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Best album cover - your top 5? (1 Viewer)

Stompin' Tom Connors

Stompin' Tom Connors

Footballguy
Searched the forum for a similar title with no results, though I am sure there is one.

In any case, what would you say are your Top 5 album covers of all time? Criteria is your own -- artwork, iconography, whatever.

I might divide into two:

TOP 5 MOST ICONIC ALBUM COVERS:

  • Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, the Beatles  - I like Abbey Road's simplicity, but this is more the landmark
  • Dark Side of the Moon, Pink Floyd -- instantly recognizable, timeless
  • The Velvet Underground & Nico, The Velvet Underground & Nico -- a Warhol banana, what else do you need
  • Nevermind, Nirvana -- great photo, and a pretty good glimpse at what the band's ethos railed against. Van Halen's 1984 is in a slightly similar vein, but this one trumps it.
  • Born in the USA, Bruce Springsteen -- my personal fave is Born to Run as it cuts right to the heart of the warmth between Bruce and his band (in this case the Big Man) but hard to argue this album cover's iconic status. 


MY PERSONAL FAVORITES -- really hard to narrow it down to 5. These aren't my top 5, just ones I want to call out based on my affinity to the artwork

  • Court of the Crimson King, King Crimson -- trippy and disturbing
  • Cheap Thrills, Big Brother and the Holding Company -- phenomenal album with artwork by R Crumb? What's not to like?
  • School's Out, Alice Cooper -- the design of this album -- a school desk -- was even more ingenious as it opened like a school desk, and the record was sheathed in paper panties. Runner up in functional covers would be Thick as a Brick, Jethro Tull -- vinyl album unfolded into a readable paper
  • Sticky Fingers, Rolling Stones -- is it fair to add another Warhol-inspired cover to these lists? Specifically the one with the working zipper. Love it.
  • Breakfast in America, Supertramp -- really clean, stylish, and and a heck of a cover
Honorable mentions: London Calling, the Clash; Who's Next, The Who; Abraxas, Santana

 
rockaction said:
Grateful Dead - American Beauty
Marvin Gaye - What's Going On
Wire - Chairs Missing
Television - Marquee Moon
El-P - I'll Sleep When You're Dead
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Great picks, love the Dead album choice. Talk about iconic. 

Many might go with Steal Your Face or The Grateful Dead or even Skeletons in Your Closet. But like you, I prefer American Beauty. 

Never heard of the band/album Wire/Chairs Missing -- super clean look, now need to go and listen.

 
Stompin' Tom Connors said:
Great picks, love the Dead album choice. Talk about iconic. 

Many might go with Steal Your Face or The Grateful Dead or even Skeletons in Your Closet. But like you, I prefer American Beauty. 

Never heard of the band/album Wire/Chairs Missing -- super clean look, now need to go and listen.
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Wire's Chairs Missing is really post-punk and might take some doing to get into it. It's only after years of coming to appreciate their Pink Flag that I could venture further into their art-rock/punk experimentation. 

 
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Ilov80s said:
Those all look like classics to me. Your record collection looks great or at least the upper right hand section does. Whats the the best of the lower left?
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Sure, I'll give it a go.

Jay-Z - The Blueprint
Beastie Boys - Paul's Boutique
Refused - The Shape Of Punk To Come
Run The Jewels - RTJ 3
The Roots - Things Fall Apart

I also like the cover art for The Damned's Machine Gun Etiquette, but that misses the cut here

eta* And thanks for asking! That's quite cool of you.

 
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rockaction said:
Sure, I'll give it a go.

Jay-Z - The Blueprint
Beastie Boys - Paul's Boutique
Refused - The Shape Of Punk To Come
Run The Jewels - RTJ 3
The Roots - Things Fall Apart

I also like the cover art for The Damned's Machine Gun Etiquette, but that misses the cut here

eta* And thanks for asking! That's quite cool of you.
Click to expand...
Love it. This would also later make a cool movie poster thread

 
Have to noodle a bit more on this, but three off the top of my head:

Queen - News Of The World

Asia - self-titled

Cream - Disraeli Gears

 
Stompin' Tom Connors said:
Kudos -- didn't expect an Elvis album, but totally iconic. Purple Rain is a great shout out.

Grace Jones album cover is nice to look at but I would expect Yoko-like screeching and emoting instead of music when the needle dropped. What's the music like?
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LOL I have never listened to it. I couldn't get past how good the cover was. 

 
rockaction said:
Wire's Chairs Missing is really post-punk and might take some doing to get into it. It's only after years of coming to appreciate their Pink Flag that I could venture further into their art-rock/punk experimentation. 
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Who would you compare their music to? The description makes it sound a little like Zappa meets Roxy Music? Have no idea why that came to me. Will try to listen over the weekend.

zamboni said:
Have to noodle a bit more on this, but three off the top of my head:

Queen - News Of The World

Asia - self-titled

Cream - Disraeli Gears
Click to expand...
Ooooohh -- good ones.

 
Stompin' Tom Connors said:
Who would you compare their music to? The description makes it sound a little like Zappa meets Roxy Music? Have no idea why that came to me. Will try to listen over the weekend.
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I wouldn't compare their music to anyone I know because they don't sound like anybody I really listen to. Post-punk is not my strength nor am I a total aficionado of post-punk enough to know who would sound similar. The guitars are angular, there are often times no choruses, there's a minimalism to it both in chord usage and in beat. It can be militaristic, rhythmic, beautiful, muted.

It's an interesting listen, that's for sure. 

 
rockaction said:
I wouldn't compare their music to anyone I know because they don't sound like anybody I really listen to. Post-punk is not my strength nor am I a total aficionado of post-punk enough to know who would sound similar. The guitars are angular, there are often times no choruses, there's a minimalism to it both in chord usage and in beat. It can be militaristic, rhythmic, beautiful, muted.

It's an interesting listen, that's for sure. 
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Whoa nellie, you weren't kidding!

Great listen, and nothing like I've heard before. Totally get where you are coming from in not knowing how to describe their sound. I think if I had to put a name on it (which does a disservice to any band, trying to frame their music in terms of others'), I'd go with a less dissonant/discordant Devo crossed with less trippy early Syd Barrett Pink Floyd.

That said, sometimes it is fairly straight-forward "soft Punk" (Men 2nd has some Sex Pistols-esque sound; Sand in My Joints is Gears punk).

Sometimes it's a little prog-rocky (Being Sucked In Again).

I Am the Fly comes across a little like a Talking Heads arrangement, but then Outdoor Miner is reminiscent of the Birds (melody background vocals out of the blue?!?).

Hearbeat was almost like a way stripped down version of a U2 song.

Will have to listen to it again and just try and listen for what it is instead of trying to identify their sound as it switched up so frequently, though still retained a little commonality throughout.

Love discovering new music, great suggestion.

 
Dark Side of the Moon is Pink Floyd's most iconic, and it is wonderful in its simplicity, but I prefer the covers for Wish You Were Here, Animals and The Division Bell as far as Pink Floyd goes.

Rush's Moving Pictures has to be in the conversation.

Point of Know Return by Kansas might be my personal favorite.

 
Ghost Rider said:
Dark Side of the Moon is Pink Floyd's most iconic, and it is wonderful in its simplicity, but I prefer the covers for Wish You Were Here, Animals and The Division Bell as far as Pink Floyd goes.

Rush's Moving Pictures has to be in the conversation.

Point of Know Return by Kansas might be my personal favorite.
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Wish you were here is a far cooler cover than dark side.  

 
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