Album cover
Encyclopedia
An album cover is the front of the packaging of a commercially released audio recording product, or album
. The term can refer to either the printed cardboard covers typically used to package sets of 10" and 12" 78 rpm records, single and sets of 12" LP
s, sets of 45 rpm records (either in several connected sleeves or a box), or the front-facing panel of a CD
package, and, increasingly, the primary image accompanying a digital download
of the album, or of its individual tracks
.
In addition, in the case of all types of records, it also serves as part of the protective sleeve.
as the medium for recorded sound. The 78 rpm records were issued in both 10" and 12" diameter sizes and were usually sold separately, in brown paper or cardboard sleeves that were sometimes plain and sometimes printed to show the producer or the retailer's name. Generally the sleeves had a circular cutout allowing the record label to be seen. Records could be laid on a shelf horizontally or stood upright on an edge, but because of their fragility, many broke in storage.
German record company Odeon
pioneered the "album" in 1909 when it released the "Nutcracker Suite" by Tchaikovsky on four double-sided discs in a specially designed package. http://history.sandiego.edu/gen/recording/notes.html#cylinder (It is not indicated what the specially designed package was.) The practice of issuing albums does not seem to have been taken up by other record companies for many years.
Beginning in the 1920s, bound collections of empty sleeves with a plain paperboard
or leather
cover, similar to a photograph album, were sold as "record albums" that customers could use to store their records (the name "record album" was printed on some covers). These empty albums were sold in both 10" and 12" sizes. The covers of these bound books were wider and taller than the records inside, allowing the record album to be placed on a shelf upright, like a book, suspending the fragile records above the shelf and protecting them.
Starting in the 1930s, record companies began issuing collections of 78 rpm records by one performer or of one type of music in specially assembled albums. These albums could include either a collection of popular songs, on several 78 rpm records, related either by performer or style, or extended length classical music
, also on several 78 rpm records, including complete symphonies.
In 1938, Columbia records
hired Alex Steinweiss
as its first art director. He is credited with inventing the concept of album covers and cover art, replacing plain covers used before. After his initial efforts at Columbia, other record companies followed his lead. By the late 1940s, record albums for all the major companies featured their own colorful paper covers in both 10-inch and 12-inch sizes. Some featured reproductions of classic art while others utilized original designs.
When the 10" and 12" LPs came along, starting in 1948, and box sets of 45 rpm records soon followed (see Gramophone record
), the name "album" came along for the new format of collections and the creation of artistic original album covers continued as well.
, and the LP format is still used for occasional new releases, though it has largely been supplanted by other formats. The size of the typical cardboard LP sleeve cover is 12.375 inches square.
Since the mid-1990s,the CD has become the most common form of physically distributed music products. Packaging formats vary, including the very common plastic jewel case, and the popular cardboard & plastic combination commonly known as a Digipak
. Typically the album cover component of these packages is approximately 4.75 inches square.
The cover became an important part of the culture of music at the time. Under the influence of designers like Bob Cato
who at various stages in his long music career was vice president of creative services at both Columbia Records
and United Artists
, album covers became renowned for being a marketing tool and an expression of artistic intent. The Band
's 1970 release Stage Fright
with Norman Seeff
's photograph as a poster insert is an early example with the poster quickly becoming a collector's item. Gatefold cover
s, (a folded double cover), and inserts, often with lyric sheets, made the album cover a desirable artifact in its own right. Notable examples are The Beatles
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
which had cut-out inserts, lyrics, a gatefold sleeve even though it was a single album.The original working title of A Day In The Life was "In The Life Of..." A rare session outside of Abbey Road occurred during the time of the Sgt. Pepper sessions at Regent Sound Studio in London for part of Fixing A Hole on February 9, 1967. Also during this period, the long-lost avante-garde Beatles recording called Carnival of Light was recorded on January 5, 1967; The Rolling Stones
Exile on Main Street which had a gatefold and a series of 12 perforated postcards as inserts (also by photographer Norman Seeff
); and Pink Floyd
's The Dark Side of the Moon
which had a gatefold, lyrics, no title on the sleeve and poster and sticker inserts. The move to the small (less than 1/4 the size of a record) CD format lost that impact, though attempts have been made to create a more desirable packaging for the CD format, for example the re-issue of Sgt. Pepper, which had a cardboard box and booklet, or the use of oversized packaging.
The importance of cover design was such that some artists specialised or gained fame through their work, notably the design team Hipgnosis
(through their work on Pink Floyd albums amongst others) and Roger Dean famous for his Yes
and Greenslade
covers, Cal Schenkel
for Captain Beefheart's Trout Mask Replica
and Frank Zappa's We're Only in It for the Money
.
The talents of many photographers and illustrators from both inside and outside of the music industry have been used to produce a vast array of memorable LP/CD covers. Photographer Mick Rock
produced some of the most iconographic album covers of the 1970s, including Queen
's Queen II
(recreated for their classic music video Bohemian Rhapsody
), Syd Barrett
's The Madcap Laughs
, and Lou Reed
's Transformer
. In addition to the examples mentioned previously, a number of world-renowned graphic artists and illustrators such as Ed Repka
(Megadeth
), Andy Warhol
(The Velvet Underground
, The Rolling Stones
), Mati Klarwein
(Santana
, Miles Davis
), H. R. Giger
(Emerson, Lake & Palmer
, Debbie Harry), Frank Frazetta
(Molly Hatchet), Derek Riggs
(Iron Maiden
), Jamie Reid
(The Sex Pistols), Howard Finster
(R.E.M.
, Talking Heads
), Al Hirschfeld
(Aerosmith
), Gottfried Helnwein
(Marilyn Manson
), Rex Ray
(David Bowie
), Robert Crumb
(Big Brother & the Holding Company), John Van Hamersveld
(The Rolling Stones), and Shepard Fairey (Johnny Cash
) have all applied their talents to memorable music packages.
A number of record covers have also used images licensed (or borrowed from the public domain) from artists of bygone eras. Well-known examples of this include the cover of Derek and the Dominoes Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs
(from the painting "La Fille au Bouquet" by French painter and sculptor Emile Théodore Frandsen de Schomberg), the cover of Kansas's debut album, adapted from a mural by painter John Steuart Curry
, Norman Rockwell
's cowboy (Pure Prairie League), and, more recently, Coldplay
's Viva La Vida
, which features Eugène Delacroix
's painting Liberty Leading the People
(a favorite in The Louvre) with the words "VIVA LA VIDA" brushed on top in white paint.
Legends from photography and video/film who have also produced record cover images include Drew Struzan
(Black Sabbath
, Alice Cooper
, Iron Butterfly
, The Beach Boys
and others), Annie Leibovitz
(John Lennon
, Bruce Springsteen
, Patti Smith
), Richard Avedon
(Whitney Houston
, Teddy Pendergrass
), Norman Seeff
(The Band
, The Rolling Stones
, Kiss
, Aerosmith
), David LaChappelle (No Doubt
, Elton John
), Anton Corbijn
(U2
, The Killers, Depeche Mode
), Karl Ferris
(Jimi Hendrix
, Donovan
, The Hollies
), Robert Mapplethorpe
(Patti Smith, Peter Gabriel
) and Francesco Scavullo
(Diana Ross
, Edgar Winter), David Michael Kennedy
others.
As one would expect, a number of artists and bands feature members who are, in their own right, accomplished illustrators, designers and photographers and whose talents are exhibited in the artwork they produced for their own recordings. Examples include Jimmy Page
(Led Zeppelin IV), Chris Mars (Replacements’ Pleased to Meet Me and others), Marilyn Manson
(Lest We Forget…), Michael Stipe
(REM's Accelerator), Thom Yorke
(credited as "Tchocky" on misc. Radiohead
records), Michael Brecker (Ringorama), Freddie Mercury
(Queen I), John Entwistle
(Who By Numbers), Mike Shinoda
(various Linkin Park
albums), Joni Mitchell
(Miles of Aisles) as well for Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (So Far), and M.I.A.
(credited variously on Elastica
's The Menace, her records).
Collectors of music-related illustration, design, and photography worldwide have been able to build their personal collections of album cover-related fine art through the efforts of galleries and publishers that specialize in these works, such as St. Paul's Gallery (UK), Walnut Street Gallery (US), and RockPoP Gallery (US).
The surface of a vinyl record is readily damaged, so aside from the outer cardboard sleeve, there is usually an inner protective cover to protect against dust and handling. This is normally shaped to allow it to readily slide within the outer cover. The inner sleeve is either thin white paper, either plain or printed with information on other recordings available from the same company, or a paper sleeve supporting a thin plastic bag. These quite often have a circular cut out so that the record label can be read without directly handling the record, though when the inner sleeve is printed with lyrics, which became quite common, then there is usually no hole. Decca Records used a system of colour-coding on these sleeves where a blue color denoted a stereophonic
recording while red denoted a monophonic
recording (the mono record players of the time were not always compatible with stereo records). This system was begun in the 1960s to reduce packaging costs.
For more on packaging formats specific to CDs, see the separate article.
Besides the practicalities of identifying specific records, album covers serve the purpose of advertising the musical contents on the LP, through the use of graphic design
, photography
, and/or illustration
. An album cover normally has the artist's name, sometimes in logo
form; and the album title. Occasionally, though more common on historical vinyl records, the cover may include a reference number; a branding (the label
), and possibly a track listing. Other information is seldom included on the cover, and is usually contained on the rear or interior of the packaging, such as a track listing together with a more detailed list of those involved in making the record, band members, guest performers, engineers and producer. On the spine of the package, the artist, title, and reference number are usually repeated so that albums can be identified while tightly packed on a shelf.
physical music products, with a physical "album cover", continue to outsell digital downloads.
In August 2008, album cover designer Peter Saville, responsible for cover art on albums by New Order
and Roxy Music
, suggested that the album cover was dead.
One digital solution is the iTunes LP
format for interactive album artwork introduced by Apple on the 9 September 2009.
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
. The term can refer to either the printed cardboard covers typically used to package sets of 10" and 12" 78 rpm records, single and sets of 12" LP
LP record
The LP, or long-playing microgroove record, is a format for phonograph records, an analog sound storage medium. Introduced by Columbia Records in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry...
s, sets of 45 rpm records (either in several connected sleeves or a box), or the front-facing panel of a CD
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
package, and, increasingly, the primary image accompanying a digital download
Music download
A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment...
of the album, or of its individual tracks
Track (CD)
On an optical disc, a track or title is a subdivision of its content. Specifically, it is a consecutive set of sectors on the disc containing a block of data. One session may contain one or more tracks of the same or different types...
.
In addition, in the case of all types of records, it also serves as part of the protective sleeve.
Early history
Around 1910, 78 rpm records replaced phonograph cylinderPhonograph cylinder
Phonograph cylinders were the earliest commercial medium for recording and reproducing sound. Commonly known simply as "records" in their era of greatest popularity , these cylinder shaped objects had an audio recording engraved on the outside surface which could be reproduced when the cylinder was...
as the medium for recorded sound. The 78 rpm records were issued in both 10" and 12" diameter sizes and were usually sold separately, in brown paper or cardboard sleeves that were sometimes plain and sometimes printed to show the producer or the retailer's name. Generally the sleeves had a circular cutout allowing the record label to be seen. Records could be laid on a shelf horizontally or stood upright on an edge, but because of their fragility, many broke in storage.
German record company Odeon
Odeon Records
Odeon Records was a record label founded in 1903 by Max Straus and Heinrich Zuntz of the International Talking Machine Company in Berlin, Germany. It was named after a famous theatre in Paris, whose classical dome appears on the Odeon record label....
pioneered the "album" in 1909 when it released the "Nutcracker Suite" by Tchaikovsky on four double-sided discs in a specially designed package. http://history.sandiego.edu/gen/recording/notes.html#cylinder (It is not indicated what the specially designed package was.) The practice of issuing albums does not seem to have been taken up by other record companies for many years.
Beginning in the 1920s, bound collections of empty sleeves with a plain paperboard
Paperboard
Paperboard is a thick paper based material. While there is no rigid differentiation between paper and paperboard, paperboard is generally thicker than paper. According to ISO standards, paperboard is a paper with a basis weight above 224 g/m2, but there are exceptions. Paperboard can be single...
or leather
Leather
Leather is a durable and flexible material created via the tanning of putrescible animal rawhide and skin, primarily cattlehide. It can be produced through different manufacturing processes, ranging from cottage industry to heavy industry.-Forms:...
cover, similar to a photograph album, were sold as "record albums" that customers could use to store their records (the name "record album" was printed on some covers). These empty albums were sold in both 10" and 12" sizes. The covers of these bound books were wider and taller than the records inside, allowing the record album to be placed on a shelf upright, like a book, suspending the fragile records above the shelf and protecting them.
Starting in the 1930s, record companies began issuing collections of 78 rpm records by one performer or of one type of music in specially assembled albums. These albums could include either a collection of popular songs, on several 78 rpm records, related either by performer or style, or extended length classical music
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
, also on several 78 rpm records, including complete symphonies.
In 1938, Columbia records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
hired Alex Steinweiss
Alex Steinweiss
Alexander "Alex" Steinweiss was a graphic designer known for inventing the album cover.-Early life:Alex Steinweiss was born on March 24, 1917, in Brooklyn. His father was a women's shoe designer from Warsaw and his mother was a seamstress from Riga, Latvia...
as its first art director. He is credited with inventing the concept of album covers and cover art, replacing plain covers used before. After his initial efforts at Columbia, other record companies followed his lead. By the late 1940s, record albums for all the major companies featured their own colorful paper covers in both 10-inch and 12-inch sizes. Some featured reproductions of classic art while others utilized original designs.
When the 10" and 12" LPs came along, starting in 1948, and box sets of 45 rpm records soon followed (see Gramophone record
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
), the name "album" came along for the new format of collections and the creation of artistic original album covers continued as well.
Formats
From the 1950s through to the 1980s, the 12" LP record and the 45 rpm record were the major formats for distribution of popular musicPopular music
Popular music belongs to any of a number of musical genres "having wide appeal" and is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. It stands in contrast to both art music and traditional music, which are typically disseminated academically or orally to smaller, local...
, and the LP format is still used for occasional new releases, though it has largely been supplanted by other formats. The size of the typical cardboard LP sleeve cover is 12.375 inches square.
Since the mid-1990s,the CD has become the most common form of physically distributed music products. Packaging formats vary, including the very common plastic jewel case, and the popular cardboard & plastic combination commonly known as a Digipak
Digipak
Digipak is a patented style of CD, DVD or BD packaging, and is a registered trademark of AGI World Ltd., an Atlas Holdings company.-Features:...
. Typically the album cover component of these packages is approximately 4.75 inches square.
Design
Bob Cato
Bob Cato was a graphic designer whose work in record album cover design contributed to the development of music and popular culture for five decades. He was vice president of creative services at Columbia Records, and later at United Artists.-Biography:Bob Cato was raised in New Orleans, Louisiana...
who at various stages in his long music career was vice president of creative services at both Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
and United Artists
United Artists
United Artists Corporation is an American film studio. The original studio of that name was founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charles Chaplin, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks....
, album covers became renowned for being a marketing tool and an expression of artistic intent. The Band
The Band
The Band was an acclaimed and influential roots rock group. The original group consisted of Rick Danko , Garth Hudson , Richard Manuel , and Robbie Robertson , and Levon Helm...
's 1970 release Stage Fright
Stage Fright (album)
Stage Fright is the third album by Canadian-American group The Band released in 1970. Much more of a rock album than its predecessors, it was a departure from their previous two efforts in that its tone was darker and featured less of the harmony vocal blend that had been a centerpiece of those two...
with Norman Seeff
Norman Seeff
Norman Seeff was born March 5, 1939 in Johannesburg, South Africa. Since moving to the United States in 1969, his work as a photographer and filmmaker has been focused on the exploration of human creativity and the inner dynamics of the creative process....
's photograph as a poster insert is an early example with the poster quickly becoming a collector's item. Gatefold cover
Gatefold
A gatefold is a type of fold used for advertising around a magazine or section, and for packaging of media such as vinyl records.- LP covers :...
s, (a folded double cover), and inserts, often with lyric sheets, made the album cover a desirable artifact in its own right. Notable examples are The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is the eighth studio album by the English rock band The Beatles, released on 1 June 1967 on the Parlophone label and produced by George Martin...
which had cut-out inserts, lyrics, a gatefold sleeve even though it was a single album.The original working title of A Day In The Life was "In The Life Of..." A rare session outside of Abbey Road occurred during the time of the Sgt. Pepper sessions at Regent Sound Studio in London for part of Fixing A Hole on February 9, 1967. Also during this period, the long-lost avante-garde Beatles recording called Carnival of Light was recorded on January 5, 1967; The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
Exile on Main Street which had a gatefold and a series of 12 perforated postcards as inserts (also by photographer Norman Seeff
Norman Seeff
Norman Seeff was born March 5, 1939 in Johannesburg, South Africa. Since moving to the United States in 1969, his work as a photographer and filmmaker has been focused on the exploration of human creativity and the inner dynamics of the creative process....
); and Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
's The Dark Side of the Moon
The Dark Side of the Moon
The Dark Side of the Moon is the eighth studio album by English progressive rock band Pink Floyd, released in March 1973. It built on ideas explored in the band's earlier recordings and live shows, but lacks the extended instrumental excursions that characterised their work following the departure...
which had a gatefold, lyrics, no title on the sleeve and poster and sticker inserts. The move to the small (less than 1/4 the size of a record) CD format lost that impact, though attempts have been made to create a more desirable packaging for the CD format, for example the re-issue of Sgt. Pepper, which had a cardboard box and booklet, or the use of oversized packaging.
The importance of cover design was such that some artists specialised or gained fame through their work, notably the design team Hipgnosis
Hipgnosis
Hipgnosis was a British art design group that specialized in creating cover art for the albums of rock musicians and bands, most notably Pink Floyd, T.Rex, The Pretty Things, UFO, 10cc, Bad Company, Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, Scorpions, Yes, The Alan Parsons Project, Genesis, Peter Gabriel, ELO and XTC...
(through their work on Pink Floyd albums amongst others) and Roger Dean famous for his Yes
Yes (band)
Yes are an English rock band who achieved worldwide success with their progressive, art, and symphonic style of rock music. Regarded as one of the pioneers of the progressive genre, Yes are known for their lengthy songs, mystical lyrics, elaborate album art, and live stage sets...
and Greenslade
Greenslade
Greenslade is an English progressive rock band. It was originally formed in the autumn of 1972 with the following line-up:* Dave Greenslade - keyboards...
covers, Cal Schenkel
Cal Schenkel
Cal Schenkel is an artist specialising in album cover design. He was the main visual collaborator for Frank Zappa and was responsible for the art and graphic design of many of Zappa's most well-known album covers. Schenkel's work is iconic and distinctive in style; a forerunner of punk art and...
for Captain Beefheart's Trout Mask Replica
Trout Mask Replica
Trout Mask Replica is the third album by Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band, released in June 1969. Produced by Beefheart's friend and former schoolmate Frank Zappa, it was originally released as a double album on Zappa's Straight Records label...
and Frank Zappa's We're Only in It for the Money
We're Only in It for the Money
We're Only in It For the Money is the third studio album by The Mothers of Invention, released in March 1968. The album peaked at number thirty on the Billboard 200...
.
The talents of many photographers and illustrators from both inside and outside of the music industry have been used to produce a vast array of memorable LP/CD covers. Photographer Mick Rock
Mick Rock
Mick Rock is a British photographer best known for his iconic shots of rock and roll legends such as Queen, David Bowie, Syd Barrett, Lou Reed, Iggy Pop and The Stooges, The Sex Pistols, The Ramones, Joan Jett, Talking Heads, Roxy Music, Crossfade, Thin Lizzy, Motley Crue, and Blondie...
produced some of the most iconographic album covers of the 1970s, including Queen
Queen (band)
Queen are a British rock band formed in London in 1971, originally consisting of Freddie Mercury , Brian May , John Deacon , and Roger Taylor...
's Queen II
Queen II
Queen II is the second album by British rock group Queen, released in March 1974. It was recorded at Trident Studios, London in August 1973 with co-producers Roy Thomas Baker and Robin Cable, and engineered by Mike Stone....
(recreated for their classic music video Bohemian Rhapsody
Bohemian Rhapsody
"Bohemian Rhapsody" is a song by the British rock band Queen. It was written by Freddie Mercury for the band's 1975 album A Night at the Opera...
), Syd Barrett
Syd Barrett
Syd Barrett , born Roger Keith Barrett, was an English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and painter, best remembered as a founding member of the band Pink Floyd. He was the lead vocalist, guitarist and primary songwriter during the band's psychedelic years, providing major musical and stylistic...
's The Madcap Laughs
The Madcap Laughs
The Madcap Laughs is an album by British singer/songwriter Syd Barrett, released on 3 January 1970. It was his first solo album after being replaced in the band Pink Floyd by his old school friend David Gilmour.- History :...
, and Lou Reed
Lou Reed
Lewis Allan "Lou" Reed is an American rock musician, songwriter, and photographer. He is best known as guitarist, vocalist, and principal songwriter of The Velvet Underground, and for his successful solo career, which has spanned several decades...
's Transformer
Transformer (album)
Transformer is the second studio album by American rock musician Lou Reed, released in November 1972.-Background:Unlike its predecessor, Lou Reed, eight songs of which were written during his Velvet Underground days, Transformer contains mainly new material...
. In addition to the examples mentioned previously, a number of world-renowned graphic artists and illustrators such as Ed Repka
Ed Repka
Edward J. Repka is an American artist best known for creating album covers for heavy metal music bands as well as shirt designs, including those featuring Megadeth's mascot Vic Rattlehead. Repka's portfolio also includes Dark Angel's logo and model designs for the Hellraiser films...
(Megadeth
Megadeth
Megadeth is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California which was formed in 1983 by guitarist/vocalist Dave Mustaine, bassist Dave Ellefson and guitarist Greg Handevidt, following Mustaine's expulsion from Metallica. The band has since released 13 studio albums, three live albums, two...
), Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol
Andrew Warhola , known as Andy Warhol, was an American painter, printmaker, and filmmaker who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art...
(The Velvet Underground
The Velvet Underground
The Velvet Underground was an American rock band formed in New York City. First active from 1964 to 1973, their best-known members were Lou Reed and John Cale, who both went on to find success as solo artists. Although experiencing little commercial success while together, the band is often cited...
, The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
), Mati Klarwein
Mati Klarwein
Abdul Mati Klarwein was a painter best known for his works used on the covers of music albums.-Biography:...
(Santana
Santana (band)
Santana is a rock band based around guitarist Carlos Santana and founded in the late 1960s. It first came to public attention after their performing the song "Soul Sacrifice" at the Woodstock Festival in 1969, when their Latin rock provided a contrast to other acts on the bill...
, Miles Davis
Miles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz,...
), H. R. Giger
H. R. Giger
Hans Rudolf "Ruedi" Giger is a Swiss surrealist painter, sculptor, and set designer. He won an Academy Award for Best Achievement for Visual Effects for his design work on the film Alien.-Early life:...
(Emerson, Lake & Palmer
Emerson, Lake & Palmer
Emerson, Lake & Palmer, also known as ELP, are an English progressive rock supergroup. They found success in the 1970s and sold over forty million albums and headlined large stadium concerts. The band consists of Keith Emerson , Greg Lake and Carl Palmer...
, Debbie Harry), Frank Frazetta
Frank Frazetta
Frank Frazetta was an American fantasy and science fiction artist, noted for work in comic books, paperback book covers, paintings, posters, LP record album covers and other media...
(Molly Hatchet), Derek Riggs
Derek Riggs
Derek Riggs is a contemporary British artist best known for creating the heavy metal music band Iron Maiden's mascot, "Eddie the Head".-Career:...
(Iron Maiden
Iron Maiden
Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band from Leyton in east London, formed in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. Since their inception, the band's discography has grown to include a total of thirty-six albums: fifteen studio albums; eleven live albums; four EPs; and six...
), Jamie Reid
Jamie Reid
Jamie Reid is a British artist and anarchist with connections to the Situationists. His work, featuring letters cut from newspaper headlines in the style of a ransom note, came close to defining the image of punk rock, particularly in the UK...
(The Sex Pistols), Howard Finster
Howard Finster
Howard Finster was an American artist and Baptist reverend from Georgia. He claimed to be inspired by God to spread the gospel through the environment of Paradise Garden and over 46,000 pieces of art. His creations overlap folk art, outsider art, naïve art, and visionary art...
(R.E.M.
R.E.M.
R.E.M. was an American rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by singer Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills and drummer Bill Berry. One of the first popular alternative rock bands, R.E.M. gained early attention due to Buck's ringing, arpeggiated guitar style and Stipe's...
, Talking Heads
Talking Heads
Talking Heads were an American New Wave and avant-garde band formed in 1975 in New York City and active until 1991. The band comprised David Byrne, Chris Frantz, Tina Weymouth and Jerry Harrison...
), Al Hirschfeld
Al Hirschfeld
Albert "Al" Hirschfeld was an American caricaturist best known for his simple black and white portraits of celebrities and Broadway stars.-Personal life:Born in St...
(Aerosmith
Aerosmith
Aerosmith is an American rock band, sometimes referred to as "The Bad Boys from Boston" and "America's Greatest Rock and Roll Band". Their style, which is rooted in blues-based hard rock, has come to also incorporate elements of pop, heavy metal, and rhythm and blues, and has inspired many...
), Gottfried Helnwein
Gottfried Helnwein
Gottfried Helnwein is an Austrian-Irish fine artist, painter, photographer, installation and performance artist.-Work:Helnwein studied at the University of Visual Art in Vienna...
(Marilyn Manson
Marilyn Manson
Marilyn Manson may refer to:* Marilyn Manson , an American rock musician* Marilyn Manson , the American rock band led by the singer of the same name...
), Rex Ray
Rex Ray
Rex Ray is an American fine artist and graphic designer based in San Francisco. His work has been exhibited at galleries and Museums throughout the US and Europe including Turner Carroll Gallery, Gallery 16, Crocker Museum, San Jose Museum of Art, MCA Denver...
(David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
), Robert Crumb
Robert Crumb
Robert Dennis Crumb —known as Robert Crumb and R. Crumb—is an American artist, illustrator, and musician recognized for the distinctive style of his drawings and his critical, satirical, subversive view of the American mainstream.Crumb was a founder of the underground comix movement and is regarded...
(Big Brother & the Holding Company), John Van Hamersveld
John Van Hamersveld
John Van Hamersveld is an American graphic artist and illustrator who designed record jackets for pop and psychedelic bands, since the 1960s...
(The Rolling Stones), and Shepard Fairey (Johnny Cash
Johnny Cash
John R. "Johnny" Cash was an American singer-songwriter, actor, and author, who has been called one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century...
) have all applied their talents to memorable music packages.
A number of record covers have also used images licensed (or borrowed from the public domain) from artists of bygone eras. Well-known examples of this include the cover of Derek and the Dominoes Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs
Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs
Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs is a blues-rock album by Derek and the Dominos, released in November 1970, best known for its eponymous title track, "Layla"...
(from the painting "La Fille au Bouquet" by French painter and sculptor Emile Théodore Frandsen de Schomberg), the cover of Kansas's debut album, adapted from a mural by painter John Steuart Curry
John Steuart Curry
John Steuart Curry was an American painter whose career spanned from 1924 until his death. He was noted for his paintings depicting life in his home state, Kansas...
, Norman Rockwell
Norman Rockwell
Norman Percevel Rockwell was a 20th-century American painter and illustrator. His works enjoy a broad popular appeal in the United States for their reflection of American culture. Rockwell is most famous for the cover illustrations of everyday life scenarios he created for The Saturday Evening...
's cowboy (Pure Prairie League), and, more recently, Coldplay
Coldplay
Coldplay are a British alternative rock band formed in 1996 by lead vocalist Chris Martin and lead guitarist Jonny Buckland at University College London. After they formed Pectoralz, Guy Berryman joined the group as a bassist and they changed their name to Starfish. Will Champion joined as a...
's Viva La Vida
Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends
Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends, often referred to as simply Viva la Vida is the fourth studio album by British rock band Coldplay, released on 11 June 2008 on Parlophone. The album was named after a Spanish phrase that translates in English as "long live life"...
, which features Eugène Delacroix
Eugène Delacroix
Ferdinand Victor Eugène Delacroix was a French Romantic artist regarded from the outset of his career as the leader of the French Romantic school...
's painting Liberty Leading the People
Liberty Leading the People
Liberty Leading the People is a painting by Eugène Delacroix commemorating the July Revolution of 1830, which toppled Charles X of France. A woman personifying Liberty leads the people forward over the bodies of the fallen, holding the tricouleur flag of the French Revolution in one hand and...
(a favorite in The Louvre) with the words "VIVA LA VIDA" brushed on top in white paint.
Legends from photography and video/film who have also produced record cover images include Drew Struzan
Drew Struzan
Drew Struzan is an American artist known for his more than 150 movie posters, which include all the films in the Indiana Jones, Back to the Future and Star Wars film series. He has also painted album covers, collectibles, and book covers.- Early life and education :Drew Struzan was born in Oregon...
(Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath are an English heavy metal band, formed in Aston, Birmingham in 1969 by Ozzy Osbourne , Tony Iommi , Geezer Butler , and Bill Ward . The band has since experienced multiple line-up changes, with Tony Iommi the only constant presence in the band through the years. A total of 22...
, Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper is an American rock singer, songwriter and musician whose career spans more than four decades...
, Iron Butterfly
Iron Butterfly
Iron Butterfly is a US psychedelic rock band best known for the 1968 hit "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida".Their heyday was the late 1960s, but the band has been reincarnated with various members. In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida is the 31st best-selling album in the world, selling more than 25 million copies.-History:The...
, The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys are an American rock band, formed in 1961 in Hawthorne, California. The group was initially composed of brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Managed by the Wilsons' father Murry, The Beach Boys signed to Capitol Records in 1962...
and others), Annie Leibovitz
Annie Leibovitz
Anna-Lou "Annie" Leibovitz is an American portrait photographer.-Early life and education:Born in Waterbury, Connecticut, Leibovitz is the third of six children. She is a third-generation American whose great-grandparents were Jewish immigrants, from Central and Eastern Europe. Her father's...
(John Lennon
John Lennon
John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
, Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen , nicknamed "The Boss," is an American singer-songwriter who records and tours with the E Street Band...
, Patti Smith
Patti Smith
Patricia Lee "Patti" Smith is an American singer-songwriter, poet and visual artist, who became a highly influential component of the New York City punk rock movement with her 1975 debut album Horses....
), Richard Avedon
Richard Avedon
Richard Avedon was an American photographer. An obituary published in The New York Times said that "his fashion and portrait photographs helped define America's image of style, beauty and culture for the last half-century."-Photography career:Avedon was born in New York City to a Jewish Russian...
(Whitney Houston
Whitney Houston
Whitney Elizabeth Houston is an American singer, actress, producer and a former model. Houston is the most awarded female act of all time, according to Guinness World Records, and her list of awards include 1 Emmy Award, 6 Grammy Awards, 30 Billboard Music Awards, 22 American Music Awards, among...
, Teddy Pendergrass
Teddy Pendergrass
Theodore DeReese "Teddy" Pendergrass was an American R&B/soul singer and songwriter. Pendergrass first rose to fame as lead singer of Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes in the 1970s before a successful solo career at the end of the decade...
), Norman Seeff
Norman Seeff
Norman Seeff was born March 5, 1939 in Johannesburg, South Africa. Since moving to the United States in 1969, his work as a photographer and filmmaker has been focused on the exploration of human creativity and the inner dynamics of the creative process....
(The Band
The Band
The Band was an acclaimed and influential roots rock group. The original group consisted of Rick Danko , Garth Hudson , Richard Manuel , and Robbie Robertson , and Levon Helm...
, The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
, Kiss
KISS (band)
Kiss is an American rock band formed in New York City in January 1973. Well-known for its members' face paint and flamboyant stage outfits, the group rose to prominence in the mid to late 1970s on the basis of their elaborate live performances, which featured fire breathing, blood spitting,...
, Aerosmith
Aerosmith
Aerosmith is an American rock band, sometimes referred to as "The Bad Boys from Boston" and "America's Greatest Rock and Roll Band". Their style, which is rooted in blues-based hard rock, has come to also incorporate elements of pop, heavy metal, and rhythm and blues, and has inspired many...
), David LaChappelle (No Doubt
No Doubt
No Doubt is an American rock band from Anaheim, California that formed in 1986. The ska-pop sound of their first album No Doubt , failed to make an impact...
, Elton John
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...
), Anton Corbijn
Anton Corbijn
Anton Corbijn is a Dutch photographer, music video and film director. He is the creative director behind the visual output of Depeche Mode and U2, having handled the principal promotion and sleeve photography for both for more than a decade...
(U2
U2
U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...
, The Killers, Depeche Mode
Depeche Mode
Depeche Mode are an English electronic music band formed in 1980 in Basildon, Essex. The group's original line-up consisted of Dave Gahan , Martin Gore , Andy Fletcher and Vince Clarke...
), Karl Ferris
Karl Ferris
Karl Ferris is an English photographer/designer, best known as one of the principal innovators of "psychedelic" photography. A photographer to the “British Rock Elite” - Eric Clapton, Cream, Donovan, The Hollies and Jimi Hendrix - Ferris was invited - as a style consultant and their personal...
(Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
, Donovan
Donovan
Donovan Donovan Donovan (born Donovan Philips Leitch (born 10 May 1946) is a Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist. Emerging from the British folk scene, he developed an eclectic and distinctive style that blended folk, jazz, pop, psychedelia, and world music...
, The Hollies
The Hollies
The Hollies are an English pop and rock group, formed in Manchester in the early 1960s, though most of the band members are from throughout East Lancashire. Known for their distinctive vocal harmony style, they became one of the leading British groups of the 1960s and 1970s...
), Robert Mapplethorpe
Robert Mapplethorpe
Robert Mapplethorpe was an American photographer, known for his large-scale, highly stylized black and white portraits, photos of flowers and nude men...
(Patti Smith, Peter Gabriel
Peter Gabriel
Peter Brian Gabriel is an English singer, musician, and songwriter who rose to fame as the lead vocalist and flautist of the progressive rock group Genesis. After leaving Genesis, Gabriel went on to a successful solo career...
) and Francesco Scavullo
Francesco Scavullo
Francesco Scavullo was an American fashion photographer best known for his work on the covers of Cosmopolitan and his celebrity portraits.-Biography:...
(Diana Ross
Diana Ross
Diana Ernestine Earle Ross is an American singer, record producer, and actress. Ross was lead singer of the Motown group The Supremes during the 1960s. After leaving the group in 1970, Ross began a solo career that included successful ventures into film and Broadway...
, Edgar Winter), David Michael Kennedy
David Michael Kennedy
David Michael Kennedy is a fine art photographer living and working in New Mexico, USA. His career spans more than 35 years and includes an 18-year stint in New York City where he was known as a specialist in photography for the advertising and music industries...
others.
As one would expect, a number of artists and bands feature members who are, in their own right, accomplished illustrators, designers and photographers and whose talents are exhibited in the artwork they produced for their own recordings. Examples include Jimmy Page
Jimmy Page
James Patrick "Jimmy" Page, OBE is an English multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and record producer. He began his career as a studio session guitarist in London and was subsequently a member of The Yardbirds from 1966 to 1968, after which he founded the English rock band Led Zeppelin.Jimmy Page...
(Led Zeppelin IV), Chris Mars (Replacements’ Pleased to Meet Me and others), Marilyn Manson
Marilyn Manson
Marilyn Manson may refer to:* Marilyn Manson , an American rock musician* Marilyn Manson , the American rock band led by the singer of the same name...
(Lest We Forget…), Michael Stipe
Michael Stipe
John Michael Stipe is an American singer and lyricist. He was the lead vocalist of the alternative rock band R.E.M.Stipe is noted and occasionally parodied for the "mumbling" style of his early career as well as his social and political activism. He was in charge of R.E.M.'s visual image; often...
(REM's Accelerator), Thom Yorke
Thom Yorke
Thomas "Thom" Edward Yorke is an English musician who is the lead vocalist and principal songwriter for Radiohead. He mainly plays guitar and piano, but he has also played drums and bass guitar...
(credited as "Tchocky" on misc. Radiohead
Radiohead
Radiohead are an English rock band from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, formed in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke , Jonny Greenwood , Ed O'Brien , Colin Greenwood and Phil Selway .Radiohead released their debut single "Creep" in 1992...
records), Michael Brecker (Ringorama), Freddie Mercury
Freddie Mercury
Freddie Mercury was a British musician, singer and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist of the rock band Queen. As a performer, he was known for his flamboyant stage persona and powerful vocals over a four-octave range...
(Queen I), John Entwistle
John Entwistle
John Alec Entwistle was an English bass guitarist, songwriter, singer, horn player, and film and record producer who was best known as the bass player for the rock band The Who. His aggressive lead sound influenced many rock bass players...
(Who By Numbers), Mike Shinoda
Mike Shinoda
Michael "Mike" Kenji Shinoda is an American musician, record producer, and artist. He is best known as the rapper, principal songwriter, keyboardist, vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the rock band Linkin Park, along with his co-frontman and lead singer Chester Bennington, and as a solo rapper in...
(various Linkin Park
Linkin Park
Linkin Park is an American rock band from Agoura Hills, California. Formed in 1996, the band rose to international fame with their debut album, Hybrid Theory, which was certified Diamond by the RIAA in 2005 and multi-platinum in several other countries...
albums), Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell, CC is a Canadian musician, singer songwriter, and painter. Mitchell began singing in small nightclubs in her native Saskatchewan and Western Canada and then busking in the streets and dives of Toronto...
(Miles of Aisles) as well for Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (So Far), and M.I.A.
M.I.A. (artist)
Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasam , better known by her stage name M.I.A. , is an English singer-songwriter, rapper, record producer, painter and director of Sri Lankan Tamil descent. Her compositions combine elements of hip hop, electronica, dance, alternative and world music. M.I.A...
(credited variously on Elastica
Elastica
Elastica were an English alternative rock band that played punk rock-influenced music. They were best known for their 1995 album Elastica, which produced singles that charted in the US and the UK.-History:...
's The Menace, her records).
Collectors of music-related illustration, design, and photography worldwide have been able to build their personal collections of album cover-related fine art through the efforts of galleries and publishers that specialize in these works, such as St. Paul's Gallery (UK), Walnut Street Gallery (US), and RockPoP Gallery (US).
Packaging
The album cover is a component of the over all packaging of an album. Especially in the case of vinyl records with cardboard sleeves, these packages are prone to wear and tear, although wear and tear does often take place to some degree on covers contained within plastic cases. A variety of treatments could be applied to improve both their appearance and durability, such as clear plastic wrap. Many products have been available for the storage of vinyl albums, often clear plastic sleeves.The surface of a vinyl record is readily damaged, so aside from the outer cardboard sleeve, there is usually an inner protective cover to protect against dust and handling. This is normally shaped to allow it to readily slide within the outer cover. The inner sleeve is either thin white paper, either plain or printed with information on other recordings available from the same company, or a paper sleeve supporting a thin plastic bag. These quite often have a circular cut out so that the record label can be read without directly handling the record, though when the inner sleeve is printed with lyrics, which became quite common, then there is usually no hole. Decca Records used a system of colour-coding on these sleeves where a blue color denoted a stereophonic
Stereophonic sound
The term Stereophonic, commonly called stereo, sound refers to any method of sound reproduction in which an attempt is made to create an illusion of directionality and audible perspective...
recording while red denoted a monophonic
Monaural
Monaural or monophonic sound reproduction is single-channel. Typically there is only one microphone, one loudspeaker, or channels are fed from a common signal path...
recording (the mono record players of the time were not always compatible with stereo records). This system was begun in the 1960s to reduce packaging costs.
For more on packaging formats specific to CDs, see the separate article.
Besides the practicalities of identifying specific records, album covers serve the purpose of advertising the musical contents on the LP, through the use of graphic design
Graphic design
Graphic design is a creative process – most often involving a client and a designer and usually completed in conjunction with producers of form – undertaken in order to convey a specific message to a targeted audience...
, photography
Photography
Photography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...
, and/or illustration
Illustration
An illustration is a displayed visualization form presented as a drawing, painting, photograph or other work of art that is created to elucidate or dictate sensual information by providing a visual representation graphically.- Early history :The earliest forms of illustration were prehistoric...
. An album cover normally has the artist's name, sometimes in logo
Logo
A logo is a graphic mark or emblem commonly used by commercial enterprises, organizations and even individuals to aid and promote instant public recognition...
form; and the album title. Occasionally, though more common on historical vinyl records, the cover may include a reference number; a branding (the label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
), and possibly a track listing. Other information is seldom included on the cover, and is usually contained on the rear or interior of the packaging, such as a track listing together with a more detailed list of those involved in making the record, band members, guest performers, engineers and producer. On the spine of the package, the artist, title, and reference number are usually repeated so that albums can be identified while tightly packed on a shelf.
The album cover in the age of downloads
With the increasing popularity of digital music downloading service and the inflating cost of conducting business, the purpose and prevalence of the album cover is evolving. While the music industry tries to keep up with technological and cultural shifts, the role that packaging (and thus the "album cover") will play in consumer music sales in the near future is uncertain, although its role is certainly changing, and digital forms of packaging will continue to surface, which, to some degree (and to some consumers) take the place of physical packaging. Both MP3 and WMA music files are able to contain embedded digital album artworks (called cover images or simply covers) in jpeg format.physical music products, with a physical "album cover", continue to outsell digital downloads.
In August 2008, album cover designer Peter Saville, responsible for cover art on albums by New Order
New Order
New Order are an English rock band formed in 1980 by Bernard Sumner , Peter Hook and Stephen Morris...
and Roxy Music
Roxy Music
Roxy Music was a British art rock band formed in 1971 by Bryan Ferry, who became the group's lead vocalist and chief songwriter, and bassist Graham Simpson. The other members are Phil Manzanera , Andy Mackay and Paul Thompson . Former members include Brian Eno , and Eddie Jobson...
, suggested that the album cover was dead.
One digital solution is the iTunes LP
ITunes LP
iTunes LP is a format for interactive album artwork introduced by Apple Inc. on the 9 September 2009. It is similar to the CMX format being developed by the 4 major record labels, and operates within the iTunes 9 software, allowing the user to view multimedia elements alongside the music...
format for interactive album artwork introduced by Apple on the 9 September 2009.
External links
- Album Art Is NOT Dead An Interview With Artist Ioannis
- Album cover search Search Engine For Album Art
- Original Album Cover Art Gallery Gallery of Artwork Produced by Pacific Eye & Ear including pieces by Drew StruzanDrew StruzanDrew Struzan is an American artist known for his more than 150 movie posters, which include all the films in the Indiana Jones, Back to the Future and Star Wars film series. He has also painted album covers, collectibles, and book covers.- Early life and education :Drew Struzan was born in Oregon...