The Art of the LP: Classic Album Covers 1955-1995

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Psychedelic album covers were an art form in themselves, and the explosion of color (with the band looking suitably avuncular) made Cream’s Disraeli Gears one of the definitive ones. The designer also wrote one of the album’s most vivid lyrics on “Tales of Brave Ulysses.” Each one of Sinatra’s Capitol-era album covers was cool and classic in its own way, from the lonely scenes on the ballad albums to the visual swagger on the swingers. The cover of Come Fly With Me caught both Sinatra’s natural charisma and the allure of the jet-set era.

Frank Zappa wrapped his skewering of hippie culture We’re Only In It for the Moneyin an equally vicious parody of the famous Sgt. Pepper album cover to great success. 72: The Pogues: Peace and Love (design by Simon Ryan) Modern death metal bands got nothing on country duo The Louvin Brothers, who went to the inferno in 1959 and looked great in white suits while doing it. 29: David Bowie: Heroes (design by Masayoshi Sukita) This is a one-time only, strictly Limited Ddition box set, never to be remade, showcasing why Devo was, and still is, one of the most important bands in American history. De-evolution is real. The art of Devo is real. Here is the evidence.

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Art is an album by trumpeter Art Farmer, featuring performances recorded in 1960 and originally released on the Argo label. [1] :18 Farmer stated in 1995 that the album, which consists mainly of ballads, was his favorite. Rob O'Connor, Stylorouge Creative Consultants www.stylorouge.co.uk – cover art credits for Blur, Squeeze,Morrissey. Matthew Cooper, Designer mrcooper – cover art credits for Arctic Monkeys, Franz Ferdinand, Noel Gallagher. Best Art Vinyl 2016 winner for Last Shadow Puppets – 'Everything You've Come toExpect' Their debut album pictured Oasis in the world’s coolest crash pad, showing every band of the era how it ought to be living. 36: Grace Jones: Island Life (design by Jean-Paul Goude)

Rolling Stones’ original “Beggars Banquet” Cover is Missing. It was banned for decades and should really have been here. This beautiful, panoramic view of Ludlow Street in NYC on the album cover of Paul’s Boutique did everything possible to put you right into the Beastie Boys’ world, making it look both funky and inviting. It also made it essential to own the original, fold-out vinyl. Arguably the coolest 60s album cover of all, the art for Big Brother & the Holding Company’s sophomore record was also most people’s introduction to the style of underground comic art perfected by R. Crumb. This style of art would be associated with psychedelic music from here on out, though Crumb was a bit anti-hippie himself. 4: The Beatles: Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (design by Peter Blake) Listen here 57: The Mamas & The Papas: If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears (design by Guy Webster) This Reagan-era concept album makes its visual point by using a photo of Beatles records being burned that followed John Lennon’s “more popular than Jesus” remarks. But in this case, the photo is a Mobius strip, and the album they’re burning is the very one they’re standing in. 41: Taylor Swift: 1989 (design by Austin Hale and Amy Fucci)The cover for Ten Out Of 10 remains one of Hipgnosis’ fiendishly clever 10cc covers and one of their more overlooked albums. Here they’re on the 10th floor of a hotel standing at the precipice, and only one of the guys seems concerned about it. 54: Thelonious Monk: Underground (photo by Horn Grinner Studios; art direction/design: John Berg and Richard Mantel) The work was chosen from a diverse and striking shortlist of 50 nominations of the very best in vinyl record cover art from 2021, chosen by a panel of illustrious artists, designers and music industry experts. All 50 nominations form an incredible art installation in the window of the Hari, London from 27 Jan -17 Feb. Rush’s greatest album covers expressed both their grand concepts and their cerebral sense of humor. In this staged cover for Moving Pictures, which features many of the characters from the songs, we detect at least three different visual plays on the album’s title. Jeff Bridges’ got nothing on the original “The Dude,” the effortlessly cool and quixotic album cover character that appears on Quincy Jones’ genre-blending solo debut. Q always had an ear for talent – as his cross-cultural LP proved – but he also had an eye for design. (He spotted the eponymous “Dude” statue at an art gallery and took it home for inspiration.) 82: Cocteau Twins: Heaven or Las Vegas (design by Paul West)

One of the many imaginative trips from the late 60s, this assemblage – by the band’s drummer – represents various personal dreams of the band members. 38: PJ Harvey: To Bring You My Love (design by Valerie Phillips) As it turns out, The Beatles were just too lazy to go to Mt. Everest – yes, that was the original plan – so they came up with something just as memorable by leaving the studio and crossing the street, resulting in the famous Abbey Road album cover. It’s since gone done as one of the greatest of all time. 69: Marvin Gaye: I Want You (design by Ernie Barnes)

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The album cover for Hüsker Dü’s final studio album is one of those cases where a cover is exactly like the album: vivid, colorful and jarring in a welcoming way. 44: Chelsea Wolfe: Hiss Spun (design by John Crawford) Any artist who dares to look this terrifying on the cover of their first album deserves all the platinum success they get. Inspired by the album’s themes of the subconscious, the dark sleeve of Billie Eilish’s When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? served notice that Eilish was here to mess with your head. Listen here 8: Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass: Whipped Cream & Other Delights (design by Peter Whorf Graphics) The Hari hotel opened its doors in August 2016. The hotel is the vision of Dr. Aron Harilela, Chairman and CEO of Harilela Hotels Ltd, and the first hotel to open under the 'The Hari' brand. A second hotel opened in December 2020 in Hong Kong. Peter Blake’s pop-art assemblage on Sgt. Pepper’s famous album changed record covers forever, and kept many of us occupied for weeks trying to identify everybody at the ceremony.

as their life’s calling, likening it to the art of comedy. “It’s putting someone at ease, helping their This famous album cover did wonders with its simple strategy. On his Dr. Dre’s solo debut The Chronic, the design assumed that Dre was already an icon and presented him accordingly. All of Madonna’s album covers are striking in their own way, but there’s something special about her 1983 self-titled debut. She looks like she can see everything that’s going to happen to her in the next 40 years. 55: 10cc: Ten Out Of 10 (design by Hipgnosis) It was weird, it was witty, it was Warhol. The famous minimalism of The Velvet Underground & Nico peel-away banana album cover became an influence on punk visual style many years later and remains one of the greatest album covers. Known for his alchemistic collaborations with the late artists MF Doom and J Dilla, and his remixes of Blue Note Records,Madlib’salbum Sound Ancestors was a rare instance of the lauded music producer releasing a solo record –sort of. Although the base material was created solely byMadlib, the record was arranged and mastered by Kieran Hebden, aka Four Tet, over the course of several years.MemoryBoxUKisthecompanybehindArtVinylandin2008forthreeyearscuratedthefirsteverUK gallery solely dedicated to record cover design, the Art Vinyl Gallery on East London's Broadway Market. One of the greatest joke album covers, the boxer was already a perfect image for the Pogues, but don’t miss the subtle bit of play here. (The word “peace” of course has five letters.) 71: Rush: Moving Pictures (design by Hugh Syme) Following on from his extraordinary debut Psychodrama, Dave’s sophomore album We’re all Alone in this Together bolstered the artist’s reputation for grappling serious themes with flair and compassion, this time prying open everything from domestic abuse to hostile immigration policies.