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.
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Phil Collins
Face Value (1981) |
Phil Collins
Face Value (Deluxe) (2016) |
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Phil Collins
Hello, I Must Be Going ! (1982) |
Phil Collins
Hello, I Must Be Going ! (Deluxe) (2016) |
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Phil Collins
No Jacket Required (1985) |
Phil Collins
No Jacket Required (Deluxe) (2016) |
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Phil Collins
...But Seriously (1989) |
Phil Collins
...But Seriously (Deluxe) (2016) |
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Phil Collins
Both Sides (1993) |
Phil Collins
Both Sides (Deluxe) (2016) |
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Phil Collins
Testify (2002) |
Phil Collins
Testify (Deluxe) (2016) |
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Phil Collins
Going Back (2010) |
Phil Collins
The Essential Going Back (Deluxe) (2016) |
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Thelonious Martin
Colors (2012) |
New Order
Lost Sirens (2013) |
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Jefferson Airplane
Surrealistic Pillow (1967) |
Electric Citizen
Higher Time (2016) |
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Marc Almond
Tenement Symphony (1991) |
Morrissey
Ringleader of the Tormentors (2016) |
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Jean-Michel Jarre Oxygène (1976) |
Jean-Michel Jarre Oxygène 3 (2016) |
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Paul McCartney
Memory Almost Full (2007) |
Snarky Puppy
Culcha Vulcah (2016) |
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Big Audio Dynamite
This Is Big Audio Dynamite (1985) |
Jane's Addiction
Strays (2003) |
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The Kills
Blood Pressure (2011) |
Warhaus
We Fucked a Flame into Being (2016) |
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Hank Mobley
A Caddy for Daddy (1966) |
Sharkboy
Matinee (1994) |
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Blur Leisure (1991) |
Stone Temple Pilots Tiny Music: Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop (1996) |
Mitski Be the Cowboy (2018) |
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AC/DC
If You Want Blood, You've Got it (1978) |
American Dog
If You Want Bud, You've Got it (2006) |
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Eminem The Marshall Mathers (2000) |
Jon Connor The People's Rapper LP (mixtape) (2012) |
Eminem The Marshall Mathers LP 2 (2013) |
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Bing Crosby White Christmas (2012) |
El Vez Sno-Way José (2012) |
John Legend A Legendary Christmas (2018) |
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Louis Armstrong & Friends What a Wonderful Christmas (1997) |
The Supremes The Best of the Supremes: The Christmas Collection (2005) |
Etta James 12 Songs of Christmas (2005) |
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James Brown Funky Christmas (1995) |
The Ramsey Lewis Trio More Sounds of Christmas (1964) |
James Brown The Best of James Brown: The Christmas Collection (2003) |
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Jackie Gleason All I Want for Christmas (1969) |
Charo (Mamacita) ¿Dónde Está Santa Claus? EP (1978) |
Kylie Minogue Kylie Christmas (2015) |
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Mariah Carey Merry Christmas (2000) |
Mariah Carey Merry Christmas 2 You (2010) |
