The 10 most beautiful album covers ever made
The history of the album is interesting, as before bands like The Beatles and other contemporary artists came along, the cover was much of a muchness.
Who cared about album covers? It was all about what was actually contained on the album that mattered. Therefore, in the 1940s and ‘50s, the majority of artists either didn’t have an album cover or kept things extremely simple by having a simple photo of themselves. When music became more creative, and artists realised a good album cover can add a great deal to an LP, did they start becoming more creative with their creation of them?
These days, the album cover remains an incredibly important part of a band’s creative process. Artists realise that this isn’t just an image that will go on an album; it’s what will be used for branding and marketing, something that will act as the backdrop for their shows and that will be presented in interviews. Therefore, it needs to be eye-catching and also look good.
In the pursuit of making the best album cover, artists and bands have created some true works of art. There are plenty of great covers out there that stand out and look both exciting and beautiful. This list will look at ten of the most stunning album covers out there and analyse what appeals to us about them.
The 10 most beautiful album covers of all time:
English Teacher – ‘This Could Be Texas’
When you have an album as beautiful as English Teacher’s debut, how do you ever think of an image that can do such music and lyrics justice? It’s a question left for a better artist than me, and luckily, a better artist was available to answer it. In the modern age, when we stream a lot of music, many bands chalk off the album cover as a necessary burden, but English Teacher used it as an opportunity to enhance an already great album.
The painting depicts a scenic backdrop of grass and hills, with an abstract image of what looks like a distorted guitar. It’s both intriguing and beautiful, and in its essence, it really draws the eye.
“I don’t know what it is,” said Lily Fontaine, the band’s frontwoman and illustrator of the album cover, “Some sort of musical meaty machine.”
The Beatles – ‘Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’
Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band is probably one of (if not the) most iconic album covers of all time. Everyone has seen that image, and as well as being recognisable, it’s also an incredibly striking picture. The colours are a feast for the eyes. However, what really makes this cover beautiful is what it did for the album as a whole.
This album really set the parameters for what people were looking for when they heard the term “concept album“.
It didn’t just mean an album where the songs have something in common; it outlines a story, creating something that exists beyond the music but that spills onto the cover itself. Like so much that the Beatles did, this album cover isn’t just good, it’s revolutionary.
Aretha Franklin – ‘I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You’
As you’ll see when you read through this list, some of the images are busy, chaotic blends of colours that have been knocked up by artists and look gorgeous. However, oftentimes keeping something simple can have equally as striking an effect, and that’s what we see when we consider Aretha Franklin’s cover for the record I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You.
She keeps things simple, with a photo of herself on the cover and the title in the corner. However, despite the simplistic approach, the result is absolutely stunning. Franklin looks amazing, and the way she is positioned on the record with the words to her album next to her makes for something equal parts iconic and beautiful.
Ramases – ‘Space Hymns’
Space Hymns might be one of the most underrated albums ever made.
It was put together by one of music’s biggest anomalies, while driving in Yorkshire, Ramases believed he was stopped by the Egyptian God of the same name and told that he was the reincarnation of said God. The result was an endeavour into making music, which spawned this experimental and exciting psychedelic album.
The cover is equally stunning. Taking its inspiration from classic sci-fi imagery, it looks like the kind of image that would sit on the cover of a classic novel rather than an album. It’s certainly an acquired taste, but for any sci-fi nerds out there (me), it’s the jackpot of album covers.
Funkadelic – ‘One Nation Under a Groove’
Funkadelic and Parliament were never ones to shy away from beautiful imagery. Their use of colour and packing the energy of their music into a still image was truly inspiring. There are plenty of their albums we could have put on this list, to the extent that I nearly included them twice, but decided to settle on the one inclusion of what I believe is their best piece of cover art: One Nation Under a Groove.
The cartoon illustration shows the band riding a dripping Earth, dripping in blue and brown. They brandish a flag that says “R&B”, which resides just above the band name. The whole thing looks like a panel from one of the funkiest comic books ever written. Talk about a truly stunning piece of imagery.
T Rex – ‘My People Were Fair And Had Sky In Their Hair… But Now They’re Content To Wear Stars On Their Brows’
A lot of people don’t realise that while we celebrate T Rex as a rock band with a huge sound, their debut album was far removed from what they became famous for. My People Were Fair was incredibly stripped-back and shows the band in a completely new light.
This was an album for hippies, and that theme very much carried over onto the cover. The image is a chaotic illustration that depicts everything described in the elongated title. Some people might think it’s messy, but it’s a cover that I’ll never tire of.
Sophie – ‘Oil of Every Pearl’s Un-Insides’
When we consider the current musical landscape, there is no denying the stunning influence that Sophie had on pop music. Her signature style can be heard in the likes of Charli XCX and Lorde. One of the definitive albums that brings this hyperpop sound together is Oil of Every Pearl’s Un-Insides.
Given the album’s massive influence on music as we know it, it only seems appropriate that the image on the album cover is equally iconic. It depicts Sophie on the front, a large choker around her neck, flesh-covered gloves, and glittery scales all over her legs. It’s a blend of realism and surrealism, which is a great way to describe her music.
Miles Davis – ‘Bitches Brew’
Miles Davis once proudly professed that he was responsible for changing music as we know it multiple times, and he had a point. The way that he would perform varied styles of jazz was incredibly inspiring, and it changed the way that people approached the genre.
One of the most experimental and chaotic albums he ever made was Bitches Brew, and the album cover reflects that theme incredibly well. The artwork on the front is surreal and beautiful looking, something which you would see in a gallery but also in the depths of a nightmare. It remains one of the most striking album covers of all time.
David Bowie – ‘Aladdin Sane’
If we were talking about iconic album covers then Aladdin Sane would be on the first that comes to mind. The truth is, while a lot of iconic album covers stand out, they aren’t the most exciting ones to look at. Bowie managed to create a cover that was equal parts iconic and beautiful, which is wonderfully represented in Aladdin Sane.
One of Bowie’s most iconic characters is proudly displayed on the front of the album. It makes for an image that sits atop of murals worldwide as Bowie is celebrated as a musical icon worldwide. The cover remains one of the most recognisable of all time.
Patti Smith – ‘Horses’
Patti Smith’s album Horses might be one of the most critically acclaimed and well-written records out there. The way that she blends punk with poetry has never been replicated, and what better to go on the cover of such a striking album than a striking image of Smith?
Photographed by the famous Robert Mapplethorpe, the picture of Smith is considered one of the most iconic in all of music. The critic Camille Paglia said that it was one of the best photographs of a woman ever taken; meanwhile, Smith praised the image because of how her look was “Sinatra-like.”
