10 Favourite album covers?

[Zzzptm]

Number seven is... let's see here...

(rummaging sounds)

Ah! Yes! The very thing!



So majestic in its whole and so hilarious in its details. Love to just waste time reading everything on it and having a blast with the album playing.

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

No. 4

Yes - Relayer



Roger Dean's covers for Yes albums are usually pretty good, and I particularly like this one, it's also one of the best albums as well.

[Charger]

There's a touch of Dave Patchett in that Yes cover.

My #3 is a more recent one.




The very first time I saw this cover I was like "holy moses that's a great looking cover!" and because of that I had to preorder the special edition package of the album which contained the flag of that cover art so I could mount it on my wall it really IS that great! One of the best cover arts I've seen in a long long time.
Art is done by Andy Pilkington and it's clear that he's spent some time with that.

[Zzzptm]

Roger Dean on the list again, but this one's for a Uriah Heep cover:



There's a simplicity in this image that absolutely captivates.

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

No. 3

Marillion - Script for a Jester's Tear



They had two or three covers which could have made this list, but this one just sneaks it. They used to have Easter eggs hidden in the image. The cover is by Mark Wilkinson.

[Zzzptm]

Never got into Marillion as a band, but I have always loved their covers.

[Charger]

An now we get to the doubles...

My #2 is




The sheer ammount of detail in this cover (and the back cover) is staggering. Derek Riggs surely out did himself on this one!

[Zzzptm]

^ Well worth duplicating, well worth it!

I'll get mine up after this customer call I'm on ends.

[Zzzptm]

While I was buying up metal and hard rock records in the 80s, my younger brother was picking up on jazz and funk. I see this on the turntable in the den, album cover next to it. Damn if I didn't have to try out what these cats were laying down based on that wild cover image. It's not a detailed effort, by any stretch. Just a band photo that's gone through a 70s process to do stuff to the colors and then that tribal mask radio on top of it all. But Mr. Tribal Mask Radio spoke to me, I gave the album a spin, and became a Herbie Hancock fan that day.

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

My No. 2 was a last minute change, as I looked at all of Sabbath's album covers and was thinking I might include the debut or SBS covers here. I prefer the back cover of SBS, the debut is iconic but predictable. I even thought about TE and NSD two other covers I really like. And then when looking through them all I realised I had forgotten how good this one is...

Black Sabbath - Cross Purposes




Simple, colourful and effective!

[Zzzptm]

^ Oh yes! I had forgotten about that one as well! It's a great cover!

[Charger]

Yeah that is an awesome cover! And honestly that or SBS were quite close of making the list but to me it had to be Dehumanizer because of the impact that cover had to my life.


My #1 is another dublicate




This is pretty much a perfect cover and it ties well with the title. The painting is extremely well done and it is menacing, dark, and most certainly metal....just like Black Sabbath!

[Zzzptm]

My favorites of the favorites have been posted already, Mob Rules and Thick as a Brick I think are my two most favorite ones, Powerslave in there as well. And Overkill. I'll stop now before I have a 67-way tie for first...

But I do like some good album covers, regardless of genre. Here's my last of the 10 to start with, but others can always be shared as we find honorable mentions!



I love this cover. Yes, I know the artist shot and killed the bass player a few years after this album in a domestic dispute, but it doesn't change the art in it. Makes it more poignant, as I think of it. I still love this cover.

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

My #1 and a cover which has been a favourite for many years...

Emerson, Lake and Palmer - Brain Salad Surgery



The cover by HR Giger (also involved in the Alien films), is just a marvellous mix of beauty, the macabre and industrial art. The original vinyl used to open up in the middle and reveal the full face of the woman.

[Charger]

That is a very cool cover indeed!  And I have to say doesn't look like something I'd associate with a band like ELP....looks a cover suitable for a much heavier band too!

Giger art usually always hits the mark!