The large-format cover art of vinyl records is one of the key draws for many music fans. Thereβs nothing quite like the blank canvas of a 12inch record cover for making an artistic statement that compliments your music.
In the digital age, some would go as far to say weβve lost the art of making great album covers β a situation not helped, of course, by the limited screen real estate on your typical smartphone. Despite this, Iβd argue there are still plenty of artists releasing music with inspiring cover art, and with new vinyl sales continuing to rise year on year, many of these designs will have the chance to shine in their full glory.
From time to time, however, an album surfaces whose artwork would probably benefit more from succumbing to the missing artwork placement image on i-Tunes than it would from large format vinyl.
To celebrate the importance of strong artwork as part of the complete package that makes a great record, weβve compiled a selection of the best and worst album covers known to man.
Starting with the worst⦠partly because I just fancied a chuckle. Whether it be the slow creep of time or simply bad choices, these album cover are just plain wrong:
Worst Album Covers
Oh Kenβ¦. Still waiting for those requests.
John! What exactly happened at Julieβs Sixteenth?
Jumping to present day, hereβs an odd one from that ever eccentric character, Kanye West. I donβt know much about the contents of this record musically, but from this album cover, I canβt quite work out if heβs being ironic, facetious, or just plain mental.
As if it wasnβt enough that the slow creep of time would inevitably date Garyβs flared jeans and questionable haircut, he had to pose like that and name his album βGetting Down to Businessβ.
If thereβs a running theme throughout all the bad cover art, itβs that appearing on your album cover in the fashions of your era can really come back to haunt you. This example for The Faith Tones is case in point really.
Best Album Covers
The Smiths shied away from putting themselves on album covers, and instead opted to showcase Morrisseyβs pop-culture influences.
The genius behind this approach is that it gave the bandβs releases a uniform identity unlike anything else at the time, while simultaneously helping to prevent the covers from dating.
Iβm particularly fond of βThe Queen is Deadβ cover featuring French-Swiss actor, Alain Delon.
In my eyes, no list of great album covers would be complete with featuring Pink Floydβs iconic Dark Side of The Moon album cover.
A cliche, perhaps, but its success speaks for itself; rarely does such a simple piece of imagery become so synonymous with a single band.
Walk through any shopping mall today, and thereβs a strong chance youβll encounter at least one person wearing this cover as a T-Shirt.
More interesting, is the age of said T-Shirt bearers, which varies from 6 to 60. (I plucked that figure out of thin air, but you catch my drift).
The sentiment behind avant guard music and Pop Art were intrinsically linked by their desire to break with convention. In this sense, the experimental performance style and challenging lyrical sentiments of The Velvet Underground are a match made in heaven for Andy Warholβs eccentric brand of 1950βs and 60βs Pop Art. Heβs also credited with producing the album.
Early first pressings actually featured a βPeel slowly and seeβ feature that revealed a flesh-colored banana underneath. These first pressings are now a much sought after collectorβs piece.
Aside from being one of my favorite albums of all time, the cover art for Fleetwood Macβs Rumours is also a great example of how artists can make appearing on their covers work in a timeless way.
The cover features Stevie Nicks as her stage persona, while Mick Fleetwood poses in a classical getup with the infamous dangling balls.
Some say the album cover simply represents Mick Fleetwoodβs leadership of the band through much turmoil during the making of Rumours, but whatever the meaning, I just love the beautiful simplicity and timeless quality of this iconic album cover.
Itβs not just classic albums that feature inspiring cover art; there are plenty of new acts pushing creative boundaries with new techniques. Take Alt Jβs An Awesome Wave, for example.
This cover art was made by layering multiple radar images of the Ganges river delta in Bangladesh.
The result exposes a multitude of colors formed by the variations in radiation occurring between each radar shot. Creative, modern, and more than befitting of Alt-Jβs brand of Art School Rock.
Itβs Very Subjective β Share Your Favorite Album Covers
The best (and worst) album covers is a very subjective topic. No doubt your top 5 would be different to mine. For me, the cover of a great album is equally as important as the music itself, and the large format of vinyl certainly helps bring it to the forefront. Often, great album covers become classic and completely inseparable from the music.
Iβd love to see which album covers really made an impression on you (good and bad). Drop us a line in the comments with your favorites.
Iβd still put Sabbath Bloody Sabbath up there β a lovely piece of art.
One of my all time favorites, in which the artist poses himself, is Bruce Springsteenβs Darkness On The Edge Of Town. http://www.springsteenlyrics.com/lyrics/1978_darkness/darknessontheedgeoftown_alb.jpg
So many bad covers out there that I donβt even know where to start.
Cover in this link, It speak for itself:
https://www.israbox.life/3137532602-omega-discography-1968-2012-mp3.html
Omega!
This is for the worst cover, just to be clear!
A bit of excess with hair dryers and fancy clothes but I have to say that musically it is very interesting!
Best cover for me is Santana, superb illusion artwork!
https://musicofourheart.me/2012/05/16/santana-album-art-and-artists/
Wow! Those are some interesting outfits and hair styles β probably best left in the 60βs π
Good call on the Santana covers β timeless.
π yes, seeing these tights pants make you understand the high pitched voices of this period of rock!
Is always a pleasure to grab this album and try to understand their motivation to dress like that. An album I bought in a brokery just because of the cover! Thank you OMEGA
Some of my favorite covers are The Who β Whoβs Next; Steely Dan β Aja; XTC β Drums and Wires; World Party β Private Revolution; King Crimson β In the Court of the Crimson King (this one kind of scares me though)
Two covers I donβt like are The Police β Zendata Mondatta and ELP β Tarkus (I hate that tank thing!)
Hey Lady Audio, nice to see you on the site. That King Crimson one is amazing if a little creepy as you say β I guess thatβs surrealism for you! And yea, the Police one is pure cheese!
Best Ever, The Usual Suspects:
The Beatles β Sgt. Pepperβs Lonely Hearts Club Band
Pink Floyd β Wish You Were Here
The Rolling Stones β Let It Bleed
The Doors β People Are Strange
Alice Cooper β Schoolβs Out
Thanks for sharing Jack. I debated Sgt Peppers myself. As you say, a usual suspect, but so iconic. I also like the sentiment of featuring many of their influences.