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.

In/Out


Perrey-Kingsley The In Sound from Way Out! (1966)	Beastie Boys The In Sound from Way Out! (1996)	Perrey-Kingsley The Out Sound from Way In! (2001)

Wondering in blue


John Coltrane Blue Train (1958)	J-Live All of the Above (2002)

Superheroes


Kiss Destroyer (1976)	Manowar Fighting the World (1987)

Turntables


Thievery Corporation Sounds from the Thievery Hi-fi (1999)	Bosques de mi Mente Lo-Fi (2007)

Vintage guitars


The Kinks The Kink Kontroversy (1965)	Sleater-Kinney Dig me Out (1997)

The most famous pair of slacks


The Rolling Stones Sticky Fingers (1971)	Mötley Crüe Too Fast for Love (1981)

Various Paint it Black - A Reggae Tribute (2002)	Various Paint it Black (2006)

French teenage rock


Téléphone Crache ton Venin (1979)	Bidophone Cache ton Machin (1996)

Goats and dogs


The Beach Boys Pet Sounds (1966)	Charles Manson Live from St Quentin (1993)


Turbonegro Ass Cobra (1996)	The Surf Sluts Pot Sounds (2000)	Boyarin Boyarin (2016)

From Memphis to South Africa


Paul Simon Graceland (1986)	El Vez Graciasland (1994)

Red Gradient


Lightnin' Hopkins Lightnin' Hopkins (1959)	Paolo Nutini These Streets (2006)	Brimstone Howl Guts of Steel (2007)

Faces on wood


Bob Marley and the Wailers Burnin' (1973)	Lauryn Hill The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (1998)

Octopus


Polmo Polpo Science of Breath (2002)	Shakedown Spellbound (2006)

The most famous pedestrian crossing in the world


The Beatles Abbey Road (1969)	The Rutles Shabby Road (1969)	George Benson The other Side of Abbey Road (1969)

Booker T and the MGs McLemore Avenue (1970)	New York City Soulful Road (1974)	The Red Hot Chili Peppers Abbey Road EP (1988)

Ivor Biggun Partners in Grime (1989)	Paul McCartney Paul is Live (1993)	Kapanga Un Asado En Abbey Road (2005)

Various Exotic Beatles Vol.3 (2005)	Punkles For Sale (2006)	Kanye West Late Orchestration: Live at Abbey Road Studios (2006)

United Nations United Nations (Original Cover) (2008)	Various Here Comes The Sun: A Reggae Tribute To The Beatles (2009)

Sunset over sea overprint


Françoise Hardy La Maison où J'ai Grandi (1966)	David Crosby If I Could Only Remember my Name (1971)

Fine young marble giant cannibals trio


Trio Marayá Trio Marayá (1966)	Young Marble Giants Colossal Youth (1980)	Fine Young Cannibals Fine Young Cannibals (1985)

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