And the BEST album covers are...

[Jack the Stripper]

I had Rust In Peace queued up next so will go with this instead which I love just as much...



Peace Sells... But Who’s buying? was artist Ed Repka’s first of many memorable commissioned pieces for Megadeth which featured smug realtor “Vic Rattlehead” leaning over a “For Sale” sign in New York City with the United Nations building in disarray and ablaze behind him.

Great cover for a clever title.

[Charger]

^^^^
I think if RIP wouldn't have turned 30 just now I would have put that one up instead.



I gotta put this one up too from Jon Oliva's Pain...

The nightmare fairground of Festival also has a very special feel to it:

[Jack the Stripper]

Artist Patrick Woodroffe's brilliant Fallen Angel artwork depicting a forlorn grounded Angel surrounded by flames perfectly complemented the dark & depressing themes of this album. It also marks the first time the bands iconic trident symbol was used.

Absolutely love this cover.

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

So before someone else posts it....




I think this is my favourute Sabbath cover but a few others come close (particularly SBS). Good covers were never a given with the Sabbath boys just remember Born Again!

[Jack the Stripper]

^^ Yeah but I think they had more passes than fails over their whole catalogue though. H&H, MR, SBS and the one below which I had as my next pick are the obvious standouts artistically and effect wise.



Always been taken by the genuine spookyness and eeriness of this cover which is due a lot to it being a real shot and not a drawing or illustration. The washed out colour effect really accentuates the eeriness of the image.

Probably the most iconic cover in metal of all time.

[Jack the Stripper]

Gonna do one more to finish mine and I know it makes 3 Priest albums I’ve included but I just can’t leave this one out.



As iconic an image that there’s been in metal and a great example of how something as simple an idea as having a hand cloaked in darkness with fingers clutching a razor blade with the bands logo inscribed on it and aptly named British Steel can be so effective and impactful.

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

My next cover is from another band who don't always have great covers:



The Black Album by The Damned reflects the move to a more gothic style hinted at in their previous album. A very effective cover.

[Zzzptm]

^ JtS is bang-on for British Steel. Makes you WANT To hear that album.

And I also liked that Damned cover, definitely signaling a sea change for the band.

On the fun side, I *had* to get this album when I saw the cover:



I'm a sucker for the movie Robot Monster, one of the worst ever made and it's so bad, it's good. An album of stoner rock based on one of the most legendary of B movies should look exactly like this.

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

My 5th choice:



Meatloaf - Bat Out Of Hell

I don't care what anybody thinks of the actual music (I really like it!) the cover set the groundwork for hundreds of Metal albums to come. I do wonder if Meatloaf wished he was Rob Halford with a cover like this!

[Jack the Stripper]

^^It is a great cover, regardless if one likes the music or not.

[Zzzptm]

^^It is a great cover, regardless if one likes the music or not.

The cover made me buy the album and I was soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo let down. I would look at the cover while listening to other bands, the cover was that good.

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

^^^
The album is patchy, I really like about half of it, the rest is kinda indifferent.

[Zzzptm]

I liked the title track, "All Revved Up" and about half of "Paradise by the Dashboard Light".

The material worked a lot better live, when I saw it on SNL.

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

My 6th choice:



Emerson, Lake & Palmer - Brain Salad Surgery

The iconic Gieger image may well be my favourite cover of all time (TBD!), I just love the industrial/macabre imagery of the artwork.

[Zzzptm]

Oh yeah, that's a treasure of a cover there.

Another one I loved to play with, even though the album itself disappointed, was the crop rotation calendar-inspired wheel inside the LZ 3 cover: