Some of the Best Album Covers of all Time

As a DVD and CD Duplication and Replication company, as well as a design, printing, and branding company, we look at some of the most iconic album covers of all time.

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The Beatles

The Beatles were trend setters in every way, from their music to fashion, and their LP cover art was no exception. In 1966, the band released Revolver. The albums cover art was designed by illustrator Klaus Voorman and photographer Roger Whitaker. The album cover was so influential it ushered in the ear of psychedelic art.

Revolver

Another iconic album cover by The Beatles was the 1967 record, Sgt Pepper’s Lonely-Hearts Club Band. This was more than an album cover – it was art. The artwork was designed by artist and director Robert Fraser, and merged the works of designers Jann Haworth and Peter Blake. The album proved to be 100 times more expensive than any other cover made before it, and its influence has become immeasurable.

Sgt Pepper’s Lonely-Hearts Club Band

Then of course, there is Abbey Road, arguably the most iconic album cover of all time. With this design, The Beatles stripped themselves of all simulations and flash, and presented themselves as four friends, taking a casual stroll together. A relatable, and emotive cover, it has become a part of the pop-culture canon.

Abbey Road

The Rolling Stones

The Beatles were a massive influence, and their influence was felt by The Rolling Stones. Before 1970, The Stones made use of simulations in their album designs, much like The Beatles. However, in 1970, once the band was established, they let go of other influences and created their own influential designs.

In 1971, their album art for Sticky Fingers featured a crotch shot and a real, workable zipper! This was something quite controversial for the time, and was conceived by the one and only Andy Warhol.

Sticky Fingers

In 1972 the Stones released a double album – Exile on Main St. The album had a gatefold cover and a series of 12 perforated postcards with images inserted by photographer Norman Seeff.

Exile on Main St

Then there was the 1978 album, Some Girls. This album cover presented the band members in drag, in detailed die-cut package with varying colour sleeves.

Some Girls

Pink Floyd

Soon after The Beatles released their cover art for Sgt Pepper, Pink Floyd commissioned artists Storm Thorgerson and Aubrey Powell to design for the band. The artists became known as Hipgnosis and they drew up awesome, almost dizzying graphics for the cover art of the album, A Saucerful of Secrets.

A Saucerful of Secrets

The Hipgnosis team then teamed up to create Dark Side of the Moon cover art. Just like The Beatles Abbey Road, Dark Side of the Moon cover art is a huge part of the pop-culture canon.

The Dark Side of the Moon

The Velvet Underground

As opposed to the above album art out of the 60s, not all 60s album art was complex. The Velvet Underground’s cover art for The Velvet Underground and Nico, designed by the legendary Andy Warhol, is simple an image of a yellow banana.

The Velvet Underground and Nico

But the design did have a cool catch and required specialised printing techniques to make it work. You see, the yellow banana could actually be peeled. Once peeled, it revealed a flesh coloured banana. Typical Andy Warhol…

Led Zeppelin

There is no denying the epicness of Led Zeppelin’s album art. Their first album in 1969 (self-titled) was incredibly memorable and had the cover image of the flaming Hindenburg airship.

Led Zeppelin

Zeppelin also hooked up with Aubrey Powell of Hipgnosis, who created the stunning cover art for House of the Holly – a nod to Arthur C Clarke’s science fiction classic, Childhood’s End.

House of the Holly

Storm Thorgenson, the other half of Hipgnosis, created the cover art for Presence. This was a deliberate homage to Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Presence

The Who

Much like Pink Floyd, The Who merged art and albums, creating incredible work, strengthened by powerful musicianship.

1967s, The Who Sell Out, was one of their most powerful covers. It was a blatant stab at commercialism, with their album appearing to be an advert for beans and deodorant.

The Who Sell Out

In 1969, the band released their rock opera Tommy. The album unfolded into a triptych with spanning graphics that were a throwback to the artistic math of M.C Escher.

Tommy

Then there was Quadrophenia, their 1973 concept album. The album came in butterfly packaging that, like Tommy, contained an image packed mini-book that explained the story of the concept album.

Quadrophenia

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