Would Sgt. Pepper's be exactly the same without Peter Blake's cover ? At a time when full-length records do not mean much any longer and album covers even less, I found interesting to make a website on sleeve design. Long before videos, record covers were the visual embodiment of music, a way to put images on sound. I remember having spent hours as a teenager detailing the cover of records while listening to them. Later on, I realised that some of them had things in common in their design, revealing either a mere sign of the times or a more deliberate connection. Some records even obviously copied famous sleeves, as a tribute or as a mockery. Here is a collection of record covers I came across, which share some common visual features.

Hat and fur












John Phillips

John the Wolfking of LA (1970)

Bob Dylan

Desire (1976)


How many fans?













Elvis Presley

50,000,000 Elvis Fans Can't Be Wrong (1959)

Rod Stewart

Body Wishes (1983)

Alec Bathgate

Gold Lamé (1996)













Various

50,000,000 Elves Fans Can't Be Wrong - Transatlantic Pop Christmas Vol.1 (2004)

The Fall

50,000 Fall Fans Can't Be Wrong - 39 Golden Greats (2004)

Bon Jovi

100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can't Be Wrong (2004)










2 Many Dj's

50,000,000 Soulwax Fans Can't Be Wrong (2005)

Various

Hail to the King! (2006)

Guitar and shoes












Nick Drake

Bryter Layter (1970)

Boris

Akuma No Uta (2005)