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.
|
|
Themroc Beyond these Things (2003) |
R.E.M. Around the Sun (2004) |
|
|
Duke Ellington Anatomy of a Murder (1959) |
Stan Ridgway Anatomy (1999) |
|
|
Tindersticks Working for the Man - The Greatest Hits (2005) |
Elvis Costello live with the Metropole Orkest My Flame Burns Blue (2006) |
|
|
|
Cliff Richard Good News (1967) |
The Beatles and Tony Sheridan In the Beginning (1968) |
John Lennon and Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band Some Time in New York City/Live Jam (1971) |
|
|
|
Jethro Tull Thick as a Brick (1972) |
Paul Levinson with Ed Fox & Peter Rosenthal Twice upon a Rhyme (1972) |
Fantastic Four Uncover Alvin Stone(the Birth & Death of a Gangster) (1975) |
|
|
|
Eric Burdon & War Love Is All Around (1976) |
Jimmy Cliff Pop Gold (1976) |
Tom Waits Heartattack and Vine (1980) |
|
|
|
The Exploited Dead Cities (1981) |
Guns N' Roses G N' R Lies (1988) |
Roxette Look Sharp! (1988) |
|
|
|
Leningrad Cowboys Happy Together (1994) |
Coleman Hawkins The Indispensable - "Body and Soul" (1927 - 1966) (Jazz Tribune N° 52) (1994) |
Sefyu Suis-je le Gardien de mon Frère ? (2008) |
|
|
|
Sizzla Crucial Times (2010) |
Siniestro Total Country & Western (2010) |
Oh No Disrupted Ads (2013) |
|
|
|
|
Bob Dylan The Real Royal Albert Hall 1966 Concert! (2016) |
|
|
|
Godsmack Faceless (2003) |
Nitin Sawhney Human (2003) |
|
|
The Smiths Hatful of Hollow (1984) |
Gene Olympian (1995) |
|
|
|
The Beatles Revolver (1966) |
Cathy Berberian Revolution (1969) |
Mina Canta I Beatles (1993) |
|
|
|
The Bartlebees What is it all about ? (1994) |
Superdrag The Rock Soldier (EP) (2000) |
The Punkles Pistol (2003) |
|
|
|
|
Smash Palace 7 (2010) |
|
|
|
|
The Jimi Hendrix Experience Electric Ladyland (1968) |
Die Toten Hosen Reich & Sexy (1995) |
John5 Remixploitation (2009) |
|
|
|
Count Basie Basie (1956) |
Jefferson Airplane Crown of Creation (1968) |
The Eliminators Loving Explosion (1974) |
|
|
|
Kiss The Originals (1977) |
Dr. Dre Presents... The Aftermath (1996) |
Megadeth Back to the Start - Greatest Hits (2005) |
|
|
|
|
Sturgill Simpson Sound & Fury (2019) |
|
|
|
Fila Brazillia Brazilification - Remixes 95-99 (2000) |
Neal Morse Testimony (2003) |
|
|
Leonard Cohen The Best of (1975) |
Ween The Pod (1991) |