With the "death" of vinyl, I'm afraid that great album cover art will never be seen again. You just need that 12" by 12" size to stare at while listening to the tunes.

I nominate virtually any Yes album cover drawn by Roger Dean.

When I saw the board title, I was going to nominate "Yes", but you got there first. Darn.

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road album cover is a pretty interesting read/view ...

Rage Against The Machine's self-titled Cover was very heavy imagery, showing those monks that set themselves on fire to portest attrocities committed by all sides of the Vietnam war.

Yeah, both you guys beat me to Roger Dean, too! "Relayer" and "Yessongs" are the best.

Def Leppard's "Pyromania" and "Hysteria" and KISS's "Destroyer" covers are good, too.

I'm not a Beatles fan (not by a long shot), but I'll go ahead and say "Sgt. Pepper" and "Revolver".

With The Beatles is cool too.

Also, I like the cover of Picies, Aquarious, Capricorn, and Jones Ltd. by the Monkees and Axis: Bold As Love by The Jimi Hendrix Experience.

Roger Dean also had a couple of pretty righteous covers for Uriah Heep albums, namely Demons and Wizards and The Magician's Birthday. They're in that "primitive" style of SF/fantasy art that used to be on old SF novels before guys like Larry Elmore began painting figures in a more realistic manner.

Dean recently did the over for the new Uriah Heep unplugged concert album, which turned out to be kind of a reprise of the Magician's Birthday cover with a different background.

You can see it here:

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00005KFXK.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

I nominate Nirvana's "Nevermind", since no-one's mentioned it yet. Don't know if it exists on vinyl, but it's an enduring image. Marvellous.

The cover of Led Zep's ZOSO sticks out in my mind for reasons beyond me (I've been waiting for some smart aleck to mention The White Album, but it looks like no one will)

Most Zep covers were done by an outfit named Hipgnosis. I nominate the cover(s) of the last album done while John Bonham was alive-"In Through The Out Door." There were four different covers done for its release in 1979; does anyone have them all? It would have been difficult, as each record was wrapped in plain brown wrapping.

As I recall, they were essentially the same scene, but each cover shown the setting from a different angle. I believe all four are in the Led Zeppelin box set that has all the albums in it.

Come to think of it, if you'd've bought all the albums used, you could have gotten all four covers.

Hipgnosis by the way, also did a number of album covers for Wings, Pink Floyd and The Alan Parsons Project.

Actually, there were SIX different covers, and they're all reproduced for the CD booklet.

The ITTOD cover I have changes colors when you moisten it.

A few of my favorites not already mentioned:

Wow, Moby Grape
Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, The Moody Blues
Asia, self-titled debut (another Roger Dean)
Stormbringer, Deep Purple
Firefly, Uriah Heep
Monolith, Kansas

What about that one that Lennon and Ono did nude (I forget its name)? It may not be asthetically pleasing but ya gotta admit it sure took a lot of guts for them to do that at that time. That should account for something.

The album is Unfinished Music 2: Two Virgins. And it does account for something. Seeing Yoko Ono naked made me lose interest in sex.

Hysteria by Def Leppard. Looks like a teaser poster for a space age\new age horror movie.

>Seeing Yoko Ono naked made me lose interest in sex.

Gee, I hope not permanently, Benn!

Well, what about the most parodied album cover in history, Abbey Road? Also, did anyone mention Dark Side of the Moon yet?

I was under the impression that the cover to Sgt. Pepper's... has been parodied more.

Really? I've seen, maybe, one parody of Sgt. Pepper, whereas everybody, it seems, has an Abbey Road shot hidden away somewhere...

I can think of two such parodies of Sgt. Pepper's off hand. The classic one is Frank Zappa's We're Only In It For the Money album. More recently is The Yellow Album by the Simpsons. (Come to think of it, one of the couch gags on The Simpsons was a recreation of the Sgt. Pepper's cover.) Also, the original vinyl record of The Rutles soundtrack also had a Sgt. Pepper's parody. Then there's a volume of Rhino Records Golden Throat discs that was also based on Sgt. Pepper's. Given what a landmark album - and cover - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band was, I'm sure there's more. I know I've seen others.

Okay. So I lied when I said I could only think of two examples.

Ah. Well, I suppose I could have guessed both The Rutles and the Simpsons, but I hadn't heard of those others.

Abbey Road still gets lampooned quite a lot, though. If you're in London, you have to make some effort to get out there! Granted, it's a ways from most of the other large tourist areas, but it's well worth it. As for parodies, there were a bunch done when the Anthology discs were first released, my favorite being where the guards were walking across and the one in Paul's position was barefoot! Now, I would suspect The Rutles also nailed this one, but there was another I remember seeing that played off of the infamous "29 IF" license plate: it had "X IS", with X being how old Paul was at the time. Unfortunately, I can't remember that number, or who the artist that released the album was! Worthless memory!

Other albums that might bear mentioning: Sticky Fingers and Through the Past Darkly by The Rolling Stones, which sported the working zipper and the octagonal design, respectively, both now lost in the CD era.

Paul McCartney himself, has also done a take-off on Abbey Road. It was his Paul Is Live album. The Rutles have, as you've guessed, parodied Abbey Road. It's possible I'm wrong and Abbey Road is more widely parodied. However, I suspect Sgt. Pepper's because of how famous its cover is.

Incidentally, Sticky Fingers has twice been reissued as a CD - with the zipper. As a matter of fact, my copy is one with the zipper.

How about 'This Is Spinal Tap?'

Seriously, though, ELO's 'Out of the Blue' was pretty awesome. A couple of years ago, I found a copy (at an "antique mall") in VERY good condition, complete with the unassembled paperboard punchout insert. Only cost me ONE U.S. DOLLAR!

What?! Oh man. How lucky can you get? That was a great album cover. I remember studying it to see if I could figure out which of the space station crew was meant to be Jeff, Bev, Kelly, Richard, Mik, Melvin and Hugh. I actually figured it out, I think. The last time I saw a copy like that, the record store was asking $25 for it. One problem with the album is the backmasking at the end of "Mr. Blue Sky". What's said is "Please turn me (the record) over." Now that it's on CD...

I also liked Boston's first two album covers ('Boston' and 'Don't Look Back'). As a kid in the mid 1970's, I thought the guitar-as-a-spaceship motif was pretty cool. An uncle of mine had a copy (I don't remember which album, though I THINK it was 'Don't Look Back.') that had blueprints and/or drawings of the spaceship on the sleeve; the lyrics and liner notes were printed over or around the drawings. By the time I bought the albums, the sleeves were blank. The CD booklet also doesn't have this feature. Does anyone else remember this?

I keep wanting to say it was the Don't Look Back album. I had a cousin who had the record, so, yeah, I remember seeing it. The only formats I've ever owned DLB in are tape and CD. I don't think I've ever owned it on vinyl.

Way back in July 2001, a posting from BF mentions Kiss 'Destroyer.' Apparently, alot of people like that cover, at least enough for a plastic model kit company (Polar Lights) to release a series of kits related to it. There's one kit of each Kiss member, and each of their bases connect to form the group posed as they appear on the album cover. Also included is a 12" print of the album cover, with the figures deleted, so the builder can use it as a backdrop to the figures. Pretty cool. (I have yet to assemble mine.)

As for the 'blueprint version' of Boston's DLB, maybe I should look at that antique mall again...

Here's something really cool. If you check out the clear space between the grooves at the center of the album (vinyl only, of course) and the label, sometimes you can find writing there, done by the quality checkers. I remember one reading something like "sucky side" and "cool side".

Weird Al Yankovic's vinyl records all had such writings in them. It's been too many years since I've seen a slab, so I can't remember what all were written on them. Generally, I think a production number is what you'll usually find etched in an l.p.'s inner groove.

KISS' Destroyer is probably their best album. KISS Alive and KISS Alive II notwithstanding. It makes sense that that particular album might be more revered than the others. (Only Love Gun's cover comes close to matching it, I think.)

I, too, noticed the etching. The most interesting thing I saw was a smiley face.

I'm surprised nobody mentioned Santana's 'Abraxas.' Like it or not, it's memorable. A bit crowded and flashy, but memorable.

Here's an obscure one: A group called IQ released 'Are You Sitting Comfortably?' in 1989. The photo on the cover featured an animatronic figure (resembling a crash test dummy) seated on a chair under blacklight, draped with green & blue fiber-optic cables and backlit by green and blue lasers radiating from behind its head. Cool. (No pun intended.) I don't remember if the album or the group were any good, though. (And yes, it was a vinyl record!)

> Todd

That looks A LOT like the cover of this Symphonic Pink Floyd cd I see in the mall's smaller music store.

Which reminds me:

Another great cover: Pink Floyd, Pulse

CC, if you're referring to my ealier post on the Acoustically Driven cover, it's because both covers are by Roger Dean. The perspective on both covers is the same, with a figure in the foreground on the left gazing into a surreal landscape in the distance on the right. Dean's Acostically Driven cover is of course a slight variation on the cover he did for The Magician's Birthday album back in 1973.

Best imitation of Roger Dean's style for an album cover: Anne Marie Anderson's drawing for Caravan's In The Land Of Grey And Pink.

YeeHaaa!!
I just bought a copy of Boston's Don't Look Back LP (on vinyl)...with the spaceship guitar blueprints on the sleeve!! I happened to stop at a little store that sells second-hand music and sports stuff, as well as used electronics and games; I check there once every few months just to see if anything interesting's there. I was on my way out the door when I noticed the album waaay up high on a shelf near the ceiling. "Is that Boston album a decoration, or is it for sale?" I asked.
"It's for sale," the clerk replied. "Do you want to take a look?"
I doubt that it's the blueprint version, I thought to myself. I looked, and sure enough, there it was! I asked how much it cost, figuring I'd have to put a little money down and come back next payday or something. The reply was the best news yet: "Four dollars."
Sold!
The album cover's a bit scuffed in places, but the sleeve is in fairly decent shape (one seam is split a bit, but anyone who remembers vinyl will remember that was pretty normal for paper sleeves). The album itself appears nearly new, which is an added bonus.
Ironically, it was almost exactly a year ago (26 Feb '02) that I first mentioned that sleeve on this board. What a nice surprise to have the following year!

Upon closer examination of the Boston album I got yesterday, I noticed the quality checker's scribing in the clear space (see Influx's 26 Feb '02 post above)... it's signed "Wally."

Well, glad to see someone mentioned the ELO "Out Of the Blue" cover. I'd also put in "Discovery". I was lucky, my church had a garage sale and I found "New World Record" (their best album by far), "OOTB" and "Discovery" for $1(AUS) EACH!!! On vinyl, all the inserts included!
I would probably agree with KISS' Destroyer album cover and "Love Gun" as being brilliant. I also like the quirky one they had for "Hot In The Shade"- oh and "Psycho Circus" and the weird changing cover art.
Elton John's "Captain Fantastic" has a brilliant cover. I also liked Billy Joel's "Glass Houses" cover (especially the back shot of him looking through the broken glass- kinda like a before and after shot)
As far as The Beatles go- well where do you start? "Pepper", "Revolver" (my personal fav), "Abbey Road" and the brilliant montage for the Anthology albums (which worked chronologically so the pictures on the front matched the era).
And why hasn't anyone mentioned The Who's "Who's Next"? Four guys looking like they need to pee on a giant stone slab. Stanley Kubrick would be proud!

Like they need to pee? It looks like they just took a leak on the stone slab.

np - Dead Letter Office - R.E.M.

well I suppose the title could be one of the band members who had peed asking the question of his fellow bandmates!

Well, there are three, uh, streaks on the slabs. You can almost make out a fourth one behind Entwistle, which would have been made by Keith Moon. I suspect the title refers to "who's next?" now that the band has had its turn.

np - The Best of ZZ Top

Benn, re the np: GREAT ALBUM!!!! (Great cover if you like good looking babes, too!)

Um, I think, Scott, you're thinking of Greatest Hits by ZZ Top. That one was released in 1992. The CD I was referring to, The Best of ZZ Top was released in `77. I actually prefer it to Greatest, if only because it's more bluesy. The tracks on Best of... are

1. "Tush"
2. "Waitin' for the Bus"
3. "Jesus Just Left Chicago" (Tracks #2 and 3 actually comprise a medley.)
4. "Francine"
5. "Just Got Paid"
6. "La Grange"
7. "Blue Jean Blues"
8. "Backdoor Love Affair"
9. "Beer Drinkers and Hell Raisers"
10. "Heard It on the X"

Only tracks #1 and 6 are duplicated on Greatest Hits. "Joe Bob says, 'Check it out.'"

np - Grave Dancers Union - Soul Asylum

You're right... I'm thinking of Greatest Hits.

>Well, there are three, uh, streaks on the slabs. >You can almost make out a fourth one behind >Entwistle, which would have been made by Keith >Moon. I suspect the title refers to "who's >next?" now that the band has had its turn.

On this subject as relates to album covers, Roger Dean did a cover for an early Yes compilation called Yesterdays. It shows two little wood sprites or elves against the backdrop of one his fantasy backdrops. You don't have to look too hard to notice that one of the elf creature guys is relieving himself!
Dean is also famous for drawing obvious phalluses in some of the artwork for his covers, most notably in his two most famous covers - those for Demons and Wizards and Tales From Topographic Oceans. Just look at the rocks in each picture.

Stratovarius:

http://truemetal.org/stratovarius/discography/albums.php

My nomination for best album cover ever:
Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass- Whipped Cream and Other Delights.

The cover alone is responsible for god only knows how many sales. For quite a while it seemed like every household in the country contained at least one copy. ...I'm sure it's still in my parents' basement somewhere, gotta try to find it...he he he

I loved the 'flying saucer' artwork on the Boston and ELO album covers.

Some of the packaging gimmicks from the classic days of vinyl which have been lost to the CD age:

All the goodies included in the original issuing of the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

The functional zipper on the pants depicted on the Rolling Stones' Sticky Fingers.

The postcard included in Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here. Although, the Shine On box set did contain a redone version.

Grand Funk's Shinin' On LP has the cover illustration done in a 3-D multicolored format and the vinyl issue came with a pair of 3D glasses. I guess the CD reissue still can be seen with the same effect if you can find a pair of 3D glasses.

The fold-out sleeve of Triumph's Just A Game contained an actual board game which could be played with tokens and dice, in which each player played the role of a musician trying to steer their respective bands through the pratfalls of the rock and roll lifestyle to fame and fortune. This was actually a very hard game to win. If this has been reprinted in the CD book, it is probably microscopic and unplayable.

The reflective mirror decal adorning the surface of the original LP version of Uriah Heep's Look At Yourself. I've never seen the show The Young Ones, but I heard that one of the hippy characters on this show hangs the LP sleeve on his wall and uses it as his actual mirror.

The functional zipper on the pants depicted on the Rolling Stones' Sticky Fingers. - Todd Pence

That's funny. My copy of the disc has a functional zipper on it. Actually, all of my Stones discs replicate the original vinyl releases.

My copy of Grand Funk's American Band has all the stickers the original vinyl release had. Pink Floyd's Umma Gumma has the poster in it. So does my copy of Paul McCartney and Wings' Band On the Run. And my copy of the Beatles' "The White Album".

Unfortunately, Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon does not have any of the posters or stickers the original release had...

"Music is a world within itself and a language we all understand."

>That's funny. My copy of the disc has a >functional zipper on it. Actually, all of my >Stones discs replicate the original vinyl >releases.

Huh. That is funny. I didn't know they have editions like that. The zipper must be awfully small. My Sticky Fingers copy is the Virgin remaster.

My copy of American Band is the most recent (2003) remaster and it doesn't have any of those stickers or anything.

The functional zipper was, unsurprisingly, a limited pressing. I saw it in the stores (late 80s) but didn't bother. It may have been an import; I don't recall.

Also, the Sgt. Pepper goodies did see light in the CD age. Remember in the early days of CDs when they came in carboard boxes twice the size (height) of the jewel cases? The back of the SPLHCB box had the goodies. I don't recall if they were smaller than the originals or didn't include all of them. Obviously they wouldn't have all fit.

You know (despite the above post being from me), I had forgotten about those clunky CD boxes. I sure don't miss them! Ones that actually had cover art of some kind I felt compelled to save. Others were generic and others clear, clear plastic, both which of course I had no problem throwing away.