sleeve design

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.

Kohl-rimmed eyes


Puddle of Mud Volume 4: Songs in the Key of Love and Hate (2009)	Rufus Wainwright All Days are Nights: Songs for Lulu (2010)

EMI at Manchester square


The Beatles Please Please Me (1963)	The Beatles 1962-1966 (Red Album) (1973)	The Beatles 1967-1970 (Blue Album) (1973)

The Beats Please Please Me (1999)	Blur Secret Gig 95 and Lots More (Bootleg) (1995)	The Sex Pistols 1976-1977 (Bootleg) (2001)

See-through letters


Fugazi Repeater (1990)	Izia Izia (2009)

Street view


Bob Dylan The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan (1963)	Oasis (What's the Story) Morning Glory ? (1995)	Justin Nozuka You I Wind Land and Sea (2010)

Love symbol


Prince Lovesexy (1988)	Bob Sinclar Born in 69 (2009)

Red sparks


Guru Guru Dance of the Flames (1974)	The Cinematic Orchestra Every Day (2002)

Facades


Mumford & Sons Sigh No More (2009)	Lloyd Cole Broken Record (2010)

Blackened face


Etienne Daho Paris Ailleurs (1993)	Cali La Vie Est une Truite Arc-en-Ciel qui Nage dans mon Coeur (2010)

White banquet


Rolling Stones Beggars Banquet (1968)	The Afghan Whigs What Jail Is Like (1994)	John Waite Temple Bar (1995)


Pizzicato Five R.I.P. Big Hits and Jet Lags 1998-2001 (2001)	Rolling Clones Remakes and Outfakes (2007)

Straight Edge


Minor Threat Complete Discography (1988)	Rancid ...And Out Come the Wolves (1995)

Galileo, Galileo


Queen II (1974)	The Verve A Northern Soul (1995)	Paradajz Vampiri Black is Back (2005)

Evening ride


Turin Brakes The Optimist (2001)	Brad Mehldau Trio Day Is Done (2005)

In the army now


Elvis Presley G.I. Blues (1960)	El Vez G.I. Ay, Ay! Blues (1996)

Moulded face (2)


The Prodigy Music for the Jilted Generation (1994)	Alastor Spaazm (2009)

Beat it


Michael Jackson Thriller (1982)	"Weird Al" Yankovic Eat it (1984)

Space music


King Crimson Islands (1971)	Benn Jordan Pale Blue Dot (2008)	Tangerine Dream Run to Vegas (2010)

Last prayer


The Beatles Let it Be (1970)	The Rutles Let it Rot (1970)	Mötley Crüe Shout at the Devil (1983)


Laibach Let it Be (1988)	Swervedriver Ejector Seat Reservation (1995)	Gorillaz Demon Days (2005)


The Black Eyed Peas The Beginning (2010)	Richard Cheese Let it Brie (2012)

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