The image of a fist is a universal sign of aggression, power and defiance yet there was a significant lack of albums featuring fists. I thought we’d be trawling through hundreds but it seems we have just the few seen below.

It’s no mistake that most of the bands are metal and only one has any sense of humour. For a band or album with fist in the name it must be hard for the designer to resist such a powerful image.

A big shout out to GuitarNoize for helping chase down the albums via Twitter.

So I present to you all the fist albums we could find. Which is the perfect compliment to our album covers with butts cover compilation.

I’ll start with one of the worst covers and the one that comes up the most on Google Image search for fist album. (Side Note: Make sure to turn ON safe searching whenever searching for “fist” on Google images. Argh I can’t unsee some of that stuff!)

MSTRKRFT: Fist of God
Designer: Unknown (Lucky bastard as this is an uninspired turd!)

A better cover would have been this promo image of them with masks on.

The masks hide the fact they look like douchebags without them (learn from Daft Punk guys). Well the guy on the right looks like Chick Liddell.

Moderat: Moderat
This was the only album to have some sense of humour (and a female) with the fist imagery. Moderat’s self titled album is one I’m going to track down next week for a proper listen.

It reminded me of a SFW version of Coop’s art. But upon research (source) it looks to be inspired by a R. Crumb piece from 1990 from his Bring Me Your Love illustrations booklet. Buy it here on Amazon or check this Flickr set. Which makes sense as R. Crumb had a sick sense of humour.

The first single off the album Rusty Nail also features a fist and this time on solid red. This is quiet nice also.

The actual song is oddly familiar and a great track.

Interesting when you take the women out of the picture and my mind turns to this war poster, rather than an image of a women hitting herself in the face.

Alice Cooper: Raise your Fist and Yell
Jim Warren the artist on this piece seems to have moved on from the horror work for more dolphins & horses meet Dali inspired work.

Rage Against The Machine: Battle of Los Angeles

According to Wikipedia “The album cover art was an original artwork by the LA Street Phantom aka Joey Krebs aka Joel Jaramillo, a well-known Los Angeles artist who has exhibited at numerous galleries in Los Angeles, New York City and throughout the United States. Despite claims to the contrary, the image was not inspired by images from the 1992 street riots of LA or from images of Munich, but by the band’s own music and words, and represents one in a series of images of the artist’s work, which can also be seen on various street murals in Los Angeles”

You can see his work on this classic film clip also

After reading The Street Phantom’s artistic statement you have to feel for the guy who didn’t market himself as well as Banksy. I mean he didn’t even get mentioned in Exit Through the Gift Store and doesn’t even have a Wikipedia page on himself. That doesn’t stop him from throwing down a challenge to Shepard Fairey though. Boom! Street Cred = True. Mo Money = False :(

Wait did I say Street Cred? I’d like to retract that statement after seeing the photo below :) Sorry Joey

Metallica: St Anger

Now this is what you call a fist! Pushead did the art who is normally recognised by his skull work. he doesn’t seem to have an official site but you can say hi on his Facebook page. I still love the scene in Some Kind of Monster when Lars is trying to push the name of the album as Frantic and the other guys had to convince him of St. Anger.

The back cover is more of the usual Pushead style.

The cover was originally planned to have 3 alternative color variations but due to cost this was scrapped. Their website has the post from 2003! Congrats for keeping the site live for 7+ years! The other color variations look weak to me but some collectors out there have the limited edition lithograph prints of them. And some even crazier collector has all the foreign variations of the covers! Insane

Mr Flash: Disco Dynamite

This is one of my fav Fist albums with the artwork by the eclectic So Me French design group who look after all of Ed Banger’s artwork. Mr Flash was the first artist signed to Ed Banger Records which is something I’ll be sure to drop into conversation just to sound like I know WTF is going on in the world of music.

here’s Mr Flash posing for the cover

And I know I’ve said it before but the French are seriously punching above their weight (no pun intended) when it comes to new music. They are seriously pushing it.

Warning: If you only watch one Mr Flash film clip then please do yourself a NSFW favour and check this one out below! And if you think that is in poor taste do not watch this one by the same director Cédric BLAISBOIS.

Motorhead: Iron Fist

The first photo cover so far with what looks to be an actual fist prop. The photographer of the cover Allan Ballard photographed a lot of Motorhead’s stuff but this is the ony URL I can find of an Alan Ballard. I hope it’s not the same person. I found this alternative cover which shows where the prop was used. Very Spinal Tap! I wonder if that fist is in a Hard Rock Cafe somewhere?

Anthrax: Fistful of Metal

“Fuck yeah! that is exactly what I had in my head” is what was spoken when Anthrax saw the artwork for their debut album. Kent Joshpe not only did the artwork but the bands logo too which is still in use. What is Josh doing now? He’s the CD of an advertising agency! I doubt he has done any other logos recently that will last over 20 years and be tattooed on thousands of people.

Pantera: Vulgar Display Of Power

We covered this album long ago. Still one of my favs for both the music and the statement is makes as a cover. Has anyone got this issue of Revolver where they explain the story behind the photo?

it also gives me another opportunity to post this video…

Rainbow: Rising

Wait it’s a hard metal band called Rainbow? C’mon. Artwork by Ken Kelly who did the epic Love Gun for Kiss.

Chemical Bros: Push the Button

We covered this album and all it’s singles in great detail previously.

KATASTROFIST: Katastrofist

This cover actually came about after the band/designers posted options up on their site and asked for freed back. The end result is better than the options but still very cheesy. I would have preferred just the photo they used as reference below. Now that is a fist!

Here’s a few others I didn’t find anything worth posting about but wanted to include them in the “Fist Album” collection.

Super 400: Sweet Fist:

Snowgoons: A Fist in the Thought

Lime Spiders: Beethovens Fist

Update:
A big thanks to Ira and Holger for suggesting a bunch more that we missed.Including ones already covered on this site. Doh!

Yeah Yeah Yeahs: It’s Blitz!

Already featured here.

Fist: Back with a Vengeance

This just needs a Kapow! sound FX bubble. Cover art by Sid King.

Black Flag: Damaged

Ed Colver pre-smashed the mirror with a hammer before putting fake blood. You bunch of pussies!

Rancid: Let’s Go

Riverboat Gamblers: To the Confusion of our Enemies

Fist: Thunder in Rock

Does anyone have a 500px or wider version of this cover? Also why didn’t they just change their name. Redoing each cover to say MYO FIST for Europe is just dumb.

Fist: Hot Spikes

Now we’re talking. Like the cover of a Fighting Fantasy cover for the new book “Metal Fists of Fury” with artwork by Istvan Resz. I love that it has finger nails!

Take It Back!: Rumors Of Revolt

Rise Against: This Is Noise

Anti-Nowhere League: Streets of London

This is a single but we’ll include it. Also it’s just the bands logo on a wall but it’s a pretty bad ass logo. Again while corporate brands refresh their brands all the time bands seem to stick with the same one forever.

Have we missed an important fist album? Comment below and we’ll add it to the list.

Bob Hund (“Bob Dog” in Swedish) are a Scandinavian indie band that were formed in 1991. Along the way, they’ve gathered a loyal following, picked up some Swedish Grammys and spawned an English-language side project called Bergman Rock. They’ve also commissioned some pretty cool cover art, which is notable for the fact that it comes from the one designer. Martin Kann has worked with the band for over 15 years and his output has been extremely varied.

It’s a fruitful relationship, so we thought we’d get in touch with the talented Swede to find out a little more.

Bob Hund: CD cover (1993)

Bob Hund: CD cover (1994)

How did you start working with the band?

Thomas Öberg (the singer), Jonas Jonasson (the keyboard player) and I know each other since way back. When the band was formed, Öberg called me and asked if I could design their logo – which lead to doing their covers, back drops, merchandise and all that.

Your relationship has been very long-term. Why do you think that is?

Apart from being longtime friends, I spend a lot of time time with the band on a social level. It gives me so many insights, which are a unique source for the design. Throughout the years the band and I have grown together so closely that neither of us can get rid of each other.

Instant Life (1994)

Bob Hund: CD cover (1994)

Bob Hund: LP cover (1996)

The covers you create for them are very varied. How do you approach each one? What kind of brief do they give you?

I usually get into the process when the band is in the studio and a working title is set. My approach is always idea driven, which means that the idea dictates the design. That way my design is often content based. I never decorate and I never consider if something is beautiful or ugly. Those are subjective words irrelevant to the idea.

Regarding a brief there never is one.

Bergman Rock: I’m a crab (1998)

Bob Hund: My Soul Is For Sale! Everything Must Go! (1998)

Bob Hund: Bob Hund Never Sleeps (1999)

How involved are the band in in the process?

Bob Hund and Bergman Rock are a very unique client when it comes to involvement. They more or less give me total freedom to decide what I want. One time they didn’t want to see the cover until it was printed.

Bob Hund: Let the stone age begin (2001)

Bob Hund: 10 Years Backwards and 100 Years Forward (2002)

Bob Hund: CD cover (2002)

Bob Hund: LP cover (2002)

Bob Hund: The New That Was Supposed To Be So Good (2002)

Bergman Rock: Jim (2004)

What is your favourite cover you’ve done for them?

Hard to say.

I put a lot of emotions into all my covers when I’m in the process, so they are all special to me. But if I’m forced to pick one it would probably be “Fantastiskt” from 2009.

It is a vinyl 12″ single made in an edition of 1. The record is glued to a real turntable acting as package with the lyrics etched on the lid. It sold on e-Bay for 3,650 USD and became the most expensive record ever sold in Sweden.

Since forming in 1981, Metallica has become one of the world’s biggest selling bands, with over 50 million albums sold in the US alone. They’ve won 9 Grammy Awards and – from the battle over their first release through to the celebrated packaging for Death Magnetic – have created significant cover art as well.

Kill ‘Em All (1983)

This release was to be called Metal Up Your Ass and the cover was supposed to feature a toilet bowl with a hand clutching a dagger emerging from it. After significant pressure to reconsider, the band settled on Kill ‘Em All as an angry response and used the artwork for tour t-shirts instead.

Ride the Lightning (1984)

Master of Puppets (1986)

One of the most acclaimed metal albums of all time. Many prints of the 1986 release featured a parody of the PMRC “explicit lyrics” warning labels.

And Justice for All (1988)

The cover was made by Stephen Gorman based on a concept by James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich.

Metallica (1991)

Also popularly known as the Black Album, this is the second best selling album of the Soundscan era. Read a previous Sleevage entry about it here.

Load (1996)

The original artwork on the cover is entitled “Semen and Blood III” and is one of three photos by Andres Serrano, who mixed his own semen with bovine blood between two pieces of Plexiglass. The cover also features a new Metallica logo.   

ReLoad (1997)

Garage Inc (1998)

St Anger (2003)

Brian Schroeder designed the album cover and artwork for St. Anger.  Originally there was meant to be four different limited color variations  but the plans were eventually canceled.

Death Magnetic (2008)

A special edition of this release was packages in a coffin box. Death Magnetic won Best Recording Package at the 51st Grammy Awards.

In a classic Saturday Night Live Sketch in 2000, the show satirised the game show Celebrity Jeopardy – skewering both Robin Williams and Catherine Zeta Jones. But the breakout star of the sketch was comedian Darrel Hammond’s Sean Connery, who introduced the term “anal bum cover” in this memorable exchange:

Alex Trebek: For the last time, that is not a category. Sean Connery, why don’t you pick?

Sean Connery: Well, the game is afoot. I’ll take anal bum cover for 7,000.

Alex Trebek: That’s “An album cover”, not anal bum cover.

Sean Connery: I can read, Trebek. That says Anal bum cover. I’ve spent five years of my life trying to invent an anal bum cover, failing to do so is my greatest regret.

So in tribute to this obscure but resilient meme, we celebrate 7 great covers with backsides on the brain. Bottoms up!

Bruce Springsteen: Born in the USA (1984)

The undisputed heavyweight of album covers with bottoms on their front belongs to The Boss.

Born in the USA was the best-selling album of 1985 and shares the record for the most top ten hits from a single release. Springsteen was already a big star but, as one commentator puts it, it wasn’t until he “hit the gym to get buffed up and showed off his rear end in Annie Leibovitz’s famous cover photo for Born in the USA that he became an American pop icon.”

Springsteen’s new image came at just the right moment, as Rambo was hitting cinemas and Reagan was ushering in a period of muscular nationalism.

The irony that underscores this cover is that the vast majority of Springsteen’s new fans radically misinterpreted his lyrics and ideology. The patriots that packed stadiums and cheered on his anthems were blissfully unaware that they may as well have been nuns at a Madonna concert, delighted to see so many crucifixes on stage.

The contradiction was certainly not lost on Springsteen, who had to be convinced to use Leibowitz’s photo for the cover. Ultimately he did and the image was also incorporated in the video for the title track.

Born in the USA is one of the most imitated covers of all time. (The following examples were all found on music site AMiRIGHT)

The 2 Live Crew – As Nasty As They Wanna Be (1989)

Rarely was an album so aptly named, or a band so enamored by the backside. This cover is not what you’d describe as a design masterpiece, nor is the photograph anything less than ridiculous. And funnily enough, the bling and bum combo on the cover is the chastest thing about As Nasty As They Wanna Be, which was declared by more than one local court to be “obscene and illegal to sell”.

While their LA contemporaries were terrifying the moral majority with gangster rap, the Miami-based 2 Live Crew achieved it with pure filth. The single “Me So Horny” features a raft of romantic lyrics sure to melt the heart of any young lady:

“I won’t tell your mama if you don’t tell your dad
I know he’ll be disgusted when he sees your pussy busted
Wont your mama be so mad if she knew I got that ass?
I’m a freak in heat, a dog without warning
My appetite is sex, cause me so horny”

In a later verse, Fresh kid ice adds:

“You said it yourself, you like it like I do
Put your lips on my dick, and suck my asshole too”

The band also released a PG-version, As Clean As They Wanna Be, which came with the cute disclaimer “This album does not contain explicit lyrics.”

While the controversy surrounding As Nasty As They Wanna Be contributed to sales of over 2 million units, As Clean As They Wanna Be stayed on the shelves.

With battles over both censorship and copyright issues, The 2 Live Crew is one of the few bands to have their case taken to the Supreme Court.

Echoing their enthusiasm for both pop-culture references and female buttocks, the next release was a cheeky tribute to Born in the USA.

Loverboy – Get Lucky (1981)

Loverboy spent the eighties creating anthems that make you feel like you’re flying down a freeway.  Even the titles of Get Lucky’s hit singles scream epic good times: Working for the Weekend, Lucky Ones, Gangs in the Street and Take Me to the Top.

Get Lucky’s cover, featuring a confusing image from photographer David Kennedy, is striking in its simplicity. There’s something genuinely charming about the crossed fingers, which perfectly bring to life the hopeful optimism of the album’s title.

According to Wikipedia, the famous derriere belongs to the photographer’s daughter Tymara Christen Kennedy, which is not at all creepy.

Various Artists – Ripper ‘76 (1976)

I know very little about this hits compilation, except for the fact that its cover is amazing. It also must have shifted a few copies, as the motif was repeated the following year.

Eagles of Death Metal: Death by Sexy (2006)

They got their name when frontman Jess Hughes heard bandmate Josh Homme describe death metal group Vadar as “The Eagles of death metal”. The striking turn of phrase inspired Hughes to consider what that mix would actually sound like.

This enthusiasm for pastiche continues on the cover of Death by Sexy, the band’s second album. Recognisable influences for this anal bum cover include the Stone’s Sticky Fingers, Too Fast for Love by Motley Crue, Get Lucky and Born in the USA.

In many ways, it’s a perfect companion piece to the cover by The Donnas.

The Donnas – Bitchin’ (2007)

Read a previous Sleevage entry about this cover here

Sigur Rós – Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust (2008)

The latest album from everyone’s favourite Icelandic post-rock band features a photograph by contemporary artist Ryan McGinley. It’s taken from a 2008 series of his called I Know Where the Summer Goes (the title of which was taken from an early B-side by Belle & Sebastian).

McGinley’s primary artistic focus is youth and for this series he traveled America with a troupe of models. He photographed them sometimes clothed and sometimes naked, frolicking across vast, sunlit landscapes. The cover image evokes a feeling of freedom and joy, which is perhaps why the band chose it for an album titled (in English) “With A Buzz in Our Ears We Play Endlessly”.

Strokes: Is This It (2001)

Yes, this is it. This is the sexiest Anal Bum cover in the history of mankind. The Stroke’s debut was that rare beast – an album that exceeded its considerable hype musically and then matched its sonic genius with an iconic cover.

The image was the result of an impromptu photo shoot by photographer Colin Lane. His girlfriend at the time possessed the fetching figure you see on the cover. As she tells it: “I walked out of the shower and I was completely naked,” she recalls. “I was walking around the house – he was like, put this glove on. I walked over, boom, that was the shot.”

Lane told NME that “a stylist left the glove in my apartment. I begged my girlfriend at the time to do it. We did about 10 shots. There was no real inspiration, I was just trying to take a sexy picture.”

He succeeded and, he says, his “ex-girlfriend was thrilled – she was a very rock ‘n’ roll girl so it’s a big feather in her cap to have her ass on The Strokes’ cover.”

She tells the story herself in this video, originally posted by Goldenfiddle.

Is This It from Goldenfiddle on Vimeo.

Call out: If you know of any Anal Bum Covers we’ve missed out on, please let us know. It’s important this list grows.

Not a fan of the rear? Check out the flipside here

In 1997 designer Peter Saville received a call from Jarvis Cocker. “They needed to reposition Pulp” he recalls, “They wanted to present Pulp more as a rock band. The music was a lot deeper, darker and moodier and they called it This Is Hardcore.”

The result was one of the most controversial album covers of the nineties.

This was probably assured the moment they invited American painter John Currin to direct it. Currin is known for his technically skillful paintings, which typically depict the intensely sexualized female form with heavily pornographic overtones. This meeting of high and low art has found a ready audience and Currin’s work routinely sells in the high six-figures.

The artist flew to the UK and worked closely with Saville to develop a concept for the shoot. In briefing the pair, Cocker explained that the title didn’t refer to pornography, but rather the “new, hard, resolute spirit of the band” says Saville, “Jarvis talked to us about fame and how it changes the world around you.” He was admirably blunt is admitting that the band “wanted to be taken more seriously.”

The eventual plan was to take photos of the band next to models. These models were carefully chosen for their “super-real characteristics”.

The final choice for the cover was shot on the last day in Saville’s apartment, after the original photos were deemed to be “not hardcore enough”. The woman is a Russian glamour model known only as Ksenia, who later told FHM: “The shoot was fun. Jarvis is very nice, very shy.”

While its an image that disturbed many, to dismiss the cover as empty provocation would be unfair. As Hugh Aldersey-Williams writes in New Statesman Magazine, pornography “is simply the most familiar visual language through which we appreciate the disparity between the intensity of imagined experienced and the disappointment or disgust of its realisation.”

The impact of the cover is heightened by it’s striking aesthetic, which manages to be at once grainy and high-gloss. Currin chose fashion photographer Horst Diekgerdes to take the images, before Saville used a Photoshop feature called Smart Blur to create a more painterly finish.

The final touch is the typography, with the album’s title stamped over the model in Helvetica Bold to resemble a message from the censorship board.

This is Hardcore might have flown under the radar as cover art but when the label released posters all over London they caused a scandal. Was the woman a sex doll? Had she just been raped? Was she dead? The strong opinion of many women was that she was certainly offensive.

Vandals took to the images, defacing them with statements that included “This Offends Women”, “This is Sexist” and “This is Demeaning”. Saville was unrepentant. “For the whole thing just to have passed without a murmur would have been a great disappointment.”

But is it even more disappointing if Pulp lost a potential audience that judged the book by its cover? This is Hardcore is in reality an at-times tender album with a mature detachment from misogynism. In the standout track ‘A Little Soul’, dedicated to Cocker’s absent father, a man begs his son not to repeat his mistakes:

“But everybody’s telling me
you look like me
But please don’t turn out like me.”

“Yeah, I wish I could be an example.
Wish I could say I stood up for you
and fought for what was right.
But I never did.
I just wore my trenchcoat and stayed out every single night.”

It’s an intensely sad portrait of a man that has made all the wrong, seedy choices and thrown away his opportunities for happiness. I imagine this now sentimental old geezer checking out at the cover of This is Hardcore, simultaneously fighting back both tears and an erection.

For more information on this cover, visit the excellent Pulp fan site Acrylic Afternoon.

It’s always good to see the designers behind classic album covers getting critical and commercial recognition. And few designers could boast of a career as celebrated and prolific as Storm Thorgerson.

Taken By Storm: The Album Art of Storm Thorgerson was published by Vision On in 2007. It’s a selection of some of his best work from the past 30 years. The book also spawned a traveling exhibition of the same name.

Sleeve lovers in Brisbane can still catch Taken by Storm, which is showing at Artisan Gallery until August 1.

The same show toured to Sydney at the Global Gallery last December. For more information about this legend of cover art, there’s a nice article in the Courier Mail and an interesting interview that featured in in Time Out Sydney from late last year.

In no particular order, we’re taking a look at the select few albums that are not only referred to as “landmarks” but have actually created new landmarks. For the passionate fans that love these albums, the places depicted on these sleeves have become sites of pilgrimage.

Beastie Boys: Paul’s Boutique

Music journalist Dan LeRoy’s description of the making of Paul’s Boutique is an amazing read. In summary, the boys pocket a big payday from Capitol Records before decamping to various LA hotel rooms, which they proceed to trash and terrorise. Songwriting is aided by copious amounts of booze and an endless supply of grass. When concerned record executives arrive in LA, they are subjected to juvenile and hilarious pranks. By all appearances it would seem that they simply don’t give a fuck.

It sounds fantastic. By the time they’ve rented an antique-filled Hollywood mansion to record and party in, you’re convinced you know the story. The story where young geniuses get blinded by the fame, cash and drugs and ruin it all by releasing a self-indulgent piece of shit. And that is the exact narrative – except for the part where they release a self-indulgent masterpiece. Paul’s Boutique transformed the Beastie Boys from hip hop’s enfant terribles, dismissed by many as one-hit “frat hip hop” wonders, into respected artists.

The enduring success of Paul’s Boutique is evidenced by the impact of its record cover. The album title is taken from the very short Track 14, Ask for Janice:

…the best in men’s clothing. Call Paul’s Boutique and ask for Janice and the number is (718) 498-1043. That’s Paul’s Boutique and they’re in Brooklyn.

If there ever was a Paul’s Boutique in Brooklyn, there wasn’t by the time the record was recorded. The corner we see on the cover is in Manhattan’s Lower East Side, on the intersection of Rivington and Ludlow Streets. The shop is Lee’s Sportswear but the Beastie Boys attached the sign for Paul’s Boutique on the side for the shoot.

It’s not clear what drove them to celebrate this particular intersection but the cover folds out to reveal a very cool 360 degrees panorama of the area.

As the album became more popular, the corner started to attract tourists who took snaps of themselves in front of “Paul’s Boutique”. The online Beastie Museum has a fascinating page dedicated to the evolution of the neighbourhood.

A small eatery was eventually opened where Lee’s Sportswear used to be and, until early 2007, it was called Paul’s Boutique in honour of the album (it has since been renamed Three Monkeys).

The Beatles: Abbey Road

The most famous example of this genre must be Abbey Road by The Beatles.

The album was originally going to be called Everest and there were ambitious plans for a shoot in the Himalayas. In the end, they named the album Abbey Road after the studios where they recorded much of their music. Photographer Iain MacMillan was allowed all of 10 minutes to capture the Fab Four walking across the zebra crossing. Today the crossing is a major tourist destination and it’s fun to check out the 24 hour webcam, which at the right time of day captures keen fans trying to recreate the cover.

Madness: Absolutely

A ska band from the 80′s, Madness shares with UB40 the record for the most weeks spent in the UK singles charts during the 80′s (214). This album peaked at #2 on the charts and was awarded 1 star by The Rolling Stones. You might remember the album’s breakout hit “Baggy Trousers”. Or not. So why was this location included in a recent London map for rock fans as a historic location to visit? For the same reason that the band continues to tour today with pretty much it’s original lineup, despite not charting since the eighties. Some bands attract the kind of loyal, die-hard fans that more successful or critically acclaimed musicians can only dream of.

Oasis: What’s the Story (Morning Glory)

In transforming a London street into a rock landmark, Oasis once again mirrored the success of The Beatles. Berwick Street is a vibrant location that features an open air market and old record shop, along with some sex shops.

To date What’s the Story (Morning Glory) is Britain’s fourth biggests selling album of all time.

Pink Floyd: Animals

The dramatic industrial setting for Pink Floyd’s The Animals is the Battersea Power Station, a now unused coal-fired power station located on the River Thames.

It’s an amazing building that has achieved worldwide fame largely due to this memorable sleeve. This was before Photoshop, so the inflatable pig in the sky was actually created for the shoot and tied to one of the giant chimneys. Believe it or not, the pig broke free, surprising pilots on the way to Heathrow, who were greeted by the sight of a giant, pink pig flying through the air. Police helicopters had to track it until it eventually landed safely in Kent.

The cover has been extremely influential and the Battersea Power Station subsequently used as a location by other artists including Morrissey, Tori Amos and Hanson.

DJ Shadow: Endtroducing

Something about this sleeve always reminds me of Paul’s Boutique – I’m not sure why. Either which way, both records are important contributions to the art of sampling. We’ve discussed this cover before but it’s interesting as an example of an indoor landmark.

The cover shows Chief Xcel and Lyrics Born in Records, an aptly named record store at 710 K Street in Sacramento, California. In December 2006, it relocated to the former Tower Records location at the corner of Broadway and South Land Park Drive. It’s DJ Shadow’s favourite record store and is equally as famous for being one of the last shops where the mountain of records still dwarf the CD selection. One more piece of trivia – the logo for Records was designed by Robert Crumb.

U2: The Joshua Tree

Famed photographer Anton Corbijn was responsible for the 1986 shoot featuring U2 in California’s Death Valley.  He said of the shoot: “It was taken with a panoramic camera to take more of the landscapes in which was the main idea of the shoot: man and environment, the Irish in America.”

It’s  testament to both the achievement of the band and the dedication of the fans that this forbidding, desert landscape still attracts visitors inspired by the album.

The actual tree from the  cover died more than seven years ago. I could go on about this very interesting cover but instead I recommend you take a few minutes to read the description of “The Search For u2′s Joshua Tree” by Tom Goller.

Eagles: Hotel California

Welcome to the Hotel California
Such a lovely place
Such a lovely face
Plenty of room at the Hotel California
Any time of year, you can find it here

Here’s an interesting fact: Time Magazine still maintains that the Eagle’s Their Greatest Hits (1971-1975) compilation has outsold Thriller and is actually the biggest selling album of all time. Whatever the case, there’s no doubt that the Eagles’ sold records like they were made from crack. Hotel California has moved 16 million copies in the US alone.

For the cover of this album Don Henley wanted to convey: “Faded loss of innocence and decadence. I was trying to use California as the microcosm for the rest of the nation.”  The building they used as the Hotel California is The Beverly Hills Hotel, which is located on Sunset Boulevard in Beverly Hills, California. A luxurious grand dame, since opening in 1912 it’s welcomed everyone from Fred Astaire to the Clintons to Courtney Love.

The evocative photography is by David Alexander and while the cover looks quite straightforward, it actually cost US $60,000 to produce – a fortune by 70′s standards. This was due to the difficulty of getting over the palm trees and shooting the hotel with the sun behind it, a feat that necessitated a cherry picker and some degree of derring-do.

You could say that this fine hotel was already a monument or icon before the Eagles snapped it. But given the sheer beauty with which they mythologise and recontextualise the building, it’s hard to believe that any one of the Eagles’ multitude of fans could view this building as anything other than the Hotel California.

Led Zeppelin: Physical Graffiti

These two 5-story buildings can still be found today at 96 and 98 St Marks Place in New York. However, they look a little different in the flesh – in order to fit the buildings on the cover, they cropped and altered the photo to make it a 4-story building. The cover features die-cut windows on the building, so that, according to Wikipedia, “when the middle cover is wrapped around the inner covers and slid into the outer cover, the title of the album is shown on the front cover, spelling out the name “Physical Graffiti”.” Amazing concept, design and execution from Mike Doud, one of the true legends of sleeve design who’s work we’ve discussed before.

Much like the Battersea Power Station, the building was used again by other iconic artists, in this case The Rolling Stones. The video for Waiting on a Friend features Keith Richards and Mick Jagger hanging out the front.

As a popular tourist spot, the building also echoes the story Paul’s Boutique. On the first floor of 98 St. Mark’s Place you’ll find the Physical Graffiti thrift boutique store.

Bob Dylan: The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan

This is Dylan’s second album and it features the classic Blowin’ in the Wind (the man was averse to “g’s” at the time). Much like The Beatles just walked outside of their studio in Abbey Road and the Beasties simply picked a corner from a nearby neighbourhood, the location for this charming cover was seemingly determined by proximity. It was taken on the corner of Jones Street and West 4th street in Greenwich Village, only a few metres from where Dylan lived. The photo, taken by CBS photographer Don Hunstein, shows Dylan contentedly walking with girlfriend Suze Rotolo, the two of them huddling for warmth and sharing a private joke. Young, in love and extraordinarily talented, Dylan has every reason to be freewheelin’. Without the weight of his musical talent, it could be dismissed as a twee happy snap devoid of creativity. As it is, the cover is a much imitated icon.

Today, Jones Street is described as a tranquil one-block haven that feels a little like a cul-de-sac because it hits the mid block of both of its intersecting streets. I wonder if the 22 year old Dylan had any idea that one day this tranquility would be regulalry punctuated by tourists seeking to commemorate and pay tribute to his achievments.

 Well, that’s our ten

We also recommend you check out the fantastic Album Covers Map by World Magazine which, with the help of contributing readers, shows where iconic album cover photographs were taken.

And please let us know which covers and landmarks we missed.

This is one of only two albums I have bought without first listening to them and both were just for the CD cover. I got this in 1999 or 2000 and have listened to it once. I’ve since lost the CD but have the case and from memory it was a dull journey into an abient wank factory. But upon my tastes relaxing a little, I’ve found the Adlib track on the artist’s Myspace page enjoyable.

What drew me to the cover was the stark barren design. A few pixel representations of OS8 UI elements scatter the cover and the 8 page booklet. There’s very little info about the album and the website of the label Kraak. The musician is Kristian Peters a German who also works under the alias Novisad which seems to be the most active alias as it has the Myspace page.

The back of the booklet is a tiny radio button.

The booklet itself seems like a waste of paper.

The back cover has some info.

The white cover reminded me of a 1998 or 1999 cover of Wired that was all white with a Braille. It stood out like dogs balls in a sea of multi coloured magazines and that’s what this cover did in the record shop. It was the absence of design that made it work. Now with digital downloads being the big thing and people shopping for their music online, a cover like this vanishes into the background.

Note: I’m too young to have seen the Beatles White album in the shops :)

While searching Discogs I found this 1999 reissue which was limited to 50 copies and sent to friends as an Xmas present. It’s cover is the complete opposite of the original. I wonder if there was more to it than the simple wrapping paper sleeve?

The designer for this was the founder of Kraak records and can be found on Twitter as @DaveDriesmans. For those interested I can be found on Twitter here as @100ftzombie but I don’t Tweet that much about music or design.

Side Note: This is my first post in a while as Alex our new editor has been pumping out all the great the reviews lately. So you’ll notice a sudden drop in the writing skills and grammar.

The cover for hip hop classic Illmatic was originally going to have a picture of Nas holding Jesus Christ in a headlock. I’m not sure why that didn’t go ahead (although you would think the label might have had some concerns) but the ultimate cover is a far more reflective and subtle effort.

Illmatic was released in 1994 and today it regularly tops lists of the best rap albums ever released. The cover features a picture of Nas as a 7 year old that was taken after his father, musician Olu Dara, returned home from an overseas tour. Obviously no one told him to say cheese. Art Director Aimee Macauley superimposed the picture over a New York city block, which represents the ghetto.

According to Nas, age 7 “was the year I started to acknowledge everything [around me]. That’s the year everything set off. That’s the year I started seeing the future for myself and doing what was right. The ghetto makes you think. The world is ours. I used to think I couldn’t leave my projects. I used to think if I left, if anything happened to me, I thought it would be no justice or I would be just a dead slave or something. The projects used to be my world until I educated myself to see there’s more out there.”

Speaking to XXL only this year, he expands: “Really the record had to represent everything Nasir Jones is about from beginning to end, from my album cover to my videos… That’s what it was all about for me, being that kid from the projects, being a poster child for that, that didn’t exist back then.”

It’s a moving image that feels quite cinematic – the young child amid the ghetto, looking forward into an uncertain future. It also inspired an apt cover for the follow up, 1996’s It Was Written.

Whether Illmatic has inspired other covers is the source of much controversy. A scant five months after its release, The Notorious B.I.G came out with the album Ready to Die. The cover art does seem fitting for an album that opens with the birth of a baby and goes on to spin a narrative based on Biggie’s life.

It would even be cute if it wasn’t for the dark bravado of the title. But in 1995, Raekwon and Ghostface Killah cried foul on the song “Shark Niggas (Biters)”

YaknowhatI’msayin? Niggaz niggaz niggaz niggaz is bitin off your
album cover and shit
Yeah!
Whoa bad enough they biting lines like niggaz killed me
Yeah
When they came with some Nas, niggaz bit offa Nas shit!
KnowhatI’msayin?

(What he’s saying is that Biggie copied Nas)

The biggest selling hip hop album of 2008 was The Carter III by Lil Wayne. I’ve been enjoying the exploits of hip hops’ new king and appreciate his showmanship and efforts to create a unique persona, although there’s more than a few people that disagree with me. The cover for the Carter III has naturally attracted comparison to Illmatic, given that it features a photo of the artist as a child.

A return to childhood and the formative years of youth are common in hip hop, another example being the classroom theme and artwork for The Miseducation of Lauren Hill. Would Nas be right to claim that the other kids have been copying his work? Let’s have a class discussion – one at a time and raise your hands please.

The first time I saw this t-shirt it was being worn by one of the cool guys in school. I didn’t know anything about Sonic Youth but I did really want the shirt. Unfortunately there was an unwritten rule that if someone from school wore a band shirt first, that was it – it just wasn’t done to go buy your own copy and wear it around.

But I would be sorely tempted only a couple of months later. I was on a family trip overseas when I saw the exact same t-shirt for only six dollars at a garage sale in San Francisco. After guiltily purchasing it, the first thing I decided to do was familiarise myself with Sonic Youth, as it was another unwritten rule that you couldn’t wear a band shirt unless you were a fan of the band. So I purchased a second-hand copy of Dirty two days later and listened to it on high rotation on my discman. And then a funny thing happened – I got into the music.

Actually maybe it wasn’t that funny, as I was kind of determined. Having familiarised myself with the band, I wore my new Sonic Youth shirt shortly after my return to Sydney. The first three friends I saw immediately announced the same thing: “Coby’s got that shirt”. The inference was inescapable. I feigned surprised the first two times and then finally gave up. So the shirt was forever consigned to the dustbin of history, while the Dirty CD stayed on heavy rotation. It’s a perfect example of band promotional material doing exactly what it’s supposed to. It’s also a perfect example of why I didn’t get much action in high school.

But perhaps we should focus on Washing Machine, the 1995 release from Sonic Youth.

The polaroid photo featured on the cover was taken after the April 28, 1995 Lollapaloozas show at Amherst College in Amherst, MA. The boy’s shirts had been signed by the support act, Come. The polaroid was found on the floor and then presented to the band, who instantly recognised its potential but had no idea who was featured in the picture or who took it. They enlisted the help of MTV, who ran a news bulletin asking the boys’ permission for the image to be used as the next album cover.

The boys were never identified, so the band cropped off their faces and used the photo anyway. The fact that their identity remains a mystery poses some intriguing questions. As they are wearing Sonic Youth t-shirts, one would assume that they were pretty big Sonic Youth fans. So when Washing Machine came out, why didn’t they instantly recognise themselves as the talent gracing the cover? Did they know it was them but not think it important to come forward? Or were they Amish boys on a seditious, wild night out that can never own up for fear of being expunged from their community?

It’s an enigma wrapped in a mildly interesting riddle. In today’s online age the band would have identified the duo within a day at the most. So perhaps this tale should be treated as a telling reminder of how much things have changed.

But for me, this album cover will always have a different message. As far as I’m concerned, it’s a glimpse of an alternate teenage reality, where two guys can own and wear the same t-shirt with pride.

The gun featured on the cover for Foo Fighters self titled debut is the “XZ-38 Disintegrator Pistol,” which was released in 1935 as a tie-in toy for the Buck Rogers comic strip and radio show.

The photo was taken by Grohl’s then wife, talented photographer Jennifer Youngblood, who is responsible for some iconic images of Grohl’s former band Nirvana.

Grohl has, or had, a fanboy-ish obsession with all things sci-fi. “Foo Fighter” is a term that was used by American fighter pilots in WWII to describe UFOs or mysterious ariel phenomena. This album was released by Capitol Records in association with his own label,  Roswell Records.

It’s all very mid-90’s and takes me back to a time when Scully was the sexiest woman in the world and the truth was almost certainly out there. After the considerable success of this album, in the next two years the Foo Fighters would record “Walking After You” for the The X-Files soundtrack and “A320″ for the Godzilla soundtrack. How endearingly geeky!

What I like about this cover is the treatment of the ray-gun. It doesn’t cash in on the object’s kitsch-value but instead presents the ray-gun as an artifact – a weapon from some bygone era now that only lives on in scratchy sepia-toned memories.

And for someone who still remembers reading about Cobain’s death in the newspapers and then putting up a couple of extra Nirvana posters on the wall, there’s also something meaningful about Grohl’s decision to put a toy gun on the cover. If only Kurt had been content with goofy plastic guns like Dave.

When Johnny Cash signed with Rick Rubin’s American Recordings label in 1992, it would mark the beginning of one of the most celebrated artistic resurrections in popular music. The resulting album, released in 1994, consists of spare, dark cover versions taken from a wildly eclectic American songbook.

When I look at the cover, the first word that comes to mind is biblical. Everything about the image is ominous and powerful, with Cash cast as both preacher and sinner. He would be perfect as the harbinger of doom in some spooky film.

For all its powerful evocation of dark Americana, the cover photography was taken in Australia during Cash’s 1992 tour with Kris Kristofferson. Photographer Andy Earl had intended to shoot Cash at a railway track but when the lighting wasn’t working he moved to an adjacent wheat field. The eerie dogs, with their inverse black and white colouring, just happened to run into frame and position themselves. Perhaps the wry look on Cash’s face is inspired by this series of serendipitous events – a hunch that things were finally looking up.

The one element of this cover that is no accident – the bold typography – would help to define Cash’s new brand moving forward.

On American III Cash is backstage, still going about the life of a gigging musician:

Until American IV sees the singer-songwriter being swallowed by the colour that defined him. Having earned his redemption the hard way, the man in black seems resigned to a meeting with his maker.

As the American Recordings series continued, Cash’s personal mythology and impending death would resonate powerfully, most famously in the video clip for his cover of Nine Inch Nails’ Hurt:

Cash wrote so much important music and for so long. So it seems only fitting that he would eventually be given the collaborators he needed to write the perfect farewell.

This album along with Tool’s “Aenima” and Sepultura’s “Chaos A.D” are the few albums I remember buying and still have on rotation in my Itunes. I’m tempted to try and find the original in the garage but then I remembered how much crap is in there and would rather sit in my warm bean bag instead.

Sadly I know little about the artwork and who is behind it. My guess is Quan from the band designed it as he also looked after their film clips too. But sadly I no longer have Quan on my speed dial to confirm :) I think Quan made the band’s website too? Which hasn’t changed since 2001!

Regurgitator is one band that reinvented themselves many times and also had a lot of original and tongue in cheek artwork. They almost deserve a feature unto themselves. But as those long features take ages I’ll just have post this cover until the Gurg get in touch.

It’s not often you get a cover that features a foriegn language so heavily on the cover. I can’t remember but I’m pretty sure this had a sticker on the front to so you didn’t get mixed up in the World Music section. “Tu Plang” is thai for Jukebox, which is how you would describe this album. It’s a mish mash of sounds and styles with songs juxtaposing the each other. That’s probably why it’s my fav album of theirs too.

Here’s the rest of the artwork. It’s been a while since I’ve seen song lengths on album artwork too.

Oh and I can’t mention the album without a nod to the hit “Kong Foo Sing”. That rocked my joint back in 96.

If ever there was a limited edition packaging that was never meant to be heard it’s this one. Spiritualized’s “Ladies and Gentlemen We are Floating in Space” came presented in a prescription medicine box with 12 mini CD’s in blister packs. The problem would be actually listing to the album. Changing the CD 12 times (back before MP3′s become the norm) would have been a pain in the ass.

As a collectors item though it’s brilliant. You can’t listen to the CD’s without ruining the packaging. So you’d have to buy two copies.

The pack has been created to resemble drug packaging in every way. This kind of special pack would send a shiver down the spine of a cost conscious label manager today. But I guess so would commissioning one of the UK’s top design houses Farrow. If buying in bulk, to the level of drug companies, it might be cost efficient but with a limited run of around 5,000 you’re looking at a steep cost. But aside from the blister packs every other park of the pack is cheap to produce.

Here’s another show with it all spread out.

What I love about this pack is every facet has been though of. Dosage instructions replaces the album notes which are presented below. Just scroll the frame to read it all.

A 2xLP was released with shiny silver slip cases.

There was also a limited edition CD version which came in a blister pack.

Here’s a promo photo showing them packing the boxes for shipping. It again enforces the concept of the album.

The analogy that music is like a drug and makes you float in space is an obvious one.The band themselves were probably high while making the record too.

Even though this album is now 10 years old the official Spiritualized website still carries the medical theme as does a lot of their merchandise.

The hardest part about having a name like µ-Ziq is asking someone at the record shop if they have them in stock. Also where do you file it under M, under U or with the numbers?

The cover is as ambiguous as it comes. Is he waiting to interview people or just really likes the feel of wood grain? Or is he a mime (you cant see his face) about to perform on some decks?

The whole cover seems like it should be an interface for a website or interactive clip (ala Neon Bible). You just want to click his hands and start making music.

The photo is actually a good lesson for photographers. If you want to make your shots more interesting get creative with the angles. This shot from any other angle would have been boring.

The design studio behind this is Blue Source, who along with Big Active and Farrow do probably 85% of the music design in the UK. The photographer is Amber Rowlands who sadly hasn’t done any other cool music related photography.

µ-Ziq also released an EP for this with a similar concept. Although you lose some of the effect by showing less of the person.