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.

From Israel to Tennessee












Nazareth

Nazareth (1971)

Nashville Pussy

Say Something Nasty (2002)


From Liverpool to Hamburg












The Beatles with Tony Sheridan

Beatles Bop - Hamburg Days (2001)

Joe Jackson

Live 1980-86 (1988)


Close-up with large glasses












Kylie Minogue

X (2008)

Lady Gaga

The Fame (2008)


Fun in the sun












Elvis Presley

Fun in Acapulco (1963)

El Vez

Fun in Español (1994)


Afghan kids












The Afghan Whigs

Gentlemen (1993)

Various

Summer's Kiss - A Tribute to the Afghan Whigs (2009)