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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Chicane Thousand Miles Stare (2011) |
Jean-Michel Jarre Les Chants Magnétiques (1981) |
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Quicksand
Slip (1993) |
The White Birch
Come Up for Air (2005) |
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Gone Is Gone
Gone Is Gone (2016) |
New Order
NOMC15 (2017) |
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Judy Garland Judy in Person/At Carnegie Hall (1961) |
Rufus Wainwright Does Judy at Carnegie Hall (2007) |
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The Cramps Bad Music for Bad People (1984) |
William Shatner & The Cramps Garbageman (2019) |
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Kylie Minogue X (Tour Edition) (2008) |
Sia We Are Born (2010) |
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Cluster Zuckerzeit (1974) |
Warmduscher Midnight Dipper EP (2019) |
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Carbon Based Lifeforms Twentythree (2011) |
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Carbon Based Lifeforms [VLA] (2011) |
Blackfield IV (2013) |
Stellardrone A Moment of Stillness (2013) |
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Arroway We Are Too Small (2013) |
Bon Jovi Bounce (2002) |
Arthur Russell Corn (2015) |
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Ambiguity of Travel Baikonur (2019) |
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Massimo Ranieri Ti Penso (1992) |
Phil Collins Both Sides (1993) |
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Frank Zappa Hot Rats (1969) |
Frank Zappa Hot Rats Sessions (2019) |
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Motörhead Ace of Spades (1980) |
ZZ Top El Loco (1981) |
Joe King Carrasco and The Crowns Viva San Antone (EP) (1985) |
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Justin Timberlake Futuresex/Lovesounds (2006) |
Maxwell Black Summer's Night (2016) |
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The Beach Boys Surf's Up (1971) |
The Bamboos Rarer Than Rocking Horse Shit (1987) |
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Solange A Seat at the Table (2016) |
Solange When I Get Home (2019) |
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Beastie Boys Check Your Head (1992) |
Sportswear It Runs Deep (1998) |
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Vanilla Fudge Vanilla Fudge (1967) |
Vanilla Fudge The Return (2001) |
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Sting Nothing Like the Sun (1987) |
Don Johnson Let it Roll (1989) |
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Ellen Alien
Sool (2008) |
GoGo Penguin
Fanfares (2012) |
Midlake
Antiphon (2013) |
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Black Sabbath Vol 4 (1972) |
Sleep Vol 2 (1991) |
Various Everything Comes and Goes (2005) |
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Forgotten Tomb Vol 5, 1999-2009 (2010) |
Various Heavy Nuggets Vol 2 (15 Hard Rock Gems from The British Underground) (2013) |
Charles Bradley Changes (2016) |
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Jason Lescalleet This is What I Do Vol.4 (2014) |
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