# Best album covers **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 18, 2005, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-album-covers/295215 "2005-03-18T22:13:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-album-covers/295215/1 "2005-03-18T22:13:43Z")
Remember album covers? My favorite 3… The Stones… **Sticky fingers** …with the little zipper. Uriah Heep… **Look at yourself** …with the “mirror” Jackson Browne… **For Everyman** …If the album was in the sleeve he was sitting in the rocking chair…if it was gone the chair was empty. Yours? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-album-covers/295215/2 "2005-03-18T22:18:42Z")
Frank Zappa’s _Weasels Ripped My Flesh_, especially the “rzzzzzzz”, although I’m not much of a Zappa fan. Journey’s _Raised on Radio_ only because it didn’t any of the usual crap normally seen on a Journey cover. Neil Young’s _Re·ac·tor_, simple red triangle on a black background. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-album-covers/295215/3 "2005-03-18T22:19:39Z")
Iron Maiden’s _Powerslave_. Just for the hours of time I spent with a magnifying glass picking out all the little details. ---
**Author:** ![TastesLikeBurning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@TastesLikeBurning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TastesLikeBurning)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-album-covers/295215/4 "2005-03-18T22:26:25Z")
Most of Gomez’s earlier work had covers done by an artist called Reggie Pedro, whose work I think is incredible. You can check out his art here: [http://www.reggiepedro.com/](http://www.reggiepedro.com/) ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-album-covers/295215/5 "2005-03-18T22:29:28Z")
**The Scorpions** _Lovedrive_ You know, the bubblegum one, heh heh. ---
**Author:** ![snorlax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@snorlax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snorlax)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-album-covers/295215/6 "2005-03-18T22:33:39Z")
Not especially original viewpoint but I think Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band is a great cover. In fact as a kid I used to have it propped up atop my dresser and had the faces pretty much memorized. Here are some other popular cohices: [http://rateyourmusic.com/lists/list\_view/list\_id\_is\_2619](http://rateyourmusic.com/lists/list_view/list_id_is_2619) ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-album-covers/295215/7 "2005-03-18T22:33:53Z")
The Clash **Londpn Calling**. All others pale. Well, Herb Alpert’s **Whipped Cream and Other Delights** is pretty good, too. ---
**Author:** ![snorlax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@snorlax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snorlax)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-album-covers/295215/8 "2005-03-18T22:53:45Z")
> [@Gangster Octopus](#): > > The Clash **London Calling**. Made even better by the fact that it is based on Elvis’s first album cover ([scroll down a little](http://www.way.nu/images/albums.gif)). ---
**Author:** ![snorlax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@snorlax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snorlax)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-album-covers/295215/9 "2005-03-18T22:55:37Z")
> [@snorlax](#): > > ([scroll down a little](http://www.way.nu/images/albums.gif)). Or not, since I linked directly to the image rather than the blog it was on. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Unkempt\_One](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b782af/32.png) [@The\_Unkempt\_One](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Unkempt_One)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-album-covers/295215/10 "2005-03-18T22:56:15Z")
**The Beatles** - Abbey Road. Probably a bit cliched and obvious by this point, but I really like this album cover. ---
**Author:** ![Jplacer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/85f322/32.png) [@Jplacer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jplacer)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-album-covers/295215/11 "2005-03-18T23:01:37Z")
Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-album-covers/295215/12 "2005-03-18T23:06:08Z")
Linda Ronstadt - Hasten Down The Wind Buckingham Nicks Herb Alpert - Whipped Cream and Other Delights (Can you see a theme developing here?) 😃 ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-album-covers/295215/13 "2005-03-18T23:15:33Z")
Oh, I should provide evidence of the greatness of the _Lovedrive_ cover: [Yow.](http://www.eckhard-huettinger.de/s_lovedrive.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-album-covers/295215/14 "2005-03-18T23:26:53Z")
Gotta mention two minimalistic, but _textured_\*, LPs: Fear of Music – Talking Heads. Black, stamped with an industrial design one normally associates with steel loading ramps and the like. Very formidable and unfriendly looking ("…this ain’t no party, this ain’t no disco," indeed). Band and album title are in a neon green in the corner. English Settlement – XTC. The Uffington Chalk Horse, an Iron Age environmental glyph of sorts, is reproduced on a field of mossy green. At the top, the band and album names are in a Celtic rune-like font. - That is, in their original vinyl format. Although a Japanese company has since reissued most of the XTC catalogue on CD with the original packaging concepts, so us XTC geeks are happy now. ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-album-covers/295215/15 "2005-03-18T23:28:02Z")
Verve’s early covers complemented their music perfectly. [Gravity Grave](http://www.musicsaves.org/verve/images/covers/gravity.grave.jpg) [Blue](http://www.musicsaves.org/verve/images/covers/blue.jpg) [She’s A Superstar](http://www.musicsaves.org/verve/images/covers/she.a.superstar.jpg) The guy who designed those (and the covers of other famous British bands from the 90’s) now drives a taxi round Wigan as his dayjob :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Dark\_Side\_of\_the\_Floyd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bb73d2/32.png) [@Dark\_Side\_of\_the\_Floyd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dark_Side_of_the_Floyd)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2005, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-album-covers/295215/16 "2005-03-18T23:32:54Z")
> [@Jplacer](#): > > Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here I’ll see your _Wish You Were Here_ and raise you _Animals_. ---
**Author:** ![ccwaterback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@ccwaterback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccwaterback)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2005, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-album-covers/295215/17 "2005-03-19T00:35:33Z")
The Beatles - White Album? Some of my favorites: > **[Iespana - Hosting, SEO, Wordpress y Blogs GRATIS](https://www.iespana.es)** > > Publicación diaria sobre tecnología, Hosting, SEO, Wordpress, Blogs GRATIS en España. Móviles, APPS, trucos de whasapp y demás curiosidades de internet [http://glen.utdallas.edu/Glen/CDs/Cream/Cream%20Wheels%20Of%20Fire.jpg](http://glen.utdallas.edu/Glen/CDs/Cream/Cream%20Wheels%20Of%20Fire.jpg) [http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?method=4&dsname=Wikipedia+Images&dekey=Black+Sabbath+debut+album.jpg&gwp=8](http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?method=4&dsname=Wikipedia+Images&dekey=Black+Sabbath+debut+album.jpg&gwp=8) [http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?method=4&dsname=Wikipedia+Images&dekey=The+Doors+-+Morrison+Hotel.jpg&gwp=8](http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?method=4&dsname=Wikipedia+Images&dekey=The+Doors+-+Morrison+Hotel.jpg&gwp=8) [![](http://www.artnet.com/Magazine/features/saltz/Images/saltz6-20-7.jpg) ](http://www.artnet.com/Magazine/features/saltz/Images/saltz6-20-7.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2005, 10:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-album-covers/295215/18 "2005-03-19T10:12:04Z")
Spinal Tap’s _Smell The Glove_: none more black. ---
**Author:** ![Skellington](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/94ad74/32.png) [@Skellington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skellington)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2005, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-album-covers/295215/19 "2005-03-19T11:10:39Z")
Big Bad Voodoo Daddy’s This Beautiful life is pretty good, so is their self titled/americana album. And Royal Crown Revue’s Walk On Fire is very sexy. ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2005, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-album-covers/295215/20 "2005-03-19T14:09:48Z")
I’ve always loved R. Crumb’s cover for [_ **Cheap Thrills** _](http://www.crumbmuseum.com/album1.html) by Big Brother and the Holding Company. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-album-covers/295215.md?page=2)