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.

Weary horse and cavalier









The Beach Boys

Surf's Up (1971)

The Bamboos

Rarer Than Rocking Horse Shit (1987)

Solange









Solange

A Seat at the Table (2016)

Solange

When I Get Home (2019)

Posse









Beastie Boys

Check Your Head (1992)

Sportswear

It Runs Deep (1998)