I think the Brits are right on this one…besides Nevermind I don’t think there are many great recent album covers. Another reason why CDs totally suck…even if the artwork were as good, its so small that you wouldn’t know.

Special props, tho, for the Roots’ Things Fall Apart and Game Theory, and maybe the Breeder’s Last Splash.

radiohead’s ok computer

acdc’s back in black so simple but great.

black crowe’s amorica

U2-Joshua Tree (1987)

The Vines – Winning Days
The Beatles anthology
Silverchair – Frogstomp
Oasis – anything by them
Black Crowes – Tall/Band (Lost Crowes) or Amorica

…I have a ton

The Happy Mondays album cover
Pills and thrills and bellyaches

daydream nation-sonic youth

nothin but the new jay-z album “kingdom come” keeps it real.

rhcp – blood sugar sex magik

GunsN’Roses – Appetite
Janes Addiction – Ritual
Radiohead – OK Computer

melon collie and the infinite sadness close second siamese dream

Pearl Jam’s Vs.

PAULS BOUTIQUE – Beastie Boys

Blood Sugar Sex Magik should be up there

I know there’s gonna be a shit load of Nirvana ‘Nevermind’ on this (helpful picture above by the way!!)
But the first Stone Roses album cover with its Jackson Pollock look is pretty cool.Plus Appetite for destruction has a great cover (although the original one is better)

Rage Against the Machine or The Battle of Los Angles – Rage Against the Machine
Get Behind Me Satan – White Stripes
Sea Change – Beck
Fashion Nugget – Cake
Superunknown – Soundgarden

Those are my favorites.

Tom Waits – Raindogs
Rancid – …And Out Come The Wolves
Nirvana – Nevermind
Green Day – American Idiot

blood suger sex magic, redhotchilipeppers

Some of the live phish albums had some pretty damn cool covers..although i detest nirvana they did have a pretty good image on the nevermind album. modern times was pretty good cover wise

use your illusion 1 guns n roses red
use your illusion 2 guns n roses blue

both had kick ass covers

Cripple Crow by Devendra Banhart is the only one that comes immediately to mind, truly a lost art form.

Tool’s ‘Lateralus’, ‘AEnima’, and ‘10,000 Days’ all had excellent artwork/packagin.

Radiohead albums like OK Computer and Kid A were also very interesting.

And as shown, Nevermind is a classic.

Chili Peppers blood sugar sex magik

achtung baby by u2

everything else seems unmemorable. literally.

system of down mesmerize/hypnotize were good, any beck album too

Tool – Lateralus
Radiohead – ok Computer

Ever heard of Iron Maiden? How about PJ’s lost dogs or the iconic ten. Maybe Tool’s undertow, or even metallica’s master!

Dirt – Alice In Chains
Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants – Oasis
OK Computer, Kid A, Hail To The Thief – Radiohead
Appetite For Destruction – Guns N’ Roses

appetite for destruction
tragic kingdom
get a grip

Cripple Crow – Devendra Banhart

Use your illusion 1 & 2.

who cares? the baby boomers will die off pretty soon… and that’s when we strike!!!

ummmm there are alot of great album covers….this Nirvana one certainly isnt one of them…..

Metallica – Metallica
U2 – The Joshua Tree
Radiohead – Ok Computer
Depeche Mode – Violator

I always thought Motley Crue’s Too Fast 4 Love was so kickass.
Little did I know about “Sticky Fingers”…..I was 12 though.

nothing’s shocking

Tool: Aenima

Guns n Roses: Appetite for Destruction

Van Halen: 1984 (I know its slightly over 20 years old)

Nirvana: Nevermind

Pearl Jam: Vitalogy

Nevermind
Odelay
Nothing’s Shocking
Definitely Maybe
Californication

Overall , modern day album covers are not as good because they’re not as big. The details have to be eliminated in order to create a memorable image.

Smashing Pumpkins Mellon Collie album cover was very nice, not that it really seemed to have anything to do with what’s inside.

Well, that Nirvana cover is stupid. Is it some kind of message about society, that we’re chasing the dollar since the moment we’re born? Yeah, no kidding. Not a very original thought.

i thought pearl jam’s yield was a great cover, and i also like the new cd’s avocado, but i guess they both lack the “new classic” label that, say, what’s the story morning glory or nevermind have. and lots of other good covers just have to wiat the test of time…

The continuing cultural familiarity with album covers (and music generally) from the 1960s and 1970s might be attributable to a pair of phenomena: one, the fact that baby boomers are not dead, yet; two, the fact that magazines such as Rolling Stone relentlessly praise push the musical productions of artists whose careers flourished during the 60s and 70s (see every review of Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen, The Who, etc).

The problem is that back in the ’60s, vinyl gave album cover designers a much larger canvas to work with than a CD booklet. The covers for Sgt. Pepper, Dark Side and Sticky Fingers look far less beautiful and awe-inspiring when they’re sized down to fit a CD jewel case, so most designers have basically given up, knowing that even if they created something wild and beautiful, it would take perfect 20/20 vision to take it all in as intended. However, when blown up to reasonable proportions these covers show that some artists have tried to keep it alive:

Tool, “10,000 Days”
The Mars Volta, “Amputechture”
Gnarls Barkley, “St. Elsewhere”
and of course,
Nirvana, “Nevermind”

What I think has happened is that a new trend has emerged in cover art: the old addage, Keep It Simple Stupid. Since there’s far less space, the best designers opt for either one large piece that fills up the frame effectively (i.e. the flag on the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ “Show Your Bones”) or use empty space to their advantage and only use one or two small things to draw the eye (case in point: Pearl Jam’s recent self titled album, with just an avocado on a blue background). Album art is still very much alive in some corners of music: we just have to find it again.

placebo – sleeping with ghosts
green day – insomniac and dookie

Nirvana-Nevermind
Metallica-M aster of Puppets
Tool- 10,000 days
Wolfmother-Wolfmother
P earl Jam-Ten
Most Iron Maiden and Iced Earth albums

kid a by radiohead
pink moon by nick drake
eraser by thom yorke

i agree: we remember those covers are so good mainly because the album is a classic, although i can’t seem to recall a great cover from the 80’s despite the many classics… the joshua tree, maybe?

i like yield, by pearl jam. not remotely a classic though…

“De-loused In The Comatorium” by Mars Volta
“At War With The Mystics” by The Flaming Lips
“Mr.Beast” by Mogwai
“Steal This Album” by Sytem Of a Down
no cover on the last one.. but thats what i love about it

Nine Inch Nails – The Fragile
U2 – Achtung Baby!
Gorillaz – Demon Days
Muse – Absolution
Muse – Black Holes and Revelations
The Mars Volta – Any Album

ok computer

Ramones Acid Eaters

Pyromania
Nevermind
Pearl Jam
Californication

Its ridiculous that people often confuse historically influential for well thought out design. All the classic album covers certainly deserve their praise, but you don’t have to look that hard to find relevant design work.

Instead of going through my iTunes and hand picking good album art, just pick up Factory Records: The Complete Graphic Album for a big fat fucking dose of knowledge.

Off the top of my head, I can think of two right now:

“Odelay” – Beck: that hopping, uh, dog — I believe that’s what it is — is hilarious!

And

“OK Computer” – Radiohead: Apparently Radiohead really liked the manic drawings because they’ve used them ever since on every cover.

American Idiot-Green Day
Nevermind-Nirvana
Appeti te for Destruction-G N’R
Ten-Pearl Jam
Achtung Baby-U2
If compilations count, The Beatles Anthology.

Wolfmother – Self Titled

Definitely Maybe-Oasis
(What’s the Story)Morning Glory-Oasis
Nevermind-Nirvana
Melancholy & the Infinite Sadness-The Smashing Pumpkins

i really like the cover of jimmy eat world’s futures

and what on earth is cool about the cover to sticky fingers?

Radiohead- OK Computer
Wilco- Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
The Strokes- Room On Fire
The White Stripes- Get Behind Me Satan

‘ACHTUNG BABY’ is a great album cover I think. U2.

oasis’ “(what’s the story) morning glory?”

oasis’ “(what’s the story) morning glory?”

beck – odelay
the flaming lips – the wand
meat puppets – II
Nada Surf – High/Low
Nirvana – Nevermind
Red Hiot Chili Peppers – Blod Sugar Sex Majik
Sebadoh – Backsale
The Shins – Chutes Too Narrow
Sonic Youth – Daydream Nation
Beirut – Gulag Orkestar

No Particular order, Master of Puppets(might be more than 20 years now) Bloodsugarsexmagik, Licensed to Ill, Doggystyle, The Chronic, Odelay, The Score, Appetite for Destruction, Ready to Die, Vulgar Display of Power, Evil Empire, Mellon Colly and the Infinite Sadness, Sublime

Tool-Lateralus
Pearl Jam-Ten
Sublime- 40 0z To Freedom

My Bloody Valentine – Loveless

Uhm, the one with the swimming baby on it.

Are you telling me The Eraser isn’t dammed cool? The Flaming Lips, Radiohead, Broken Social Scene, Metric and many others continue to push the envelope of cool album art.

They’re not nearly as recognized as the Beatles or the Stones, though.

great album covers from the past twenty years included: surfer rosa from The Pixies, ready to die from The Notorious BIG, youth from Matiusyaha, aha shake heartbreak from The Kings of Leon, license to ill from The Beastie Boys, the low end theory from A Tribe Called Quest, 40 oz to freedom from Sublime and hail to the theif from Radiohead

I love the simplicity of Weezer’s Blue Album

all the cool album art of yesterday got sucked up into the upper mp3-osphere…

Well, 10,000 Days by Tool just because its such goofy packaging. uh…and 100th Window by Massive Attack. There really aren’t any that come to mind lol.

well, obviously nevermind (it’s in your picture, so you must agree). in utero also has a great cover. one that i think is really underrated is the cover of jawbox’s for you own special sweetheart. that’s an awesome cover.

As I see it, the emphasis on an “album” in the entire sense has been in steady decline for quite some time. Most labels and artists have become beholden to the almighty dollar at the expense of the less quantifiable “art”. I fear the onset of the digital age has neutered a once virile institution. Thank goodness it has also ushered in a more level playing field. “The Independent Label is dead, Long live the Independent Label”.

nirvana – nevermind

radiohead – kid a

weezer – weezer

Tool’s 10,000 Days cover/packaging by Alex Grey!

Blood sugar sex magik,

My personal favorite album cover from the past 20 years would have to be the cover for “OK Computer” by Radiohead. U2 also has a few notable covers; “War” and “Achtung Baby”.

I’ve always been a sucker for Pearl Jam’s Ten and it’s “All for One, One for All” type pose. Great stuff.

There are plenty of good album covers still, but so many albums just have dull head and shoulders shots and a name splashed over the top.

How about Kate Bush’s Hounds of Love, Tori Amos’s Boys for Pele, or Aimee Mann’s Lost in Space and The Forgotten Arm?

Frances the Mute by The Mars Volta. They had their cover art done by the same guy who did Houses of the Holy and Dark Side of the Moon. Storm Thorgerson is the name… he has done most of the classic album art covers we know today.

wolfmothers cover is outstanding and unforgetable and so is pearl jam’s ten. how about appitite for destruction too

music from the last 20 years sucks and the cover art sucks just as bad, thats why 60’s albums covers keep winning the awards.

in the 60’s they cared about what they were doing.

I think that Vinyls had the perfect size to create great album covers.
CDs are too small

But they were great for good packages (not just the cover, but the hole thing)

examples:
NIN – the downward spiral
Pearl Jam – Vitalogy
TOOL – Aenima

man you really cant beat the classic rock album covers like zeppelin III i dont know why but its just fun to look at i really dont think in the last 20 years anybody has beat those covers

not tool. fuck them.

Blood Sugar Sex Magik

Beck’s Odelay stands out

the baby’s penis is showing.

Pat Boone’s album of rock covers was the sweetest album cover ever made…not just in recent years, but in any era!

Raise the roof for Pat Boone!

The Beastie Boys’ Hello Nasty artwork – three MCs in a sardine tin – is quite memorable. So is Tribe Called Quest’s artwork for ‘Low End Theory.’
A personal favorite is Luscious Jackson’s artwork for ‘Fever In Fever Out.’

Tool’s “Lateralus” and “10,000 Days” had creative and visionary art concepts. Those should be recognized.

Illmatic by Nas
All of Tool’s albums
The Black Album by Metallica
Follow the Leader- Korn

wow thats a first, rolling stone standing up for this generation when it comes to album art. Where was this generation on those 500 greatest songs and albums lists?

The Black Parade, My Chemical Romance – not really the cover art, but inside the art is awesome. by the way, gerard drew it.

Tool – tool has had alex grey, a GREAT artist do alot of their album covers. he does terrific stuff, the best ive ever seen.

American Idiot, Green Day – great concept, and awesome job of bringing that concept into the cover artwork.

Megadeth’s art is great, same with Muse.

System of a Down, definitely. AND WOLFMOTHER!

Praxis has some great covers. Pearl Jam, also.

green days -”dookie”

“Achtung Baby”

There are some good album covers that came out in the 90’s that should be on the list. The albums are Alice In Chains “Dirt”, Green Day “Dookie”, Incubus “Make Yourself”, Jane’s Addiction “Nothing’s Shocking”, Korn “Follow The Leader”, Live “Throwing Copper”, Red Hot Chili Peppers “Blood Sugar Sex Majik”, Soundgarden “Superknown”, Smashing Pumpkins “Mellon Collie and The Infinite Sadness”, and Stone Temple Pilots “Purple” album. These albums have the best art work I feel that can compare to Pink Floyd, Dylan, or The Beatles.

“Aquemini” – Outkast.

For older records though, Led Zeppelin III’s packaging that included the rotating disk under the main cover that allowed different pictures to show through the front when you spun it is pretty sweet.

anything from tool

Tool Aenima

Jane’s Addiction-Nothing’s Shocking
Jane’s Addiction-Ritual de lo Habitual
Prince-Sign ‘O The Times

Actually, all my choices are for what I believe to be the best of our days. No way do any of them compare with Sgt. Pepper or Dark Side.

Nevermind.
That- That’s about it.
And The Stones’ Bigger Bang.
And any Clash or Floyd album.
There’s no denying music was just so much better over 20 years ago. And its covers.

You’re never gonna be as cool as the people in the 60’s, get over yourselves and deal with it.

Perhaps album covers from so long ago are still being remembered while modern ones don’t gain much attention is because the music world was more original and creative back then, album covers included.

Just a thought.

Muse-Absolution
Radiohead-Hail To The Thief
Jump Little Children-Magazine
Mars Volta-Frances The Mute
Smashing Pumpkins-Siamese Dream; Mellon Collie and the Infinate Sadness

kid a

joy division, unknown pleasures…

the mars volta frances the mute…
sonic youth daydream nation…
tool aenima…
radiohead kid a…
dredg el cielo.

all the great album covers just got sucked up into the mp3-osphere…

If I’m not mistaken, Wayne Coyne has painted the covers for the last few Lips covers, and both Yoshimi and Mystics are amazing. How about Z from My Morning Jacket? Any of the Radiohead covers since Stanley Donwood started doing them?

radioheads ok computer cover
radioheads kid a cover
weezers pinkerton cover
red hot chili peppers californication cover

and my favorite now

silversun pickups caravas cover

In Between Dreams

in utero

OK Computer – Radiohead
Master of Puppets – Metallica
Odelay! – Beck
Nevermind – Nirvana
Strait Outta Compton – NWA
Automatic for the People – REM

The covers for Wilco’s “Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and “A Ghost Is Born” were great.

Odelay had a cool cover.

The Blueprint, by: Jay-Z

Lupe Fiasco’s Food & Liquir had a cover I really liked.

Good News For People Who Love Bad News, by: Modest Mouse

Contraband, by: Velvet Revolver

Pinkerton, by: Weezer

Jane’s Addiction – Nothing’s Shocking

Born in the USA, Bruce Springsteen

Heartbreaker-Ryan Adams

Tool is the first band that springs to mind as making awesome CD album artwork and packaging. I really wasn’t feeling the music on 10,000 Days, but the art was unbelievably cool. Lateralus and Aenima both had great packaging and artwork as well. All 3 of those albums make it worthwhile to own the album as a whole. Pearl Jam also had a few albums with cool packaging that worked in that CD size. Vitalogy’s book format was one of the first really cool CD packages I remember. And their album No Code had those neat Polaroid replicas and when you opened the CD all the way, all the little pictures form the “No Code” emblem from the front cover (the circle inside the triangle). Other albums with great art worth mentioning: Metallica – St Anger (iffy album, great cover). Radiohead – Hail To The Thief. Any album from Mastodon. Snoop Doggy Dogg – Doggystyle. Nirvana – In Utero. Alice In Chains – S/T. Wolfmother. Jane’s Addiction – Nothing’s Shocking.

It can be noted that most great albums come with a distincitve cover that feels memorable over time, perhaps its due to the albums classic stature, but most bad albums never seem to come with that classic cover feel. So as you read through these you will notice that these albums are generally classics, which add that special aura to the cover. Not that these covers arent great to begin with, they just have a little somethin extra due to there classic appeal.

(In No Particular Order)
Nevermind – Nirvana (as shown in picture)
In Utero – Nirvana
The Bends – Radiohead
OK Computer – Radiohead
Kid A – Radiohead
Hail To the Thief – Radiohead
Screamadelica – Primal Scream
Achtung Baby – U2
Slanted and Enchanted – Pavement
Crooked Rain Crooked Rain – Pavement
Reasonable Doubt – Jay-Z
Fat of the Land – Prodigy (if you’re a seafood fan)
Parklife – Blur (for the greyhound gambling enthusiasts!)
Definately Maybe – Oasis
(Whats the Story) Morning Glory – Oasis
The Holy Bible – Manic Street Preachers
Rage Against the Machine – Rage Against the Machine
Odelay – Beck
Sea Change – Beck
The Information – Beck (although very good, not a classic)
The Soft Bulletin – The Flaming Lips
Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots – Flaming Lips
War with the Mystics – The Flaming Lips (also not a classic)
Aquemini – Outkast
Stankonia – Oukast
Slim Shady LP – Eminem
Marshall Mathers LP – Eminem
Parachutes – Coldplay (close, but not a classic)
A Rush of Blood to the Head – Coldplay
X&Y – Coldplay (Hidden message in binary,which by the way pisses me the fuck off because i had this idea myself at one point, bastards) (also, a debatable classic – very memorable due to sales, and world renown fame (world’s second biggest band behind U2, but too much copy and pasting from the like of Kraftwerk all the way to Radiohead, which happens often enough to begin with these days)
ANYWAYS
Is This It – The Strokes
Toxicity – System of a Down
I love a running theme, and bands who love to fuck with the media so…
The White Stripes – The White Stripes
De Stijl – White Stripes
White Blood Cells – The White Stripes
Elephant – The White Stripes
Get Behind Me Satan – White Stripes
(Although none of them are great individually, as a running theme and concept, they are brilliant)
Yankee Hotel Foxtrot – Wilco
Original Pirate Material – The Streets
A bit you know… but Deloused in Comatorium – The Mars Volta
Frances the Mute – The Mars Volta
The College Dropout – Kanye West
Late Registration – Kanye West (once again running themes, graduation should join these two)
American Idiot – Greenday (i mean not a great cover, but it spawned a bunch of t-shirts!)
Dookie – Greenday
Illinois – Sufjan Stevens
Z – My Morning Jacket
Extraordinary Machine – Fiona Apple
When the Pawn…..(Has the longest title ever on it, why not)
From the people who brought you the classic pink floyd covers…. Audioslave! (ok not even close to a classic, but excellent singles)
Smile – Brian Wilson (come one cant knock a cover that has Smile in big on it with enough radiance to bring an entire nation to happiness, come one you agree right, dont you, oh, shit, fuck
Modern Times – Bob Dylan (What a Dylan album, without Dylan on the cover, this cannot be so, it just cant be…alright, alright i know not everyone of Dylans albums had him on it, but if you look…all the classics did…oh mercy me is not a classic either for those of you who gave it high praise, its good but not a classic)
Whatever People Say I Am That’s What I’m Not – Arctic Monkeys
Return to Cookie Mountain – TV on the Radio
St. Elsewhere – Gnarls Barkley (not quite a classic, but still great)
The Black Parade – My Chemical Romacne (come on you know that little marcher is cute)
Johanna Newsom – YS (WOOF what a Fox) (by the way RS this album ia not dreadful, it is actually qutie good, its not a classic, but its not as shity as you guys made it out to be)
Oh Inverted World – The Shins
Chutes to Narrow – The Shins (Look for Wincing the Night Away in 07′
Twin Cinema – The New Pornographers
Absolution – Muse (not a classic, but come one that cover is a little cryptic right?)
Black Holes & Revelations – Muse (can you say underated) This album is brilliant (yes the lyrics r ranting, but the music is innovative and evocative, finally they r not completely ripping someone off
And between 1985 and 1990, which i assume is part of this generation too i guess
The Queen is Dead – The Smiths
Sign o the Times – Prince
Surfer Rosa – Pixies
Doolittle – Pixies
It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold us Back – Public Enemy (just cause flava is on there…or…perhpas not)
Nothing’s Shocking – Jane’s Addiction
Rio De Lo Habitual – Jane’s Addiction (Both albums artwork contrived from the very abrasive mind of perry farrel, speaking of abrasive, didnt i just mention surfer rosa….steve albini production ….and i did mention in utero….steve albini….and YS….steve albini….ok im rambling, but hey maybe its something against the producer…i mean u only give in utero 3.5 stars…i mean COME ONE. And by the way…how the hell did R.E.M.’s out of time when album of the year in 91, yea i love r.e.m. and i love that album. But are you aware that: Nevermind was realeased and oh yea achtung baby also came out, and screamadelica, or pearljams ten, or loveless by my bloody valentine (by the way…great cover..or blood sugar sex majik, or yea another great cover, as was californication (notice one hot minute had a shity cover and was a shity album) and well out of time might, and i mean migth crack the top ten. You almost got it right with automatic for the people, as much as i want it to be number one, it just isnt. Slanted and Enchanted is. Oh yea one more thing Dylan’s Time out of Mind was and never will be better than Radiohead’s Ok Computer. WHAT THE FUCK Indeed, great dylan album. But not better. Just likes those fucks who put ladies and gentlemen we are floating in space by spirtualized ahead of ok computer…WHAT THE FUCK. And oh yeah, when the next millenium comes, that album better be in the top 50 at least of you’re 500 greatest list. And and yea um and chinese democracy sure as hell be number one (which by the way is the only way that album can be a sucess)

Alright. I’m getting tired, I could keep going, but I dont feel like naming anything off the top of my head anymore (although ill admit, i had to check to see that the whole damn poem was on the fiona cd, i glanced at it, and it appeared to be…..) but still. I think anyone reading this could assume i work for rolling stone. Yeah i should edit this, and have put it in order differently. Probably should have ranked the albums i named, but hey i can do that if i want. I mean maybe they’ll hire me, but you know they proabably won’t, they r afraid a 19 year-old will show them up, but in all honesty (as i tack on another run-on!…once again too lazy to edit) i hold a lot of respect for rolling stone, and i believe i will get hired there someday, i mean they could just email me, but that would be all too easy. I mean if they hired me i could perhaps save 2007’s top albums list from being the rediculous drivel that this years was. Bob Dylan, i can understand. But chili peppers 2 and sonic youth 3. Top 50 yes, top 3, hells no. I mean yea all the great ones are on there mostly, but you need to brush up there a little. But seriously, u guys at rolling stone wont respond, u wont fucking hire me, i am probably a better critic and more knowledgable then at least some of the people working here. But as i said, they cant just hire a 19 year old, that would be so un cliche, and so unethical and so unfair to the million of other inspiring journalists. (i’m goign to school for business…but i will be going back for journalism)…..Such a shame, i could be the best damn journalist here, and i could evern get my own music out there (which isnt shitty ive been a pianist for 13 years, and a guitarist for 6….just need to work on those vocal chops…) So i’m signing off now, goodbye cruel world (no im not referencing “the wall”) I’m going now unhired, uncontacted, and ssd, depleted, and drowned in the agony of defeat

Illmatic-Nas
The Tipping Point-The Roots
Ten-Pearl Jam
Pinkerton-Weezer

Some simple yet some of the best ever.

In no particular order…..
just 20?

Nirvana- Nevermind
Pearl Jam- Ten
Red Hot Chili Peppers- BloodSugarSexMagic
Metallica -black album
Sublime- Sublime
Radiohead- OK Computer
Aerosmith- Get A Grip
Soundgarden- Superunknown
Blind Melon- self titled
Foo Fighters- self titled
Smashing Pumpkins- Mellon Collie And The Infinant Sadness
Stone Temple Pilots- Tiny Music Songs from The Vatican Gift Shop
Sleater Kinney- Dig Me Out
Hole- Live Through This
Primus- any album cover
Michael Jackson- Bad
Sonic Youth- Goo
Dr. Dre- The Chronic
The Cure- Disinigration
Rage Against The Machine- Evil Empire
Green Day- Dookie
Weezer- Blue Album
Korn- Follow The Leader
Deftones- Around The Fur
Everclear- Sparkle and Fade
Toadies- Rubberneck
Offspring-Ixnay On The Hombre
Garbage-Selftitled
Bush -Sixteen Stone
Nine Inch Nails- Downward Spiral
Pixies- Surfer Rosa
Tool- Aenima
U2- Joshua Tree
Beck-Odelay
Cranberries-N o Need To Argue
REM-Automatic For The People
Brian Adams- Waking Up The Neighbors
Depeche Mode- Violator
Prodigy- Fat Of The Land
Alice In Chains- Self Titled
Beastie Boys- License To Ill
Dave Matthews Band- Under The Table And Dreaming
Public Ememy- Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold us Back
Guns N’ Roses- Appetite For Destruction
Bjork- Post
Alanis Morrisette- Jagged Little Pill
TLC- Crazy Sexy Cool
Live- Throwing Copper
Fugees- The Score
Sarah McLachlan- Mirrorball
Muse- Black Holes and Revelations

“King for a Day, Fool for a Lifetime” – Faith No More

Kid A

Tool – Lateralus, 10,000 Days

Don’t patronize me RS.

all radiohead albums (minus pablo honey and amnesiac) -i don’t remember the graphic artist’s name…but nice modern art thing going on

arcade fire- “funeral” & ep; you won’t know until you FEEL the artwork…like some fragile gold leafed document or something…pretty beautiful thing

Flaming lips- “at war with the mystics”- wayne coyne can paint too

de la soul- “3 feet high and rising”- classic…nobody in hip-hop has had the balls to have a pink album cover with flowers since

DJ Shadow- “the private press”

gift of gab- “4th deminsional rocket ships going up”- blckalicious lways has nice artwork, but on the rapping half’s solo album, the cover is complex & trippy…nice combo

my morning jacket- “Z”

pixies- “Surfer rosa”

pavement- “slanted and enchanted”- pretty classic cover

spoon- “a series of sneaks’

i think 40 oz to freedom is pretty iconic

Hail To The Thief has pretty cool cover art.

and what about Unknown Pleasures(talking about post-punk) and Coldplay’s Parachutes.

All excellent cover art.

These are not nessesarily the best looking album covers, but they are very identifiable with the album they accompany and kind of cement the classic album that these ones were.

Radiohead – OK Computer
Blur – Parklife
Smashing Pumpkins – Siamese Dream (as well as Mellon Collie)
Pearl Jam – Ten
Notorious Big – Life After Death
The Mars Volta – Frances the Mute
Pharcyde – Bizarre Ride
U2 – Achtung Baby
Sigur Ros – ()
My Bloody Valentine – Loveless

-13 (Blur)
-A rush of blood to the head (coldplay)
-Its all in your head (Eve 6)
-Dookie (greenday)
-A crow left of the murder (incubus)
-Significant other (limp bizkit)
-Nevermind, and Incesticide (nirvana)
-the first 4 oasis albums
- the bends and ok comuputer (radiohead)
-Californication – (red hot chili peppers)
- a couple of the screeming trees albums
-pinkerton (weezer)

All have great album covers!

oasis, “definitely maybe”

You can’t say that James Addiction’s original and uncensored album art for Ritual De Lo Habitual is not iconic. And the tribal tattoo inspiring art of the Chili Peppers Blood Sugar Sex Magik is a true classic.

Any Slayer album art.

You can’t talk about album cover art of the last ten years without mentioning Alex Grey’s brilliant work for Tool. Now if only we can get Ralph Steadman to enter the cd game.

Unlike anything else and brilliant?

Tools 10,000 days

Tools Aenima

My hats off to the Gentleman of TOOL

Nothing’s Shocking – Jane’s Addiction

Panic! At the Disco sucks. Falloutboy sucks. T.I. sucks. Ludacris sucks.

Fuck MTV.

Old Dirty Bastard Return to the 36 Chambers
Pearl Jam No Code

Vines – winning days

Beck – Odelay (you can’t pass that album without taking a second look)
Ween – Chocolate and Cheese
Jane’s Addiction – Nothing’s Shocking

look at any radiohead album or even the new thom yorke solo album…the album art is phenomenal.

i.e…hail to the thief or ok computer and then check out the eraser also.

Seal – Human Being

Smashing Pumpkins album art is always great.

Mellon Collie
Adore
Machina

All priceless!

The new album art is sure to rule as well.

Tool’s “10,000 Days” at least managed to try to use the CD format to good use.

Other than that…nope. They all suck.

Get Behind Me Satan – The White Stripes

“The Bends” Radiohead
“Deja Entendu” Brand New
“Sea Change” Beck

AFI-Black Sails In The Sunset
Green Day- Dookie and Nimrod
The Cure-Boys Don’t Cry

TOOL – Lataralus, 10,000 Days

Sonic Youth- “Goo”
Beck- “Odelay”
Radiohead- “OK Computer”
The White Stripes- “Elephant”
Rage Against The Machine- “Evil Empire”
Yeah Yeah Yeahs- “Fever To Tell”

Beck – The Information.
Stickers, man. Stickers.

Well you’ve got a good one on the article right thurr. I’d also say Kings of Leon’s Youth and Young Manhood cover is prety cool.
Other than that..

Is This It?
Siamese Dream
American Idiot
Audioslave (self titled)

circle takes the square’s “as the roots undo” easily has some of the best album art/packaging for the past decade—at least

What re the chances of another Sam posting at exactly the same time as me? Bizarre.

Wolfmother has a pretty cool one

Born to run, Appetite for Destuction, just to name two.

RADIOHEAD, OK Computer

There are plenty of great album covers from GenX. Violent Femmes first (1983), Sonic Youth’s Daydream Nation(1988), Flaming Lips’ Soft Bulletin(1999). The Clash, REM, Meat Puppets and Husker Du all created a solid iconic feel for a series of album covers.

Appetite For Destruction (the original one).

maybe not the actual cover, but Pearl Jam’s Vitology has some of the best packaging (I could spend hours checking it out front to back) Sure digital music has cooled down the need to make an awesome cover, but technology has also given us the last three Tool album covers. All of which couldn’t necessarily have been done when my folks contracted gonorrhea!

Smashing Pumpkins – Mellon Collie
u2 – achtung baby
nirvana – in utero
deftones – white pony
rhcp – blood sugar
nas – illmatic
weezer – blue album
ratm – ratm
qotsa – rated r

Da-Yahmn, no one’s commented on my oversimplifications?

The Stone Roses (1989) & Californication (1999) also

tool ” lateralis

jane’s addiction “nothing’s shocking”

In terms of society-altering cover art, aside from the obligatory “Nevermind” cover, I think that Dr. Dre’s “The Chronic” might rank 2nd in our collective memories. That or Britney Spears “One More Time.” I mean that’s fitting for the 90’s-00’s: a gangster and a cheerleader.

interpol ‘Antics’ and ‘Sea Change’ by beck are both simple, fantastic album covers

Tool- AEnima, Lateralus, 10,000 Days.

Alice in Chains-(Three Legged Dog)

elephant

I believe definitely that Smashing Pumpkins third album “Mellon Collie and the Infinite sadness” has a fabulous cover, representing a majestic piece of art, propably the best from the 90’s.

hmmmmm

well the clash’s ‘london calling’ cover does it for me, nirvana’s ‘nevermind’, green day’s ‘dookie’ and…. others. i don’t know, i’ll figure some more out later.

Wowee Zowee- Pavement
Kid A- Radiohead
Anything by Of Montreal

I don’t think cover art is a lost art, just that classic covers are so iconic. The imagry from the past couple of decades has it’s moments. Personally, I like cover art that is just a painting reproduction like Bruce Hornsby’s “Harbor Lights” and The Bands “Jericho.” Also, Semisonic’s “All about Chemistry” has some great artwork. Also, let us not forget about Morrissey’s “Ringleader of Tormentors” cover, very smart album artwork. The great originals will always be the best, but that doesn’t mean that more modern covers don’t hold up in relevance.

Elvis Costello’s “Blood and Chocolate” is a great cover. Also, “Bridges to Babylon” by the Stones is some great cover art.

The original banned Appetite For Destruction by Guns N’ Roses album cover

no

Tool “AEnima” or “Undertow”
Rage Against the Machine “RATM”
Sonic Youth “Dirty” or “Goo”
Nirvana “Nevermind”
Melvins “Houdini”
Red Hot Chilli Peppers “BSSM”
Primus “Pork Soda”

Anything by My Chem is extremely artistic.

Taking Back Sunday- Louder Now

Kanye West- Late Registration

Lupe Fiasco-Food and Liquor

Madonna- Confesions on a dancefloor and American Life

Blood sugar sex magic – RHCP
Incesticide or In Utero – Nirvana
The battle of Los Angeles – RATM

Though the baby penis on Nevermind is pretty “mindblowing” I’ve always like Alanis’ Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie cover… kinda scarey, a little weird, but she has some nice teeth.

Definitely Michael Jackson’s Dangerous

1. Pearl Jam – Pearl Jam
2. Radiohead – Hail to the Thief
3. Green Day – Dookie

Dang I can’t really think of any others. Our generation sucks. But common you gotta admit, Dookie should win for the nineties.

Tool – Lateralus

Nine inch nails – the downward spiral

Red Hot Chilli Peppers – Californication

Gnarls Barkley – St Elsewhere

Muse – all

Flaming lips – Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots

and Devastating Dave the Turn table slave – Zip Zap Rap!

The cover of “absolution” by Muse
is one of the best covers ever

Jesus!
F**** Sgt. Pepper, never could stand that album really, overblown bulls****. But you cant say that loud or theyll crucify you. Cool covers from the latest past? Take Mars Volta, Big Black, EARTHLING by Bowie, the first Franz Ferdinand

Alice in Chains – Dirt
Gza – Liquid Swords
Metallica – Master of Puppets
Mudhoney – Superfuzzbigmuff
Nirvana – Nevermind
Pearl Jam – Ten
Rage Against The Machine – Self Titled
Soundgarden – Superunknown
Therapy? – Troublegum
Wu Tang Clan – Enter the 36 Chambers

All fairly emblematic of the time, no?

The oldish looking portraits of a childlike nymph on STP’s Purple and the Lady in the Star on Smashing Pumpkins Infinite Sadness albums are great. So too is the white washed OK computer album cover. However I give nods to the minimalistic cover of Chemical Brothers Dig Your Own Hole album cover. Mysterious, Sexy, and Beautiful.

Whats 14cm * 12.5cm?. Something that’s really too small to look at & admire. With every positive I guess there’s a negative.
I love CD’s & I love the little booklets that sometimes accompany’s them although I sometimes have trouble reading the scribes (I know…I need to visit the optomitrist)…
Anyway,a few of my recent favourite’s have interesting covers/…inserts?
Arcade Fire’s Funeral is very symolic & memorable…& what a wonderful idea of Beck’s with the D.I.Y. “The Information”.

beatles are great they should be in the number 1 possition

Not really a mainstream album cover, but how about anything by Lemon Jelly?

Arctic Monkeys – Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not

Abit abstract but “Marshall Mathers LP” by Eminem

Hmmm….here’s a few that come to mind…
Radiohead- OK Computer
Radiohead- The Bends
Radiohead- Kid A
Nirvana-Nevermind
Pearl Jam – Ten
Bruce Springsteen – Born in the U.S.A
The White Stripes- Elephant
The White Stripes- Get Behind me Satan
Beck – The Information
Jane’s Addiction – Nothing’s Shocking
The Strokes- Is this It? (Europe)
The Pixies- Surfer Rosa
Wilco – A Ghost is Born
Wilco – Yankee Foxtrot Hotel
Brian Wilson – SMiLE

mellon colie… The Smashing Pumpkins

No Code… Pearl Jam

BLinking Lights… Eels

Homogenic… Bjork

Jacksons dangerous album is nice….

All C.D Covers
Aenima,Lateralus,10000 days.
Inutero.
The downward spiral.
I think it’s the raw power and sheer brillance of the music that makes the album cover so iconic and classic.

No, they pretty much got it right. There have been very few album covers the past twenty years, especially the last ten that are real standouts.

The reason I think is because there has not been any real iconic music. Everything feels pretty disposable. The most popular music has been pretty mundane and on rails for a while now. It is disposable and the gap is filled with even more mediocrity. So why should the album cover be any more artistic than the music?

The album covers you mentioned were part of the zeitgeist–they just capture the time, place, and music so perfectly.

That’s not to say there aren’t standout covers, because there are, it just doesn’t seem like as many because there hasn’t been as much music to rave about, mainstream or underground.

You hit the nail on the head with the “Nevermind” cover. It seems iconic of the generation. Others include “Born in the U.S.A.,” “Appetite for Destruction,” “The Chronic,” and “Odelay.” Others that aren’t necessarily great covers the albums themselves seemed to dole out iconic music would be, “Dookie” and Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness.”

Nothing in the 2000s really sticks out, but maybe it’s just too soon. Or maybe music has just sucked.

Marilyn manson- Mechanical animals

my favourite album covers:
Lamb-what sound
Marilyn manson-Lest we forget
Morcheeba-big calm
Madonna-Erotica
Goldfra pp-Black cherry
Bjork-Verspetine
Fich erspooner-Odyssey
Moby-Play
Portishead-dummy
Scissor sisters-scissor sisters
Red hot chilli peppers-by the way

“…and herpes”?

What kind of lame humor is this?

You answered your own question. The Nevermind cover is really the only one that comes to mind.

Well, only U2 Joshua Tree. The rest sucks.

you got the best one right there. courtney should’ve held out for my legacy to sweeten.

As a professor at New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology, even my students knew that
this generation was not where its at in terms
of art and culture – EXCEPT in the case of
fashion! Musically, these days I think its all
happening in Africa and South America, but
the record companies don’t want us to know !
Happy new year!

What about the album covers for:
Like A Prayer by Madonna
Dry by PJ Harvey
Ten by Pearl Jam
It Takes A Million…by Public Enemy
Vespertine by Bjork
Sign O The Times by Prince
G N R Lies by Guns N’ Roses
Everything is Wrong by Moby
Endtroducing by DJ Shadow

just to name a few

The Van Halen’s 1984 is very innovation albun cover and very , very good !!!

Pearl Jam-No Code
Smashing Pumpkins-Mellon Collie and the infinite Sadness
Nirvana-Nevermind
Th e Strokes-Is This It
Green Day-Dookie

rage against the machine… the first album cover, with the burning buddhist monk

rage against the machine- self titled

red hot chili peppers- blood sugar sex magic

radiohead- ok computer

white stripes- white blood sales

Strokes – Is This It (european cover)
Ramones – Mondo Bizarro
Nirvana – Nevermind
Alice In Chains – Dirt
Sepultura – Roots

BloodSugarSexMagik

1. CD Cover does not equal LP Cover

2. Most of the good ideas have been taken

3. The rest of the good ideas are refused by the label

4. The whole “1966 – 1972 is best” syndrome exists for a reason…it was best (and I was born in late 1970, so I am and X not a boomer)The music, the art, the culture still stands up better than any era after it.

appetite for destruction
master of puppets
californication
americ an idiot

“Blood SUgar Sex Magic” had a pretty iconic look to it.

Nsync – No Strings Attached

Achtung Baby!

Of course, Nevermind

Melancholy and the Infinite Sadness

Writers, please remember that YOUR generation isn’t the only audience of your publication, and it probably isn’t the biggest!

Achtung Baby – U2

Radiohead- OK Computer

Siamese Dream– the sensitivity and beauty of those little girls worked perfectly with what was inside the cd

Metallica, Ride the Lightning

Ritual de lo Habitual
Surfer Rosa
Master of Puppets
The Chronic
Rio
Dirt
Odelay
A Rush of Blood To The Head
Hysteria
Dr. Octagonecologyst
La Sexorcisto – Devil Music Vol. 1
Suede
Reign in Blood
Evil Empire
Definitely Maybe
Pretty Hate Machine
Sign O’ the Times
Psalm 69
De-Loused in the Comatorium
Antichrist Superstar
The Future
Faith
Appetite for Destruction
The College Dropout

Misfits – Earth A.D.
Nirvana – Incesticide
Libertines – Up the Bracket

Permanet Vacation Cover-Aerosmith
Rhythmn Nation Cover-Janet Jackson
One Hot Minute Cover-Red Hot Chili Peppers
Modern Times Cover-Bob Dylan
Most AC/DC covers
Appetite For Destruction Cover-Gn’R
Wolfmother Cover
The Pinck Of Destiny Cover-Tenaucius D
College Dropout Cover-Kanye West
The Last Meal Cover-Snoop Dogg
The artwork on the cd covers of System Of A Down Cd’s
I agree with the Nevermind-Nirvana Cover
That’s all I can think of right now but in my oppinion there are many album covers of the last 20 years that can compete with the classic Beatles, Pink Floyd and Stones ones

I think Wolfmother is seriously trying to bring back some epic album art. And it’s working!

U2: Joshua Tree, Actung Baby
Ryan Adams: 29, Love is Hell
SoundGarden: Down On The Upside
The Black Crowes: Armorica
Eagles of Death Metal: Death By Sexy
Oasis: Definitly Maybe, Be Here Now

I thought and I thought and John Hiatt’s Little Head comes to mind, though it would have been even more amusing with a working zipper (a la Sticky Fingers) and a pop-up John Hiatt head.

Everything Oasis has ever released. ESPECIALLY their single covers. Noel puts a lot of thought into it. Just look at Be Here Now or Definitely Maybe….classic.

After sitting watching my screensaver on my apple which is all album covers, i want to add some good recent album covers (none as good as the beatles covers’).
The Beastie Boys have had great covers, think hello nasty and check your head.
Eminem kept a good theme.
Red Hot Chilie Peppers : Blood Sugar Sex Magic.
Wolfmother: Wolfmother
Franz Ferdinand: You Could Have had it so much better.
But usually an iconic album cover comes from an iconic album, so the beatles could have put anything on their covers and they would still be fantastic because they are great albums.

Yea Nevermind is good, my favourite is OK computer. The album cover and music just goes perfectly hand in hand

i will continue to press cds and make cover art regardless of mp3…

the later radiohead covers are definetely worthwile. Others:
-RHCP californication
-Franz Ferdinand you could have it so much better
-Thom Yorke the eraser

Oasis – What’s the Story (Morning Glory)?

The Flaming Lips- Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots

Deftones – s.t.

All Covers of the White Stripes.

True Blue, Madonna
The Joshua Tree, U2
Nevermind, Nirvana
Uh-Oh, David Byrne
Zooropa, U2
Nine Objects Of Desire, Suzanne Vega
Feelings, David Byrne
Mezzanine, Massive Attack
Production, Mirwais

Black Crowe’s-Amorica is a good one
Good News For People Who Love Bad News- Modest Mouse
Kid A-Radiohead
Life Is Full of Possibilities-Dntel
Our Endless Numbered Days- Iron & Wine
And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead- Worlds Apart

btw the dark side of the moon cover doesn’t pale in comparison to Wish You Were Here.

icecube’s kill at will gotta be up there…the hardest

Deftones-Around the Fur
The Frantics-Boot to the Head
Godsmack-Godsmack
Korn- Follow the Leader
GnR-Appetite for Destruction
Honest Don’s Greatest Shits
Offspring-Smash
M egade th-Countdown to Extinction
Walter Ostanek-Non Stop Dancing

get behind me satan – white stripes

elephant – white stripes

REMs Automatic for the People cover is beautiful.

The “death of cool” has proliferated into society @ a shocking speed, fisting the music scene the most violently. I want to thank all of you for championing such behavior by having such a short attention span that you don’t even remember what you were listening to 2 years ago!!!Good luck searching the corners of your cranium for that info because its forever lost in the foam of some starbucks beaverage,drank from 2cups to calm the burning sensation. War! real artists playing real instruments with real wicked senses of humour!!

The cover of Beck’s newest CD, “The Information”, is really original–the CD has all these stickers in the sleeve, and you decorate the cover yourself.

Smell the Glove, I think, inspired a generation of album artists. I mean, it didn’t even have the band’s freakin’ name on it! How sexily mysterious is that?

The Strokes U.K. version of Is This It.

I say Led Zeppelin IV because of the sheer simplicity of it, yet, some think that there is some hidden message on it. Plus the Greatest song EVER written Stairway to Heaven is on that album

Funeral by The Arcade Fire has the best album art of the past decade.

Californication (RHCP)
Blood Sugar Sex Magik (RHCP)
Nevermind (Nirvana)
Back In Black (AC/DC)
Number of the Beast (Iron Maiden)
Hysteria (Def Leppard)
Appetite for Destruction G’NR)

album covers have become a lost art because CDs are significantly smaller than records… bottom line

The original Appetite for Destruction id say is better- that is the Robert Williams painting.

Also I’d say The Shins- Chutes Too Narrow

Prince: Sign O’ The Time
OutKast: Aquemini

A great albm cover is only as good as the album itself. Stcky Fingers and Dark side would not be cherished if the music sucked. Essentially, there realy isn’t many modern day albums that are both excellent and contain wonderful artwork.

I would have to go with Chutes Too Narrow as well; great goofy art, and it folds out to show an unusual vista–The Shins’ world.

for example absolution by muse and i love goldfrapp’s cover for supernature. it’s so simple but still beautiful. i like gwen stefani’s love.angel.music.baby. and the roots’ game theory covers very much too.

and the strokes’ is this it (not the u.s. cover, that sucks)

Come on, people….Rage Against The Machine! A photo of a monk lighting himself on fire is pretty damn unforgettable…also O.K. Computer, Odelay, The Eraser, and Things Fall Apart (I hadn’t listened to The Roots when it came out, and bought that album on a whim based mostly on the album art)

Led Zeppelin III
Smashing Pumpkins Adore
Greatful Dead Dead Set

Stone Temple Pilots had great album covers…Pearl Jam’s VS. was a great album cover…Nirvana, of course! In Utero is awesome…Wilco has good covers…Pixies did cool album covers…and Kings of Leon’s Aha Shake Heartbreak is a simple yet exquisite album cover.

Pulp’s ‘Different Class’ with its interchangeable covers, or the single version of ‘Sorted For E’s and Whizz’.
And much of Vaughn Oliver’s work for 4AD was pretty swish, n’est pas?

Joshua Tree is SO overrated, including its cover- it’s just a blurry picture of them! Can you say, “Rubber Soul?”

Does anyone realize you dont have to keep naming these album covers…i got them pretty much all covered in my comment below….if i really have to go on and name all the other ones i will…but….ummm…

joy division, new order, beck, modest mouse and guided by voices always have good cover art, but the best is the first stone roses album, while eat ‘em and smile by david lee roth runs a close second.

also, Death From Above 1979 has some great covers, but they’re all more or less the same image

So are you going to tally up these votes Rolling Stone so we can see the final results or just leave us hanging?

I’m also going to throw in “Tragic Kingdom” by No Doubt. That cover and that music takes me back to school dances.

How in the fuck is the joshua album overrated. This is album is a watershed in terms of rock music. Never has finding hope in desperation and embracing fear sounded so revolutionary and unapologetically grandose in approach and gesture. All of this for an album that had a lot expected of it. A spritual, touching, and evocative album. Joshua pointed the way in the old testament, as this intended to point people in the new age. I could go on….but i mean…i embarrased you enough

Bat out of Hell

anything Rudimentary Peni.

The Tool cover of Aenima with the guys blowing himself.

pantera – vulgar display of power

danzig

’nuff said.

R.E.M. – Green
Sonic Youth – Bad Moon Rising
Smiths – Queen is Dead

Licensed to Ill- The Beastie Boys
To The 5 Boroughs- The Beastie Boys
Supernatural- Santana
Disraeli Gears- Cream

Ill Scarlett’s Epdemic that came out a month or two ago in canada is a very chronic album cover, with excelent album art too. check it out, http://www.myspace.com/illscarlett

Michael Jackson-”Bad”

Janet Jackson-”Control”,”Rhythm Nation 1814″,”The Velvet Rope”

Stevie Wonder-”Innervisions”,”Fulfill ingness’ First Finale”,”Songs In The Key Of Life”,”Characters”

Aretha Franklin-”You Make Me Feel Like A Natural Woman”

D’Angelo-”Brown Sugar”

Mary J. Blige-”What’s The 411?”,”Share My World”,”The Breakthrough”

Musiq-”Juslis en”(both yellow and blue covers),”Soulstar”

Erykah Badu-”Mama’s Gun”,”Worldwide Underground”

Jill Scott-”Who Is Jill Scott?Words & Sounds Vol. 1″,”Beautifully Human:Words & Sounds Vol. 2″(that picture’s so cute!)

Kindred The Family Soul-”In This Life Together”

The Roots-”Phrenology”

LL Cool J-”Walking With A Panther”,”10″(only because of the mic and crown tatoo,which is tight)

2Pac-”Until The End Of Time”

Biggie Smalls-”Life After Death”

Jay Z-”Reasonable Doubt”,”Roc La Familia”(forgot the rest of the title),”The Black Album”

Lauryn Hill-”The Miseducation…”

Salt N Pepa-”Black’s Magic”

A Tribe Called Quest-”Midnight Mauderers”,”Beats,Rhymes,& Life”

Diplomats-”Diplomatic Immunity”

Van Halen-”1984″,”For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge”

The Beatles-”A Hard Day’s Night”(looks playful and sort of Warholish),”Revolver”,”Sgt. Pepper’s…”

The first three covers from Limp Bizkit

Beck-”Odelay”,”Midni ght Vultures”(just ’cause of the neon colors)

New Radicals-”Maybe You’ve Been Brainwashed Too”

“No Doubt”-”Tragic Kingdom”,”Return Of Saturn”

Lily Allen-”Alright,Still”

Goril laz-”Gorillaz”

Ween – “Chocolate and Cheese”

Clutch- The Elephant Riders
Rancid- …And out Come The Wolves
The Notorious BIG- Life After Death
Drive-By Truckers- The Dirty South

After that, probably a few Manson albums, or just about any of Beck’s. And this one’s over 20 years old now, but Black Flag’s Damaged should top anyone’s list.

Gwen’s LoveAngelMusicBaby was very original and different !

The Walkmen- Everyone Who Pretended to Like Me is Gone

The White Stripes “Elephant”

Radiohead’s OK Computer and Amnesiac. Both sum up their albums perfectly. Kid A as well.

if you want to get really new, I like Incubus’ new album cover for Light Grenades. Green Day’s Dookie is a classic. Sublime’s self titled album with the back tatoo. The Roots Phrenology is great also

Radiohead – The Bends
The Strokes – Is this it (UK Version)
Oasis – Definitely Maybe
Nirvana – Nevermind
Pixies – Surfer Rosa
Pulp – Different Class
Red Hot Chili Peppers – Californication
The Smiths – The Queen is dead

im a gay superhero

VAN HALEN —-5150 , 1984 and Balance

PJ’s Ten cover
U2’s Achtung Baby cover
Pixies’ Surfer Rosa cover
Sound Garden’s Superunknown cover
Metallica’s Black Album cover(I mean its cover has become sonymous with the album itself)

is that a great album cover or is it child pornography?…

(it’s a great album cover because in one photo it represents the mindless soul-stripping monetary gold digging feeding frenzy so many humans drown themselves in)

Too many to even list, but I always liked:

Ministry – The Land of Rape and Honey
DFA 1979 – You’re a Woman, I’m a Machine
Tool – Lateralus
Jann’s Addiction – Ritual De Lo Habitual
Kasabian – Kasabian
Massive Attack – Mezzanine
N.W.A – Straight Outta Compton

Beatles butcher cover and anything Rudimentary Peni.

aphex twin, come to daddy to many dark……….

I think this generation should worry about making music that is worth a shit before we start worrying about album covers.

Nevermind-Nirvana
Californica tion- RHCP
Wish you were here- Pink Floyd
about all of Becks coves…
London Calling-The Clash
Insecticide-Nirvana

A record album cover was 12″ square. A 45 single was about 6″ square. CD covers are about 4 1/2″ square. The CD really started to be marketed around the same time MTV started in the early 80s. The CD and the music video replaced made album cover art . . . you weren’t sitting in your bedroom listening to an album, staring at the cover anymore. CD cover art is like the TV version of a film that looked so much better in the movie theater. CD covers as an artform . . . its pretty insignificant.

The album cover for Pink Floyd’s
“The Division Bell”.

i always liked the modern life is rubbsih by blur and the queen is dead by the smiths

Certainly some great art work mentioned, but most have never been presented bigger than a cd insert.

How about:
The Clash/London Calling- Classic Simonon photo which mimics earlier Elvis cover. Album sleeves(remember those?) had lyrics and awesome band photos on them.

Velvet Underground/VU with Nico- Original, which hangs on my wall, had banana that actually peeled off to reveal pink banana. Great band, great cover.

Almost anything from England’s 4AD label in the eighties. Covers for bands like Cocteau Twins, Dead Can Dance and This Mortal Coil were eerily beautiful.

“Leviathan” by Mastodon, great cover
“Surfer Rosa” – Pixies
“Apollo 18″ -They Might Be Giants

The greatest album cover for me is The Stone Roses – Stone Roses which is a piece of art by guitar player John Squire a true artist.

Kid A (Limited Edition)

Nirvana – Nevermind – at a time, it was somewhat of shocking cover. Now anytime I see it, it just reminds me of a music revolution
Oasis – Definitely Maybe – captures a cool rock-n-roll image by a band that embodies the essance of rock-n-roll…say what you want about Oasis…it’s a cool album cover

Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness – The Smashing Pumpkins

Ghosts of the Great Highway – Sun Kil Moon

Stankonia – Outkast

Bamnan and Silvercork – Midlake

Seal Beach EP – The Album Leaf

Ágætis Byrjun – Sigur Ros

Automatic for the People – R.E.M.

Loveless – My Bloody Valentine

Yankee Hotel Foxtrot – Wilco

Phrenology – The Roots

guns n roses appatite for destruction
( original cover and cross cover)
nirvana nevermind
guns n roses use your illusion 1

NWA: Straight outta Compton
Eminem: the Eminem Show
Green Day: Dookie
Jane’s Addiction: Ritual De Lo Habitual.

I can’t spell.

Miles Davis – Bitches Brew
The Verve – A Storm In Heaven

The cover of The Beatles Revolver pure brilliance!

Beck – Sea Change
Counting Crows – This Desert Life
Liz Phair – Exile in Guyville
The Flaming Lips – The Soft Bulletin
The Strokes – Is This It
Wilco – Yankee Hotel Foxtrot

sublime – 40 oz. to freedom
widespread panic – til the medicine takes
soul coughing – ruby vroom

Cornershop also has great cover art.

The Black Angels: Passover

Blood Sugar Sex Magik

dog man star – suede (a.k.a. the london suede)

Brand New – Deja Entendu
Brand New – The Devil And God Are Raging Inside Of Me
The Libertines – The Libertines
Mars Volta – The Inearatic Esp
Weezer – The Blue Album

A few of my favs from the last decade or so

Bad Brains “I Agianst I”

Rage Against The Machine “Rage Against The Machine”

The Roots “Things Fall Apart”

The Stooges “Raw Power”

Patti Smith “Horses”

Outkast “Stankonia”

Lauryn Hill “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill”

Sepultura “Roots”

Miles Davis “Bitches Brew”

nevermind by NIrvANa (of course)

St. Elsewhere by Gnarls Barkley

Rage Against the Machine by RATM

Born in the USA, Bruce Springsteen

oh, and by the way, Warhol’s iconic cover for The Velvet Underground & Nico is the best cover ever, followed by Sgt. Pepper’s

its very simple

britney spears – baby one more time
metallica – master of puppets
kill em all, the loads, st anger, ALL OF THEM
limp bizkit-results may vary,
other than metallica i think you get the point… covers are merely digital shit now, not art pieces, and when they are legit art they are by pretentious stupid lamebands with semi longhaired anorexic vintage wannabe robert frost worshiping nerfherders… attempt to make something like star wars, then talk to me

De-Loused In The Comatorium – Mars Volta…
I don’t care if you don’t like the music, the artwork is untouchable

The Strokes – Is This It?

From either side of the pond.

guns n roses appatite for destruction

Although it’s not in my top ten, the first one that came to mind from the past five years is OKGo’s self titled album cover. Albeit a little garish, it’s definitely memorable.

Thom Yorke – The Eraser

Any Pearl Jam record

Aenima, Lateralus

Downward Spiral

Wilco’s “A Ghost is Born”
Pearl Jam’s “Pearl Jam”
(Both foods but they are visually beautiful)
Most Radiohead albums (preferably Kid A)

Album art should portray the music.

Tom Petty’s ‘Highway Companion’. Very cool cover that goes with the albums music.

Jimi Hnedrix “Electric Ladyland” with naked ordinary women (ladyland) one of those holds Hednrix’ photo. As far as I remember this cover was prohibited in the USA and changed with “normal” cover with Hendrix’ face.
Currently (it means last 20 years) – as it has been mentioned by other RS readers – TOOL, especially “Lateralus”, the last 3D “10 000 days” and “Aenima” with “Ice pee poster”… but TOOL wasn’t presented in RS cover (may be in 2007?)

Radiohead-OK computer
-Kid A
-Hail to the thief

Tool-Lateralus
-1000 0 Days

Marilyn Manson-Holy-wood
Nirvana-Neve rmind

pearl jams – V.s.
soundgarden – superunknown
system of a down – toxicity
rage against the machine – self titled
the mars volta – frances the mute
janes addiction – nothings shocking
ben harper – fight for your mind
audioslave – self titled
tool – aenima

Black Flag “Damaged”
Iron Maiden “Number of the Beast”
Roger Waters “Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking”

These are a few 80’s titles. Since the cd age album art has been kind of dull.

When is David Geffen going to be prosecuted for distributing this child porn!? Where is bill o’reilly when you need him!?

DMB: Under the table and dreaming.

Appetite For Destruction
GnR Lies
Use Your Illusion 1 and 2
The Spaghetti Incident
Chinese Democracy

Sublime 40 Oz. to freedom

Juno Reactor – Shango

Pearl Jam – VS
RHCP – Califonrincation

The Strokes – Is This It?
The Flaming Lips – Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots
Cat Power – Your Are Free
Beck – Guero
The Blow – Paper Television
Feist – Let It Die
Iron & Wine – Woman King
My Brightest Diamond – Bring Me The Workhorse
The Postal Service – Such Great Heights
Sufjan Stevens – Come On Feel The Illenoise!
+ All Sofia Coppola Soundtracks

*Cat Power – You Are Free

neutral milk hotel – in the aeroplane over the sea

Actually,it was Tribe’s “The Low End Theory” cover that I first thought was the best,not “Midnight Mauderers”-I just got them mixed up.The African flag colors really luminate extremely through the person’s body on the cover-much like the African flag and Black Power itself.

By the way,come back y’all!

Blah blah blah, the fact is bands these days have lost sight in that 97% of them are cutting horrible albums… should it follow that you can’t have a good album cover unless you first have a good album? And I mean ALBUM, not 1 good song, 1 alright song, and 8 songs that make you want to hire a hit-man to kill the band.

So good job to the 3% of bands in the last 20 years that have made a good album and have awesome album covers to go on them.

To the other 97%, draw and color shit all you want.., your albums still suck.

Modest Mouse- This Is A Long Drive For Someone With Nothing To Think About

Dave Matthews Band- Under the Table and Dreaming

Third Eye Blind- Third Eye Blind

My favorite 20 of the last 20 years
1. The Joshua Tree
2. Nevermind
3. Badmotorfinger
4. Mezzanine
5. Appetite for Destruction
6. Lateralus
7. Exile in Guyville
8. Master of Puppets
9. Lost in Translation
10.Ghost in the Machine
11.Rage against the Machine
12.American Recordings
13.Damaged
14.Nothi ng’s Shocking
15.Blood Sugar Sex Magik
16.Vs
17.Kid A
18.Straight Otta Compton
19.Black Holes and Revelations
20.Exit Planet Dust

the cover of the pros and cons of hitchhiking is to me so horrible, it must be good.

nevermind

and then pretty much all guns n roses covers ( appatite use your illuson 1 and 2 lies) except the spaggeti incident which wasnt creative

TOOL-10,000 Days (i love you Maynard)

MARILYN MANSON- Holywood

“Gentlemen” by the Afghan Whigs

Green Day- Dookie
Tool- Lateralus
Metallica- Master of Puppets

any wilco record…minimalistic but very symbolic

Green Day – Dookie, American Idiot
The Faint – Wet From Birth
Foo Fighters – s/t
Lords of Acid – Voodoo-U

U2 absolutley blows.

P.S. Nice J-Lo glasses Bono.

umm all of mine have been said except

Soundgarden-Superunk nown

thom york – eraser

Best cover of all time is from 1977: Damned Damned Damned by … The Damned.

In the Aeroplane Over the Sea by Neutral Milk Hotel

OK Computer and Kid A by Radiohead

The Soft Bulletin by Flaming Lips

The Moon and Antarctica by Modest Mouse

BSSM by RHCP

Is this It by the Strokes…the one with the hand on the ass

A Rush of Blood to the Head-Coldplay

Weasels Ripped my Flesh -Zappa
The Black Album- Spinal Tap
Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust- Bowie

Sigur Ros- Takk
Eels- Daisies of te galaxy

mewithoutYou- A—B Life/Catch For Us The Foxes and Brother, Sister

Hey man, TOOL’s 10,000 days cover and package are the best I’ve seen in a long time.

All of the Green Day and RHCP covers are awesome.

Beatles – Sgt. Pepper, Abbey Road, Revolver, White Album.

Radiohead – OK Computer, Kid A

Pink Floyd -Dark Side of the moon, Wish You Were Here

Smashing Pumpkins – Mellon Collie and Infinite Saddness

Sorry for the repeats!!

Just look at any Pink Floyd album. Just about anyone can look at Dark Side of the Moon’s cover and know it’s a Floyd album, also Wish You Were Here, Momentary Lapse of Reason, and Echoes

Switchfoot’s new record (Oh! Gravity) has quite an impressive fold-out hand-drawn ink cover and liner notes, featuring their faces, skulls, Aztec-looking birds, Picasso, and other wierd things. Very complex, and you notice new stuff every time you look at it.

Not saying they’re the Beatles, but there you go.

Supergrasss is 10- supergrass
A Ghost is Born – wilco
i bought both of these solely based on the cover art. the first was funny at the time, the second was just mesmerizing. they both turned out to be great albums, even though the one is just a “best of”.
also, radioheads hail to the thief is perhaps my favourite cover of all time, followed closely by “who will cut our hair when were gone” by the unicorns

Ok Computer
Siamese Dream (everybody knows those two little girls)
Weezer’s Blue Album
Paul’s Boutique
Odelay
Gi rlfri end-M atthew Sweet
Pearl Jam’s Vs, Vitalogy, and No Code
U2-all that you can’t leave behind (the very fact that it was in an airport…released before 9/11 and the songs had weight and healing power for that very event creeped me out)
Wilco-A ghost is born/Yankee Foxtrot Hotel
WORST?????WOR ST???
Pro bably that crappy cover from Corgan’s band Zwan….looked like it was the front of someone’s Trapper Keeper circa 1986

No. There aren’t.

Well,I think just like RockGod!:)
GN’R!…

h

All Chili Peppers CDs
Deja Entendu and The Devil and God are Raging Inside of Me (possibly my favorite) by Brand New
Mezmerize and Hypnotize by System of a Down
Both Darkness CDs
Wolfmother
Pinkerton by Weezer

Outkast Stankonia, The all Black American Flag, Andre looking like hendrix and big boi in pimp mode. . . how could a statement like that be so underrated on such a commercially and critically aclaimed masterpiece?

Radiohead-ok computer A++++

Train – For Me It’s You A++++

Hellogoodbye – zombies! aliens! vampires! dinosours! A++++

Third eye Blind - Out Of Vein A++++

Panic! At The Disco – A Fever Your Can’t Sweat Out A++++

The White Stripes – Elephant A++++

Jack’s Mannequin – Everything In transit A++++

Maroon 5 – Songs About Jane A++++

CIRCA SURVIVE – JUTURNA A++++

Nightmare Before x-mas – soundtrack (lol) A++++

Snakes On A Plane – The Album A++++

Cobra Starship – While The City Sleeps we rule the sheets A++++

These are all great bacuase they are unforgetable!

Radiohead-ok computer A++++

Train – For Me It’s You A++++

Hellogoodbye – zombies! aliens! vampires! dinosours! A++++

Third eye Blind – Out Of Vein A++++

Panic! At The Disco – A Fever Your Can’t Sweat Out A++++

The White Stripes – Elephant A++++

Jack’s Mannequin – Everything In transit A++++

Maroon 5 – Songs About Jane A++++

CIRCA SURVIVE – JUTURNA A++++

Nightmare Before x-mas – soundtrack (lol) A++++

Snakes On A Plane – The Album A++++

Cobra Starship – While The City Sleeps we rule the sheets A++++

Switchfoot – (Oh! Gravity) A++++

Smashing Pumpkins – Mellon Collie and Infinite Saddness A++++

Kid A – Radiohead A++++

Third Eye Blind- Third Eye Blind A++++

Sufjan Stevens – Come On Feel The Illenoise

These are all great bacuase they are unforgetable!

Radiohead-ok computer A++++

Train – For Me It’s You A++++

Hellogoodbye – zombies! aliens! vampires! dinosours! A++++

Third eye Blind – Out Of Vein A++++

Panic! At The Disco – A Fever Your Can’t Sweat Out A++++

The White Stripes – Elephant A++++

Jack’s Mannequin – Everything In transit A++++

Maroon 5 – Songs About Jane A++++

CIRCA SURVIVE – JUTURNA A++++

Nightmare Before x-mas – soundtrack (lol) A++++

Snakes On A Plane – The Album A++++

Cobra Starship – While The City Sleeps we rule the sheets A++++

Switchfoot – (Oh! Gravity) A++++

Smashing Pumpkins – Mellon Collie and Infinite Saddness A++++

Kid A – Radiohead A++++

Third Eye Blind- Third Eye Blind A++++

Sufjan Stevens – Come On Feel The Illenoise A++++

Fantasia – Fantasia

1) Green Day “American Idiot”
2) Radiohead “Ok Computer, Kid A, Hail To the Thief”
3) Metallica “Black Album”
4 White Stripes “Get Behind Me Satan”
5)Incubus “A Crow Left of the Murder”

God, do I miss albumns!! It was a whole other dimension,
BUT I love the Beatie Boys-’To the Five Boroughs’ and The Ranconteurs cover is very cool also.

“Flashback: Does Anybody Remeber Sinead O’connor’s SNL Attack On The Pope” by the Wredministronies…
Just an overall good cover design with an “un-named” bald woman with her back faced to a pile of “un-named” religious pariphanalia, which discretely contains a TV Guide with the day Saturday’s nighttime program lineup encircled in red marker. On the inside cover is a depiction of the same un-named bald woman watching a tv that appears to be playing a tape depicting Hitler in a WWII nazi-Germany parade.

“Take a Mediocre Dump of VHS Cassettes Into My Victorian-style Vestbule of Lonely 1952 Poop-Studabakers” by Gilbert J. Weinjannson and his band of Jr. Bacon Mountain-Goat-Cheese Burgers …
This album is an absolute legend in their barrage of albums, which the front cover depicts a NASCAR driver feverishly installing a VHS cassette player into a vintage Studabaker’s glovebox, and the back cover shows an old-school black and white vintage dump-truck with the words “Emus’ Manure Co.” written on the door dumping a load of VHS cassettes into the old Studabaker.

Aside:
U2 is without a doubt the most worthless band ever signed. P.S. nice J-Lo glasses Bono, you’re a real hard rocker bud.

Lily Allen’s album cover for her Alright, Still album is pretty nice looking but I have to say that the Velvet Underground and Nico album designed by Andy Warhol is great. The Rolling Stones album “Sticky Fingers” was also an interactive album cover.

Sgt. Pepper is a terrible album cover. Apart from some of the Beatles’ early ones, and Let It Be, which are just boring, it’s probably their worst. Best album cover? It has to be I’m Your Man by Leonard Cohen. Awesome.