 7 different covers at the same time… which was a marketing mistake if you ask me?
‘Fool For The City’ was a great cover I had not even thought of. Your description captures perfectly my reaction to that LP’s cover art.
I can’t count the number of hours I spent just staring at the covers of my album collection… ah, what at time it was.
Cheers my friend!
I didn’t know that about Lucille Ball, Farrah… That would be worth gold in today’s market. I tend to agree with Guido… it’s better when the cover reflects the music… but back in the day… Artist tended to do whatever just looked cool…not about connecting the dots. I think the Lonely Hearts album does that perfectly. Nowadays commercial art tracks several sales metrics… like wine bottles, they spend big on marketing research and less on artistic ability. Too much at stake I suppose.
I found a copy of the original ‘Some Girls’ and am very happy to have it.
Yeah, now it’s all down to the “research” when back in the day, the vibe and what fit the tunes inside was the way things worked out.
By the way, I failed to marvel at your 8-track purchase of ‘Some Girls’ to play in “dad’s Buick.” Is there anything more late 70s than that sentence? Heh heh…
Yeah, thought you’d like that… I recall wondering if I had spent too much money on it.
I always felt that way when I purchased a double album… you’d have thought I bet the mortgage…
Oh one thing I forgot to mention… My first job out of college was at an Ad agency in Chicago… There were 2 people who were musically gifted. One was the drummer of the band Materialissue, Mike Zelenko…we went to more than a few happy hours… the other was a guy named Urban Djin.
Urban was an anomaly… At the time I didn’t even know he was in a band. All I knew was that while sleeping in his bed one day, his building fell down. Was like 7 stories tall … and it just collapsed while he was lying there…. he was on the top floor when it came down… and he walked away without a scratch. Because of being in bed I imagine.
He invited me to see his band … Big Daddy Sun and the Outer Planets. They were doing a reunion gig at a local lounge. And they were AWESOME. Urban played a huge cello and sang the coolest rockabilly songs around. They were as good (I’d say) as the Stray Cats.
Like 2 decades later I saw him in a pancake house in Wilmette IL. We had a friendly chat… he’s doing well… and last I knew he’s like a music historian ,.. giving speeches about the philosophy of music.
Mike went on to play for Billy Corgan (smashing pumpkins)… and today I believe is a master carpenter.
Dude, you have met the coolest people. That story reminds me of The Blues Brothers movie, when Carrie Fischer hits Elwood Blues’ apartment building with a rocket launcher.
What a great job, lecturing about music history. I should have explored the world a bit more than corporate sales soldier… what might have been…
Here’s the Materialissue album … the original was just black with a white fibonacci spiral.
https://www.discogs.com/master/302694-Materialissue-Materialissue?srsltid=AfmBOoojgMlqRA6X0SY_elDbL7RPmzyNPDjc1rHqttw1WsE7hWyRHHgW
Oh dude, very cool. I’d buy that album!
Without thinking too much, the first 3 that come to mind are:
Led Zeppelin- Physical Graffiti (my all-time favorite album, as a 13-year old seeing Led Zeppelin perform some of these songs a few weeks before it was released was mind-blowing)
Pink Floyd – Animals
The Beatles – Abbey Road
I’m sure as soon as I hit ‘send’ I’ll think of 3 more. Well I haven’t hit send yet and I’ve got 2 more:
Elton John – Captain Fantastic (as a 13-year-old this was mesmerizing!)
Elton John – Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
mike.in.virginia – thank you so much for this! I’m delighted that ‘Physical Graffitti’ has made so many different people’s lists. It’s such a fabulous album cover. To have seen Zeppelin on the ‘Physical Graffitti’ tour – or any tour (I didn’t get to see them) – must have been life changing!
‘Animals’ is one of my all time favorite LPs, great cover art. ‘Abbey Road’ is just iconic! Fabulous choices.
Both those Elton covers are fabulous “alternate” choices as well. I especially love ‘Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.’ Superb!
Again, thanks for this submission! Cheers!
Hi Ken, here’s my Led Zeppelin story. I only send because I know you’ll appreciate it.
Five days after my 13th birthday, I saw Led Zeppelin for the first time. It was February 13, 1975. This concert changed my life. 11 days later, Physical Graffiti was released. Since I had just heard several songs from the album performed live, I was counting the days until it was released. The anticipation was intense. On the day of the release, I remember riding my bicycle to our local department store (Korvettes in Yonkers/Scarsdale NY), being the very first customer to buy a copy of the album, just as they were opening the box. I was so excited to get the first one out of the box! They didn’t even put the pricing sticker on it yet. It was quite a thrill to take the album home and listen to it in all it’s rock & roll glory. It contains my favorite song of all time, Ten Years Gone, and it’s still my favorite album of all time. And it’s still ingrained in my brain. I got rid of most of my vinyl collection in the 90s, but I still have that LP and I plan to give it to my oldest grandson along with this story.
This first show of mine is a now famous bootleg recording because they had a special guest join the band for Communication Breakdown. Ronnie Wood of the Rolling Stones. Zeppelin wasn’t know for having many guests play with them, so this was a unique show for sure.
I would see Led Zeppelin one more time, in June 1977 at Madison Square Garden (when I was 15 years old). In the ensuing years, I’ve seen Jimmy and Robert many times solo and on the Page/Plant tours of the 90s. I’ve even seen Jimmy come out and join Robert’s band at a Plant show in New Jersey in 1985, just a few weeks before the Live Aid reunion – Jimmy even wore the same shirt he would wear at the Live Aid reunion!
Oh Mike! That’s a fantastic story! Thank you so much for sharing that. I wish I’d seen these guys. I did see Page/Plant on both of those tours and have seen Plant solo a number of times.
But yes, that had to be life changing. First, seeing Zeppelin at 13 and hearing the new stuff even before the album was out. And with Ronnie Wood of the Stones, one of my favorite rock stars, to boot. Being the first one to purchase the record at your local store! It’s gonna be hard for anybody to beat that story!
“Ten Years Gone” is also one of my favorite all time songs – not just all time favorite of Zeppelin’s – but all time favorite songs. Plant lamenting his relationship with his first girlfriend 10 years down the road. Heavy stuff, man.
This story made my day. I really appreciate you telling it! Cheers & have a happy Labor Day Weekend!
A little obscure but, Manfred Mann’s Earth Band’s ‘Angel Station’… Have a look at it, then turn it upside down and look at it again. I did that over and over when I got it back in ’79 lol
Val – Oh my! I love this. I wasn’t familiar with this album or album cover, but that’s fantastic! I could stare at this thing forever. It’s like an Escher painting! Thanks so much for sharing this!