Nowadays, in the age of online music, the cover of an album seems to be less important. We shouldn’t forget however, that numerous pieces of art have been created in order to give our favourite records an extra dimension. Whether it’s vinyl or CD, a cover can tell a story, it can give you a sneak peek of the actual music, or it can be just a random image. Either way, it’s part of an album and therefore part of a particular style. Rockstone Sessions looked into some of these artworks and highlights ten of the ones we consider to be very memorable.
1. The Clash, London Calling, 1979
This is a cover photo that probably everybody recognizes. Not everybody knows however, that it is based on a way older album design of Elvis Presley, released in 1956. As you can see below, the fonts are identical and in the same eye catching colours. The Clash later explained that they have great respect for Elvis and therefore referred to The King. But instead of playing the guitar properly, bass player Paul Simonon smashed his guitar to the ground. It’s the band’s reference and intention to go back to pure old Rock ‘n Roll, with a sharp edge of Punk.
2. John Mayer, Born and Raised, 2012
This album cover is artsy, but also a bit graffiti-like. It is designed by David Adrian Smith, an artist who was commissioned by Sony Music/Columbia records to design the image. According to the designer, John Mayer has some experience in graphic design himself and could therefore direct him smoothly. The singer-songwriter asked specifically for coins, watches, flowers and ribbons in the image. A month later, this piece of art was done. The first two photos below show some of the different stages within the drawing process.
3. Glass Animals, Zaba, 2014
Speaking about art; check out the design of the debut album of the British Indie Rock band Glass Animals. It is one of the most appreciated covers of 2014, which is of course no surprise. It actually looks like a world-class painting with some text on it. Micah Lidberg, a young artist from Kansas City, made the illustration. Do you like his style as much as we do? Then we recommend you to go the official Glass Animals website, because they sell lithographs of it (A1 size). Do not hesitate, because the first hundred ordered will be signed!
4. Bruce Springsteen, Born to Run, 1975
This image is definitely one of the most iconic photos in rock history. It’s a shot of Bruce Springsteen leaning against saxophonist Clarence Clemons, made by Eric Meola. Meola once mentioned in an interview that both musicians looked exhausted – like they’ve been up all night – when they arrived at the shoot. Funny detail is that many others have imitated the famous pose since the album’s release. For example by Bert and Cookie Monster, on the cover of the Sesame Street album Born to Add.
5. Hozier, Hozier, 2014
The cover of Hozier’s eponymous debut album isn’t as iconic as the above-described photo. It is one of the most appreciated covers of 2014 though. It has a kind of Surrealistic touch and therefore looks absolutely suitable for a prestigious museum. The Irish singer songwriter did not seem to have much trouble in finding an appropriate designer, since his mother created the image. Sounds like a very talented family.
6. Kendrick Lamar, Good Kid, M.A.A.D City, 2012
The cover of Kendrick Lamar’s first album might not be the most artistic one in this list, but it is definitely memorable. The rapper/singer songwriter used an old family photo, depicting little Kendrick, two of his uncles and his grandfather. During an interview with FUSE, he mentioned: “The eyes blanked out, that’s for my own personal reasons. You’ll probably hear about that in the album, but that photo just says so much about my life and how I was raised in Compton and the things I’ve seen through innocent eyes. You don’t see no one else’s eyes, but you see my eyes of innocence and trying to figure out what’s going on.” Sometimes one image tells more than a thousand words, right?
7. The Mothers of Invention, Weasels ripped my flesh, 1970
After describing quite an intense and meaningful album cover above, we now present you something more easygoing. This cover is funny and at the same time a skillful, Pop Art-like illustration. It’s used for the second album of The Mothers of Invention, a Californian Rock band that served as the backing musicians for the great Frank Zappa. Zappa’s inspiration for the cover came from a story in some magazine, which displayed a drawing of a man being attacked by numerous weasels. His designer combined that drawing with a random advertisement for an electric razor. Check out both the result and the inspiration below.
8. Oasis, Definitely Maybe, 1994
The photo on the cover of Oasis’ debut album has become an absolute phenomenon. You might expect that it is a well-planned image, but as in many great art works, some of its features are just coincidences. For example, the depicted room was way smaller than the photographer expected. Therefore he had to use a wide lens, but then the stripped flooring would have transformed into this huge ‘desert’ expanse, which would have overwhelmed and dominated the shot. So the lead singer was asked to lie down on the floor. His pose was so unusual and looked so good in the photo, that it became famous. Some other elements in the image did get planned into detail though. For example one of the framed photos in the room is of Manchester United legend George Best, because guitarist Bonehead wanted to show that not every band member is a fan the rival football club Manchester City. As a response, the Gallagher brothers (lead singer and guitarist/singer) put down an even bigger picture of Manchester City legend Rodney Marsh.
9. Tycho, Awake, 2014
Scott Hansen is a talented artist in multiple disciplines. First of all, he’s a musician and producer in the genre of ambient music. In this field he is known as Tycho. Others might know him as ISO50, which is his artist name as a photographer and designer. For his second album, Scott Hansen combined both of his working fields and designed the amazing artwork of his fourth album himself. His designs are way more extensive than ‘just’ a cover and consist of many different interrelated products. Check out the ones displayed below and you’ll understand why it is called memorable.
10. The Beatles, Abbey Road, 1969
Of course there isn’t any doubt that Abbey Road should complete this list. Definitely one the most famous pictures in the music history. The four band members walk on the zebra crossing near the entrance to the studios in London and that’s it. Neither the group’s name nor the album title are given. Some Interesting facts about the iconic cover are that the photographer was given only ten minutes to take the photo, while a policeman held up the traffic. Also the man standing on the pavement to the right of the picture is a random tourist, who was totally unaware he had been photographed and only found out months later when he saw the cover himself. It is such a famous photo, that the particular crossing was even given grade II listed status for its cultural and historical importance. Well, that’s what we call a memorable cover!
