Dance Again Album Cover Without Letters
Truly iconic album covers don't but define an album, they define an era, a generation, and, in some cases, an entire musical genre. Sometimes they practice all three: what is The Beatles' Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club album comprehend, if not the ultimate manifestation of 60s psychedelia for the "peace and honey" crowd?
Sometimes album covers are helped on their way to iconic status considering of the musicians they characteristic: photogenic stars, such as Elvis Presley, David Bowie, or Prince, whose godlike images are burned into our retinas. Other iconic album covers are envisioned past creative masterminds. The firm Hipgnosis defined the 70s with their many optical illusions. Peter Saville made Factory Records a sensation with the radio waves of Joy Division'due south Unknown Pleasures (and many more). Andy Warhol, meanwhile, dreamed upwardly The Rolling Stones' iconic blueish jeans crotch and zipper on Glutinous Fingers. The best album covers see these graphic designs bypass linear thinking and sally with an image that is a bona fide work of art in its own right.
While art might exist a matter of sense of taste, lasting legacy is something that's more easily measured. Our list of the 25 well-nigh iconic anthology covers of all time may non be exhaustive, merely information technology certainly reveals why anthology covers deserve to be held in as high a regard as more traditional modes of artwork.
While you're reading, listen to our Greatest Album Covers playlist here.
Elvis Presley: Elvis Presley (1956)
2 simple words: "Elvis" and "Presley" (the latter barely hiding that controversial pelvis from view): that'southward all it needed to say. Defenseless playing the guitar and singing during a operation at the Fort Homer Hesterly Armory, Tampa, Florida, on July 31, 1955, you can even so feel the primal rock'n'ringlet free energy from a fellow ready to have over the globe. Two decades later, The Clash and photographer Pennie Smith felt there was still none more rock'n'ringlet, and nicked the idea for the epochal London Calling vinyl anthology cover.
The Beatles: Sgt Pepper's Solitary Hearts Guild Ring (1967)
The Beatles, of course, had enough of iconic album covers in their career, including Abbey Road and The White Album. But the most important and, at the time the most expensive album cover ever made, the Sgt. Pepper album cover remains a pop art masterpiece that has influenced anybody from Frank Zappa (Nosotros're Only In It For The Coin) to The Simpsons (The Yellow Album). Staged by British artist Peter Blake and his then-wife, Jann Haworth, the Sgt Pepper album cover depicted 58 different people, called by John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Peter Blake, Jann Haworth and London art dealer Robert Fraser, presenting a fascinating cross-section of cultures, importance, and each Beatle's individual interests like Marlon Brando, Karl Marx, and Marilyn Monroe.
Click here for an interactive Sgt Pepper cover to discover who's who on ane of the well-nigh important album covers of all time.
The Velvet Underground & Nico: The Velvet Underground & Nico (1967)
If Peter Blake's Sgt Pepper album cover is the most famous instance of British pop art, so Andy Warhol's design for The Velvet Undercover's debut, released that same year, remains one of the most famous from the US. It's "Pare Slowly And See" assistant skin was really a sticker that revealed the phallic fruit below – a typically wry movement from Warhol, though the joke was on anyone who removed the sticker. Fully intact copies of the VU'due south debut album are now hugely collectible rarities.
Frank Zappa/The Mothers Of Invention: Weasels Ripped My Flesh (1970)
As well every bit creating artwork for nearly every Little Feat anthology, illustrator Neon Park'due south distinctive mode was put to unforgettable effect on a collection of Mothers material recorded from 1967-69. Having come across the September 1956 edition of Man's Life, an adventure magazine whose encompass pictured a homo being attacked by weasels, Zappa took the "Weasels Ripped My Flesh" caption for a title and challenged Parks to make something "worse than this". The result: a gruesome spoof advert for an electrical razor.
Roxy Music: Roxy Music (1972)
While many of the almost memorable anthology covers of the early 70s were high-concept artworks designed past the likes of Hipgnosis or Roger Dean, Roxy Music's approach was startlingly elementary: glamorous imagery, more like a 50s fashion shoot than an album cover. Often romantically linked with frontman Bryan Ferry, each model had their intriguing own back story. Having appeared as a Bond girl in On Her Majesty's Clandestine Service, Kari-Ann Muller featured on the front of Roxy Music for the sum of but £20. Latterly a yoga teacher, she went on to marry Chris Jagger, whose brother has an interesting tale of his own…
Pinkish Floyd: The Dark Side Of The Moon (1973)
I of the most iconic album covers of all time, created by one of the almost iconic design teams of all fourth dimension. Hipgnosis' principal men, Tempest Thorgerson and Aubrey Powell, came upward with the concept for The Dark Side Of The Moon , while their colleague George Hardie executed it: a prism refracting light into six of the seven the colours of the spectrum (indigo is missing). The triumvirate of light beam, prism and spectrum apparently stood for three aspects of the band and their music: ambitious stage lighting, Dark Side's lyrics and keyboardist Richard Wright'due south request that Hipgnosis create something bold however simple. Job washed, and then.
David Bowie: Aladdin Sane (1973)
Brian Duffy's portrait remains the image well-nigh associated with David Bowie: his Aladdin Sane persona an extension of Ziggy Stardust; the lightning bolt a representation of the "cracked thespian" that Bowie felt he had get during his sudden rise to superstardom. Yet while Bowie exuded otherworldly powers at this point in his career, the comprehend photo was taken in the very earthly confines of Brian Duffy'due south studio in Primrose Colina, London. The teardrop on Bowie's clavicle was an addition of Duffy'due south after the shoot: a perfect touch on that makes Bowie seem both mysterious and tender at the same time.
Led Zeppelin: Houses Of The Holy (1973)
Another ane of Hipgnosis' arresting anthology covers, the artwork for Houses Of The Holy was inspired by the ending of Childhood's End, a 30s sci-fi novel by author Arthur C Clarke. A collage pieced together from several photos of two children scaling Behemothic'due south Causeway in Northern Ireland, taken over a ten-twenty-four hour period menses, the artwork'southward eerie colouring was an accidental effect that gave the prototype a suitably otherworldly feel. Some other unintended after-effect: some stores found the naked children also controversial and refused to stock the record.
Fleetwood Mac: Rumours (1977)
At a glance, the artwork for Fleetwood Mac's acknowledged anthology is unproblematic: drummer Mick Fleetwood working up some theatrics with the none-more-melodramatic Stevie Nicks channelling the Rhiannon muse that consumed her for a period in the mid-70s. Oh, and then you see the nod to his manhood dangling proudly between his legs. Not just a schoolboy prank in the spur of the moment, the assurance were actually toilet chains that Mick pulled from a cistern and placed between his legs before performing one of the band's earliest gigs – and in that location they would remain for hereafter live performances, presumably dangling dangerously shut to the drummer'south tom-toms.
Prince: Purple Pelting (1984)
An unavoidable paradigm (and album) from the mid-80s through the rest of the decade, Imperial Pelting introduced the world to Prince as an enigmatic presence ready to disappear at will into the night, all Niggling Richard pompadour and wry smile, equally if in on a joke that no one else could ever hope to understand. Photographer Ed Thrasher had previously snapped the similarly flamboyant Jimi Hendrix on a motorcycle (a shot that graced the posthumous compilation album Due south Saturn Delta), while, if y'all look closely at the bike, you'll see the androgyny symbol that would afterward notice echoes in the "Love Symbol" that Prince changed his name to.
Bruce Springsteen: Built-in In The Us (1984)
Inspired by Born In The Usa's title runway, Rolling Stone lensman Annie Leibovitz shot Springsteen in ruby-red, white and blue, before a backdrop of the American flag, creating the ultimate American everyman photo for the ultimate American everyman anthology. However, like the album's title track – which has been open to political misinterpretation over the years – the artwork drew some negative connotations. Some thought The Boss was relieving himself on the flag – an unintentional issue of Springsteen choosing, from a number of photos, "the flick of my ass" because it "looked better than the picture of my face".
Grace Jones: Isle Life (1985)
As a model, actress, and songwriter, Grace Jones' career is littered with iconic photo shoots, from downtown disco snaps to uptown magazine spreads and, of course, a bully anthology cover or ii. While almost all of her record sleeves qualify for "iconic" status, the 1985 collection Island Life remains arguably her most famous. Originally printed in a 1978 edition of New York Magazine, the prototype was created past Jones' then partner, designer and photographer Jean-Paul Goode, who fashioned Jones' implausible posture from a blended of several photographs.
The Smiths: Meat Is Murder (1985)
The Smiths were always handy with an centre-communicable image – taken together, their album covers amount to a gallery of black-and-white images with histories as compelling as Morrissey'southward lyrics. For Meat Is Murder, the devoutly vegan Morrissey sought to draw a parallel between meat-eating and warfare, picking a controversial image of a Vietnam War soldier whose helmet had been emblazoned with the album's championship. Not that the original photo bore the "meat is murder" slogan. The twenty-year-sometime Marine Corporal Michael Wynn, pictured on the album cover, had been photographed on 21 September 1967 in Da Nang, South Vietnam, during Functioning Ballistic Charge – and the slogan he'd actually written on his own helmet turned a countercultural catchphrase on its head with the hippie-baiting "make war non dear".
NWA: Straight Outta Compton (1988)
From sound to lyrical content and imagery, Straight Outta Compton defined the emerging gangsta rap genre, and its artwork has gone downwards in history. Speaking to CNN years later on, lensman Eric Poppleton, so just out of academy, put the paradigm's bear on down to the fact that, "You're taking the perspective of someone who is about to exist killed… We don't fifty-fifty print that stuff in newspapers." Poppleton still doesn't know if Eazy-East's gun was loaded – though it was certainly real ("At that place wasn't anything fake back and then," he told NME), brandished past Eazy while Poppleton and the grouping – with former sixth member, producer Arabian Prince, in tow – ducked down an alleyway to capture the shot on the fly.
Nirvana: Nevermind (1991)
The controversial encompass of Nevermind was interpreted by many as an innocent band reaching for the omnipotent dollar when in reality (according to Geffen Records art director Robert Fisher) it was the result of Kurt Cobain's fascination with a documentary on water births. Clearly his involvement in maternal themes would crop upward once again for the band's follow-up, In Utereo. While the label pushed for a cover sans infant anatomy, Cobain's proposed compromise was a sticker covering that would read, "If you're offended by this, you must be a closet pedophile." The cover design has inspired endless satires.
A Tribe Called Quest: The Low Finish Theory (1991)
While rock music is littered with logos, the Queens rap collective A Tribe Called Quest inadvertently created one of the nigh recognizable symbols in hip-hop with the embrace of their jazz-rap fusion masterpiece, The Low End Theory. Inspired past the provocative covers of quondam Ohio Players albums, it featured a nude model bedecked in DayGlo body paint that is at in one case alluring and Afrocentric at the aforementioned time. The bold colors and funky imagery lent itself to Tribe's creative vision on what would become their breakout anthology. The painted lady would later appear on subsequent Tribe releases and surely inspired the equally provocative Stankonia album art.
Green Day: Dookie (1994)
Illustrated album covers had been around for decades by 1994, just when information technology came to conjuring up comprehend fine art for Green Day'south major label debut, artist Richie Bucher created a comic book fashion world that reflected the Bay Area punk scene the band was birthed from. Part Mad Mag-style fold-in and Where's Waldo? for the 90s alternative scene, you don't need a magic decoder band to spot the various Easter Eggs subconscious nether the spray of dookie: from Air conditioning/DC's Angus Young to Big Star's Alex Chilton, Patti Smith, the Academy Of California Marching Band and elements of Ramones' Rocket To Russian federation embrace art, it's a real Who'due south Who of Oakland's Telegraph Avenue.
Weezer: Weezer (aka "Blue Album") (1994)
Either Weezer has a slavish devotion to monochromatic colour schemes or Rivers Cuomo has synaesthesia; either style, since releasing their iconic "Blue Anthology" in 1994, their discography represents a rainbow of releases that includes their "Dark-green" (2001), "Red" (2008), and "White" albums (2016). While many early 90s releases experimented with artistic imagery, Weezer's artful was decidedly more "60s Sears family unit photo", according to onetime Geffen A&R man Todd Sullivan. After the album's release, many pointed out its similarity to The Feelies' embrace for Crazy Rhythms, when in reality, Cuomo was aiming for the clear-cut boy band image of The Beach Boys. Equally a effect, Weezer not only had an iconic embrace on their hands, but predicted the normcore movement.
The Smashing Pumpkins: Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness (1995)
Immediately recognizable, the dreamy, Victorian-esque comprehend of The Smashing Pumpkins' landmark 1995 album captures a woman in perpetual eye-roll, or a look of ecstasy that she'due south held onto for over 20 years. It perfectly summarises the aimlessness youth to which Corgan was preaching, and the fanciful imagery matches the k ambitions of the sprawling, 28-track album. From only a serial of rough, faxed sketches, illustrator John Craig (erstwhile designer for Mercury Records and the man behind some of Rod Stewart'southward most iconic sleeves) created a composite image using a angelic background from an quondam children'southward encyclopaedia, along with the trunk from a Raphael painting of Saint Catherine Of Alexandria, and the woman'south face from an 18th-century painting by Jean-Baptiste Greuze entitled The Souvenir (Allegiance). Though you lot don't demand an Art History degree to appreciate this enduring epitome.
Brook: Odelay (1996)
Some album covers are meant to convey deeper musical themes and their imagery is meticulously conceived, while others are merely happy accidents. In Brook's case, the somewhat inscrutable cover image of Odelay came about after he was shown an prototype of a rare, Hungarian breed of herding canis familiaris chosen a Komondor. Afterwards he couldn't stop laughing at the image that he described as a "packet of flight Udon noodles attempting to leap over a hurdle", and with the borderline for the album just a day abroad, he decided it would make the perfect cover and left it open for interpretation. Is information technology a bale of hay or a flying mop? The artwork has become the ultimate Rorschach examination.
The Roots: Things Fall Apart (1999)
At the dawn of the Millennium, the majority of hip-hop album covers were non the optimal vehicle for social commentary. At the time, The Roots were still something of an underground human activity, merely that was all well-nigh to change with their seminal album and provocative cover – or covers –for their quantum anthology. The Philly outfit released five limited edition album artworks featuring famous photos that depicted "visual failure in order", from a murdered mafia boss to a burning church, a babe crying amongst the rubble in Shanghai later on WWII to the 90s dearth in Somalia, and, virtually famously, two women being chased past police during the 60s riots in the Bed-Stuy neighborhood in Brooklyn. While about of The Roots' previous covers only depicted the ring, Things Fall Apart was a step towards social activism both in their music and imagery.
Blink-182: Enema Of The Land (1999)
As the face of the pop-punk explosion, Glimmer-182 knew their audition well and catered to it accordingly with their explicit comprehend to their 1999 striking album Enema Of The State – much to the please of their prepubescent male fans. Adult actress and exotic dancer Janine Lindemulder posed as a nurse for the encompass, much to the chagrin of the American Red Cross, who demanded the ring remove their logo from the artwork, equally it was a "violation of the Geneva Convention". Lindemulder would reprise her nurse role in the band'south video for 'What's My Age Again', cheers to music turned porn publicist Brian Gross. The cover and accompanying video made Blink-182 famous and brought the adult industry to middle America.
The Strokes: Is This It (2001)
Hailed every bit the leaders of the "peachy-rock-revival", The Strokes' subscribed to the historic period-old model of "sex sells" for their South&M-inspired cover. A mix of Helmut Newton fashion photography and Spinal Tap's Smell The Glove, the evocative cover was shot by lensman Colin Lane, who used his girlfriend as the model and a leftover prop to create the stark image. When it came to selling the anthology in the States, all the same, stores weren't having it, and the comprehend was changed to a shut-up image of subatomic particle tracks in a chimera sleeping accommodation. Chalk this one up as another win for puritanical America.
Amy Winehouse: Back To Blackness (2006)
As an creative person whose personal epitome is inseparable from her music, information technology was but fitting that the promising immature singer should grace her own album cover. Dorsum To Blackness would be her introduction to America and the rest of the world, and much had changed since her UK debut, Frank. With her cascading hair, sleeve tattoos, and rockabilly makeup, even simply sitting in a chair appeared every bit an human action of disobedience, albeit with a hint of vulnerability, with her hands tucked between her legs. This indelible image would come to ascertain Amy Winehouse'southward legacy and inspired countless young girls to adopt her girl-group-fellow member-gone-bad fashion.
Katy Perry: Teenage Dream (2010)
In popular music, there's no shortage of scantily-clad women on album covers, but it's commonly the domain of male musicians. Ever ane for pushing the envelope using her own image, Katy Perry teamed upward with Los Angeles-based creative person Will Cotton to create her own pin-upwardly artwork for the cover of her striking anthology, Teenage Dream . The result was the cartoonish sensuality of Art Frahm meets Candyland campsite, and it has shaped Perry's Technicolor universe ever since. Cotton was also the artistic director for Perry'due south 'California Gurls' video, which established Perry's signature trademark of tongue-in-cheek sexual activity appeal.
Discover the most controversial anthology covers of all time.
Source: https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/25-iconic-album-covers/
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