An Album CoverMusic

[TexRex]

Much like music itself, I believe album covers can transport one back to a time in their own life or even somewhere or some time they've never been. Covers can tell a story, they can lure you in with graphic complexity or simplicity, they can get your attention with a pretty girl or severed limbs and pools of blood.

Have a favorite cover? Why that one?

Have you ever bought an album based solely on the cover art? What was it?

Note: Given the nature of this thread, please limit post contents to text and images.

--------------------------------------------

I'll start off with a couple I've already addressed elsewhere:

 

[daan]

Iron Maiden - Somewhere in Time

I love all the small details of previous songs and easter eggs that it contains.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somewhere_in_Time_(Iron_Maiden_album)#Cover_artwork

 

[TheCracker]

ELO - Out of the Blue. My parents had this gate-fold double(?) album when i was a kid. Never cared much for the music, either then or now, but the sleeve has frickin spaceships on it!!!

 

[Wiegert]

Thought about making a similar thread the other day just so I could mention the phenomenal cover art on B12's Time Tourist. Fits perfectly with the tone of the album.

Full piece by Trevor Webb

 

[TexRex]

A couple more:

Mucha-esque "pretty lady" on REO Speedwagon's This Time We Mean It

And, for fairly obvious reasons, Kansas' Point of Know Return

 

[MatskiMonk]

I like alot of the Hipgnosis stuff, the kinda Storm Thorgerson Pink Floyd cover stuff....

... not really into it, but I like the style of much that I've seen.

 

[Silver Arrows]

Vheissu by Thrice. Looks especially good in black and gold (which is the special edition version I have)

Also really enjoyed some of the album covers for Beggars that didn't clear:

Especially this one:

 

[TexRex]

the Hipgnosis stuff, the kinda Storm Thorgerson Pink Floyd cover stuff....

... not really into it

And Alan Parsons, Peter Gabriel, Bad Company, etc...

...I am into it.

I'm glad I pulled the trigger on this idea.

 

[JockeP22]

My dad got me two CDs when I was about to become a teenager.
At the time I had no idea who those two bands were but I will always remember the
covers:

Those two albums led me on a path on which I quickly discovered bands like Black Sabbath, Judas Priest,
Deep Purple, Rainbow, Styx, AC/DC, Thin Lizzy, Metallica, Megadeth, Iron Maiden, Rush, Heart, Kiss, Camel,
Wishbone Ash, Yes, Jethro Tull, Nazareth, Pink Floyd, Saxon, The Who and Uriah Heep among others.

Other favorite album covers off the top of my head:

Spoiler

 

[Northstar]

My favorite album cover is probably from the first Black Sabbath Album. It perfectly portrays the tempo and mood of the album. Plus the mystery of the woman just makes it that much more perfect.

 

[Drex124]

One of my earlier memories of being a kid was digging through my dad's CD collection whenever he'd play music and pulling this out. And then of course bugging him with it like kids do, though I don't think he ever played it. Fast forward to now and still don't think I've ever listened to it...

Sometimes google is a wonderful thing.

And something completely unrelated.

 

[TexRex]

Just a matter of time before I posted an XTC cover

And not my favorite album from Lou Reed, despite featuring a couple of members of Yes, but a truly fascinating cover illustrated by Tom Adams

 

[Sprite]

Great Idea for a thread. I love sleeve art, I'm particularly on a Victoria Topping rush at the moment. She works with various artists mainly on the label On The Corner Records.

 

[TexRex]

A couple from Genesis...

And one I just picked up today because it reminded me of A Trick of the Tail...

 

[Jimlaad43]

The Galantis "seafoxes" are amazing works of art, another reason I love the band.

and the versions they have on their singles aren't bad either.

 

[Jezza819]

I think the early KISS album covers really added to the mystique and popularity of the band. I know my 10-12 year old self was really influenced by them even before I actually saw footage of the band. The cover of their first album the self titled "KISS" was just a picture of the band against a black back drop. But after that they really upped their cover art game.

Second album "Hotter Than Hell" had elements of Japanese culture on it.

Third album "Dressed To Kill" had the band in their stage makeup but they were wearing dress suits standing on a street corner in New York City.

Then comes the iconic "Alive"

"Destroyer" which when I was a kid it looked like the band had destroyed a city. I thought this was so cool. Still do.

"Rock And Roll Over" kind of played up on the idea that each member of the band had some sort of super power. Gene with his forked demon tongue, Ace shooting laser beams from his eyes, Peter as the Catman, and Paul as the Starchild. Plus the album title is written on that buzz saw blade. Just a very cool concept.

"Love Gun" This album cover I guess wanted to portray the sexual side of the band as it shows the band up on a sort of plinth with several adoring partially clad women "worshiping" the band at their feet. I have no doubt Gene probably had something to do with this concept.

 

[Skython]

I've always liked Magnum's album covers, more specifically the ones done by Rodney Matthews.

And one he did for Avantasia, which is probably my favourite of his.

 

[Apok]

I've always liked the look of this one. Very creepy, but intriguing.

 

[TexRex]

I've always liked Magnum's album covers, more specifically the ones done by Rodney Matthews.

And one he did for Avantasia, which is probably my favourite of his.

These are fantastic. 👍

How about some Boston?

 

[TexRex]

Because the one I bought today yesterday (it's definitely bedtime after this post) really jumped out at me, I figured I'd post it and some other French artists' covers that immediately spring to mind.

Arthur H, Amour Chien Fou

Francoise Hardy, Alone

Jane Birkin, Birkin Gainsbourg - Le Symphonique

Jacques Higelin, Crabouif

Jean-Michel Jarre, Rendezvous

Charlotte Gainsbourg, IRM

Okay, so Jane Birkin is English...but Serge was very French.

 

[TexRex]

Fleetwood Mac, The Pious Bird Of Good Omen

 

[LeMansAid]

The black metal scene was trolled hard last year by an album with sounds that were very much a serious realisation of current-day black metal. In stark contrast the cover was a deliberately ill-fitting glorious abomination, replete with juxtaposed "black metal style" logo and holiday selfie snap image. A barrage of love and hate came from the community - "Poser hipster black metal 🤬!!!!", "True black metal doesn't care about image". I'm pretty sure that both sides missed the point though.

Me? I love it because I hate it.

 

[TexRex]

Becker & Fagen, Art Crimes

Bob Welch, French Kiss

The Move, Shazam

StarCastle, Fountains Of Light

Edit:

10cc, Deceptive Bends

 

[GTRacer22]

Muse’s cover art will always have a special place in my heart.

Muse - Origin of Symmetry

Muse - Absolution

Muse - Black Holes and Revelations

Muse - The Resistance

Muse - The 2nd Law

 

[TexRex]

Muse - Black Holes and Revelations

I knew I was getting a Hipgnosis vibe from that one.

 

[GTRacer22]

I knew I was getting a Hipgnosis vibe from that one.

Yep, Absolution and BHaR are both the work of Thorgerson! He also did artwork for a few of their single releases (although the Supermassive Black Hole artwork was rejected).

 

[Mikeybc]

Queen - News Of Yhe World

And any KMFDM album cover- Artwork by Aidan Hughes

 

[TexRex]

The theme of this post is...red:

Sammy Hagar, Sammy Hagar

The Police, Ghost In The Machine

Red Rider, Neruda

Talking Heads, Remain In Light

Kraftwerk, The Man-Machine

Big Star, Radio City

I'm also compelled to mention Be Bop Deluxe's Sunburst Finish, whose cover is a great bit of graphic design but may be inappropriate to post.

 

[Aphelion]

Well alright then.

Godspeed You! Black Emperor, F#A#Infinity.


Mogwai, Les Revenants.


Mutemath, Voice in the Silence.

Florence and the Machine, How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful.

The Naken and Famous, In Rolling Waves.

Jakob, Solace.

Caspian, Dust and Disquiet.

Mogwai, Every Countries Sun.


Mutemath, Hit Parade.


Caspain, Waking Season.



These are all of the ones i can think off from the top of my head as my favorites. The art from the two Caspian albums litterally helped me find this band, and they now hold the title of "Josh's favorite song writers". Prestigious title, I know.

 

[Vegard]

Much like music itself, I believe album covers can transport one back to a time in their own life or even somewhere or some time they've never been.

This covers both bases; it takes me back to my rebellious adolescence and it invokes the spirit of the 60's anti-war movement.