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.

Meditation












Pharoah Sanders

Karma (1969)

Raphael Saadiq

Instant Vintage (2002)


Stairs












Mazzy Star

She Hangs Brightly (1991)

M. Ward

Duet for Guitars #2 (1999)


Profile view












Milton Nascimento

Travessia (1978)

Femi Kuti

Day by Day (2008)


Helmets














Johnny Hallyday

La Peur (1982)

Lou Reed

Legendary Hearts (1983)

Turbonegro

Party Animals (2005)


Stacks of words












Radiohead

Hail to the thief (2003)

Third Day

Revelation (2008)