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.

The most famous pedestrian crossing in the world


















































The Beatles

Abbey Road (1969)

The Rutles

Shabby Road (1969)

George Benson

The other Side of Abbey Road (1969)

Booker T and the MGs

McLemore Avenue (1970)

New York City

Soulful Road (1974)

The Red Hot Chili Peppers

Abbey Road EP (1988)

Ivor Biggun

Partners in Grime (1989)

Paul McCartney

Paul is Live (1993)

Kapanga

Un Asado En Abbey Road (2005)

Various

Exotic Beatles Vol.3 (2005)

Punkles

For Sale (2006)

Kanye West

Late Orchestration: Live at Abbey Road Studios (2006)

United Nations

United Nations (Original Cover) (2008)

Various

Here Comes The Sun: A Reggae Tribute To The Beatles (2009)


Sunset over sea overprint












Françoise Hardy

La Maison où J'ai Grandi (1966)

David Crosby

If I Could Only Remember my Name (1971)


Fine young marble giant cannibals trio














Trio Marayá

Trio Marayá (1966)

Young Marble Giants

Colossal Youth (1980)

Fine Young Cannibals

Fine Young Cannibals (1985)