Album Art

That Jekka Gal · 3 Dec 2025 at 13:10

Weren't there some amazing record covers back in the day?

I'm sure we can all cite the classic album covers as great examples, Blind Father, The Floyd etc, but I just loved the 10cc covers of the mid 70s. Bloody Tourists was brilliant because the cover actually told a story.

Then there were the covers that actually enticed us into buying the product. I'm sure we've all done that without really knowing what lay within. Here's one I bought off the back of just seeing the cover (I just had to have it!):

Turned out to be a great LP too...

Sadly I think the preponderance of downloadable music and the attendant absence of a physical cover of any description has been the death knell for great album art.

Yes, there is still cover art but, let's face it, the average listener probably never sees more than a thumbnail image and consequently the focus on cover art seems to have waned over recent years.

I mean take the 2006 offering from the Rolling Stones, A Bigger Bang. The cover features the 4 lads stood around looking at what looks like a firework night sparkler fizzling away. Compare and contrast that the the great Warhol designed cover of Sticky Fingers.

Maybe I'm being unduly critical. Perhaps there is still some great album art out there. Can any of you throw some light on any contemporary exemplars of the genre?

Werewolf · 12 Dec 2025 at 03:09

I really miss some of the old album cover art, a 12" surface allowed for a lot of detail and imagine in an image to really catch your eye.
I remember some of the vinyl that my older brother used to have back in the day, as he would work as a DJ for local parties etc and some of it was really good, or the one I always remember was Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds cover, that was awseome.

I've actually ended up buying a few LP's of some of my favourite anime cheap, not because I want to play them but because I like the artwork enough that I'm probably going to put them up on the wall when I redecorate (and the LP's were much cheaper than buying an actual picture, especially and official one

).

That Jekka Gal · 15 Dec 2025 at 13:45

Werewolf said:
I really miss some of the old album cover art, a 12" surface allowed for a lot of detail and imagine in an image to really catch your eye.
I remember some of the vinyl that my older brother used to have back in the day, as he would work as a DJ for local parties etc and some of it was really good, or the one I always remember was Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds cover, that was awseome.

I've actually ended up buying a few LP's of some of my favourite anime cheap, not because I want to play them but because I like the artwork enough that I'm probably going to put them up on the wall when I redecorate (and the LP's were much cheaper than buying an actual picture, especially and official one).

A lot of LPs used to come with posters and other paraphenalia back in the day. Most memorable one for me was Wings' Venus and Mars. Came with a poster and a pair of drinks coasters displaying the Venus and Mars motif.

Werewolf · 15 Dec 2025 at 13:52

One of the things I really miss about the move to first smaller boxes/cases and now digital is that it used to be pretty much standard to get something like a poster or similar with a lot of the better releases.

These days with DVD's and CD's you barely get a flier for upcoming releases or a track listing.

Purgatory · 15 Dec 2025 at 13:57

Werewolf said:
One of the things I really miss about the move to first smaller boxes/cases and now digital is that it used to be pretty much standard to get something like a poster or similar with a lot of the better releases.

These days with DVD's and CD's you barely get a flier for upcoming releases or a track listing.

LaserDisc was where you got amazing art work for movies, same as LP's 12" of pure goodness. Still regret selling the player and discs all them years ago. :rolleyes:

Werewolf · 15 Dec 2025 at 14:04

Purgatory said:
LaserDisc was where you got amazing art work for movies, same as LP's 12" of pure goodness. Still regret selling the player and discs all them years ago.

The discs themselves may not have been playable by now from what I understand

(IIRC they had a lot of problems with the lamination of the layers), but yup the art on them was lovely, it was basically LP style.
I remember a few years back one of the big distributors did 12" vinyl style releases of a few blu-rays as a sort of retro styled gift format, they had some great art but were faily expensive compared to the standard releases and I think very short lived (I picked up a couple for the art and I think my brother in law picked up a number of them when they were clearing them out).

Bubo · 17 Dec 2025 at 09:42

Walk Like A Man by Divine, that was a good one I remember.

ttaskmaster · 17 Dec 2025 at 10:04

Arcane · 17 Dec 2025 at 16:44

A friend of mine has gone down the vinyl rabbit hole and whenever I pop over I always end up trawling his collection, seems it's very much alive and well but ridiculously expensive for the fancy versions.

Droolinggimp · 18 Dec 2025 at 08:29

Iron maiden covers from the past were fantastic. I used to look at them for the whole duration of the album. Looking for small details that Derek Riggs used to put in. My favourite album was Somewhere in Time.