Some album sleeves have become more iconic than the tunes they showcase, while others have used images of significant moments in history or utilized the talents of prominent photographers or designers to create something of importance to envelop the tunes. The evolution of music has seen the importance of the sleeve art diminish - a CD cover is almost a third the size of an old vinyl LP cover, while an iPod screen is barely two inches. Yet as both a marketing tool and a reflection of the music contained within, the art of the album sleeve has allowed for as much creativity and inspiration as the sounds set down inside.
The Clash
London Calling
Often voted one of the most striking album covers of all time is The Clash’s London Calling. The cover uses a photo of the band’s bass player Paul Simonon smashing his instrument against the stage as The Clash played in New York in 1979. The shot, taken by the band’s US tour photographer Pennie Smith, was voted the most iconic rock ‘n’ roll image of all time by Q Magazine in 2002, who said "it captures the ultimate rock ‘n’ roll moment - total loss of control". The design of the sleeve, with both the colour and layout of the text, also serves as a tribute to Elvis Presley’s self-titled album.
Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
The photo used on Elvis Presley’s self-titled EP and album releases of 1956 gave the public the "first tangible image" of the impending cultural force that was rock ‘n’ roll music. The picture is one of the first live shots ever taken of Elvis and as an image "suggests all the wild gyrations that struck fear in the hearts of the nation's elders” and describes a moment when “a rock ‘n’ roll star was born.” Interestingly, for such a famous image, the source of the photo proved elusive for many years until it was revealed as the work of a local commercial photographer hired by Colonel Parker to cover the show.
Dead Kennedys
Plastic Surgery Disasters
If you are going to use a photo for your album cover you may as well use the best. This 1982 album features a black and white version of a picture of the hand of a missionary holding that of a starving child, by British photographer Mike Wells. The image took out the 1980 World Press Photo of the Year award and its surrounding story ties in with the protest-punk of the Dead Kennedys. Wells himself was indignant about the circumstances of the picture and that fact that “the same publication that sat on his picture for five months without publishing it, while people were dying, entered it into a competition.”
Rage Against
the Machine
Rage Against the Machine
A Pulitzer prizewinning Malcolm Browne photo of the burning form of Vietnamese monk Thich Quang Duc graces the debut album of Rage Against the Machine. The striking picture shows the Buddhist monk ablaze as protests the treatment of members of his religion by the then South Vietnamese Diem administration.
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
The debut 1969 album of UK rockers Led Zeppelin is an image taken from a United Press International photo of the most memorable aviation disaster of all time. The fiery final moments of the Hindenburg airship in May 1937 was chosen as a cover by guitarist Jimmy Page as a nod and wink to how the band got is name – famed loon Keith Moon suggested a proposed band would go over “like a lead balloon.” Noblewoman Eva von Zeppelin - a relative of the inventor of the aircraft – legally challenged the use of the image, which resulted in the band briefly having to change their name to “The Nobs”.
Michelle Shocked
Short Sharp Shocked
The cover of Michelle Shocked’s second album combines both a telling piece of photojournalism, and the depiction of the musician involved in the creation of the album, to form one striking image. The photo is of Michelle Shocked herself being choked by police at a San Franciscan protest rally for the Democratic National Convention. The picture, taken by Chris Hardy in 1984, was initially used on the front page of the local paper the San Francisco Examiner.
Dinosaur Jr
Green Mind
Dinosaur Jr used a stark image of an adolescent girl from the series ‘Teenagers’ by esteemed photographer Joseph Szabo for their 1991 album Green Mind. The photo, Priscilla, was taken in 1969 and is part of Szabo’s award winning project, and subsequent book, Almost Grown, where he uses his high school students as subjects to try and capture the essence of ‘almost-adulthood’.
The Beatles
Abbey Road
The picture used for the Beatles Abbey Road is not only the most imitated album cover ever, it also spawned the infamous Paul McCartney death conspiracy in 1969. The photo, depicting the four members of The Beatles using the crossing outside the then EMI Studios on Abbey Road, was taken by Scottish photographer Iain Macmillan who was only given a ten minute time frame in which traffic was stopped to get the picture. Macmillan climbed a ladder in the middle of the street and took six pictures, the fifth of which became the cover, as it was the only one with all members’ strides in sync.
The Rolling Stones
Sticky Fingers
The provocative cover of The ’Stones 1971 album was conceived and photographed by Andy Warhol. The band were seeking to make a bold statement for the release of their first album on their own Rolling Stones label after years of creative interference from Decca, and Andy Warhol was trying to conceptualise a real zipper on an album. While most assumed Mick Jagger was used to model the shot, it was in fact actor and Warhol Factory regular Joe Dellasandro’s tightly denimed package gracing the cover.
Super Furry Animals
Fuzzy Logic
Welsh wonders Super Furry Animals glamorised the numerous guises of infamous drug trafficker Howard Marks by featuring a number of Polaroids of him on the cover of their Fuzzy Logic album. Marks, who at one stage was Britain’s most wanted man, utilized 43 different aliases in his criminal career, 12 polaroids of which are used for the cover. The band also arranged for Marks to visit the studio while the album was being made and paid tribute to him on the song ‘Hangin’ With Howard Marks’.
Famous Photographers
album forays
Internationally revered snapper Annie Leibovitz made some of her most prominent work photographing musicians for Rolling Stone magazine. Among the numerous magazine covers, Leibovitz shot album covers for Cyndi Lauper – She’s So Unusual and True Colours, and created the iconic cover of The Boss’ Born in the USA. Most famously Leibovitz photographed John Lennon and Yoko Ono for their Double Fantasy album cover, and was also photographing the pair a mere few hours before Lennon’s murder in 1980.
Dutch photographer Anton Corbijn made his name by providing the visual aspects to accompany the sounds of many prominent bands. His most recognised work includes numerous album covers for U2, in particular The Joshua Tree, as well as a variety of artists including Depeche Mode, The Killers, Tricky, Eagle Eye Cherry, Metallica, The Bee Gees, Nick Cave and Morrissey.
