As the music releases increase each year, so are the cover artworks. We are so busy focusing on the music that we sometimes overlook the stories behind the design that represents the body of work.

With how vast technology and social media has become available to us, talents can come from the most unexpected place – from Tyler, The Creator reaching out to you for a portrait to artists like Jesse Kanda learning things to create a Björk album cover.

Let’s take a moment to dive into the stories behind the creative process that goes into these magnificent albums from the past decade – and more.

‘MERRIWEATHER POST PAVILION’ (2009) – ANIMAL COLLECTIVE

Based on the works by Japanese psychologist Akiyoshi Kitaoka, American experimental pop band Animal Collective adapted this concept for their eight studio album.

Merriweather Post Pavilion is presented with an optical illusion created by Robert Carmichael of Seen studio with a repeating pattern that resembles leaves in moving motion that may come off as an animation.

It’s a beautiful, dizzying illusion for music fans.

‘NEW AMERYKAH PART TWO (RETURN OF THE ANKH)’ (2010) – ERYKAH BADU

For Erykah Badu’s sixth release, she enlisted award-winning artist Emek from Oregon for an ethereal album cover that is just as provocative as her performances on stage. The singer wanted to bring back art into album artwork that is more than just a photograph.

Emek took the political themes that Badu has on the album and put it on her hair that symbolises the issues that were weighing on her mind, on top of the music, trees and hope.

‘ZONOSCOPE’ (2011) – CUT COPY

Created by the late Japanese photo montage artist Tsunehisa Kimura, the cover for four-piece pop band Cut Copy’s album depicts New York City being washed away in a waterfall that resembles the feeling of the Zonoscope album that is both familiar and dreamlike.

Lead singer Dan Whitford spent a lot of time and energy in order to secure the montage piece for Zonoscope. The design went on to win an “Artisan Award” at the Aria Music Awards 2011 for “Best Cover Art”.

‘VISIONS’ (2012) – GRIMES

Multi-talented Canadian artiste Claire Boucher, or famously known as Grimes is a fascinating personality in music, but it is also her visuals that stand out the most.

For her third album Visions, Grimes got designer Mark Khair to amplify the cover design with a jewel-covered skull that is surrounded by iconography illustrations like candy hearts, bow ribbon, pyramid and more.

It is a great representation of what Grimes’ Visions album represent that is both textured and stylised.

‘YEEZUS’ (2013) – KANYE WEST

This iconic no-cover Yeezus album cover by Kanye West plays with a minimalism that the physical CD was sold in a clear jewel box and the iconic red tape, as well as sample credits.

Art direction by Joe Perez, this is a representation of West’s refusal to create detailed arts for his albums but instead giving us a bare design that changes our whole conversation about him.

The look of the physical CD became the cover art for Yeezus and is reminiscent of Mos Def’s True Magic album released in 2006 which was missing the booklet, cover art, lyrics or credits.

‘LP1’ (2014) – FKA TWIGS

Imagery produced by Jesse Kanda and design by Phil Lee, FKA Twigs’ debut album titled LP1 is pure art.

Even through her past work, this London-based singer is known for incredible and sometimes mind-boggling music videos. So, this cover is of no surprise.

Besides the striking and bold cover image of FKA Twigs looking doll-like, the images inside are just as artistic and disturbing to look at – the perfect digital image manipulation that LP1 deserves.

‘THE INCREDIBLE TRUE STORY’ (2015) – LOGIC

Logic called this album a “motion picture sci-fi epic” and it is depicted on the album cover well that aptly suits the title of the release as well.

Created by painter Sam Spratt, Logic approached him after his work for Janelle Monae’s The Electric Lady.

For this cover, Spratt uses fictional and real characters through a spaceship symmetry composition that he was inspired by Wes Anderson films. The painting reflects The Incredible True Story’s fiction and reality that Logic has created with the narrations on the album inspired by sci-fi.

‘AWAKEN, MY LOVE!’ (2016) – CHILDISH GAMBINO

The actor/singer/rapper said he was inspired by American band Funkadelic’s scream that was both sexual and scary for the cover of Childish Gambino P-Funk album "Awaken, My Love!"

It features model Giannina Oteto that could depict many types of emotions with her eyes rolled back and mouth partly opened, as well as wearing a beaded headdress by Laura Wass of WXYZ Jewelry.

This powerful album art also appeared as an easter egg in Donald Glover’s television series Atlanta, in the episode titled Juneteeth.

‘UTOPIA’ (2017) – BJÖRK

Utopia is Björk’s longest studio album ever, which mixes both elements of avant-garde and folktronica. This is a collaborative album cover design by Björk, Jesse Kanda, James Merry and Hungry.

The singer wanted a floral shape on her face, in which Merry went to buy silicone and casts to create the forehead piece by learning it from videos from YouTube, then add it with makeup by Hungry before Kanda proceeds to treat it dramatically into this unforgettable final product.

‘ASTROWORLD’ (2018) – TRAVIS SCOTT

Travis Scott’s Astroworld album, produced by iconic photographer David LaChapelle, pays homage to the amusement park in Houston, Texas, known as the Six Flags Astroworld (demolished in 2005), in which the rapper brought back to life for a day.

Scott wants to create the cover art that is synonymous with the theme of the album, which is going back to the amusement park that he used to know and bringing back the fun that he used to know.

The oversized and gold head-entrance imagery has become a very prominent figure in pop culture.

'IGOR’ (2019) – TYLER, THE CREATOR

The artist behind this bold cover art of Tyler, the Creator’s Igor album is Lewis Rossignol who has tourette’s syndrome and art helps him to relax.

Rossignol was discovered by the rapper and producer through Instagram and the rest is history. From a FaceTime call to create some portraits of him, to have his work appear on the cover was a complete surprise to the artist, as he only found out approximately two days before it was released.

Rossignol’s consistency to draw at least three pictures a day with a lot of hashtags over the past few years have definitely been very fruitful.

THE MOST ICONIC ALBUM COVERS OF ALL TIME

Enjoying your favourite album wasn’t always something you just did with your ears. Before digital downloads, we all gazed in amazement at the effort put into the artwork on album covers; be that for cassette, CD or even in its full glory on a vinyl sleeve.

The most iconic album covers aren’t necessarily the most famous releases that the artists have to offer, however, these covers are ones that have burnt their image in people’s minds and can be identified by most from 500 feet away.

‘ELVIS PRESLEY’ (1956)

The King of rock and Elvis Presley’s first studio album was released in 1956. Not long after his infatuated fan base got their hands on that picture of Elvis mid-strum with pink and green text, the album art became a thing of music history.

Although the initial credit went to Popsie Randolph until 2002, the action snap of Elvis was actually captured by William V "Red" Robertson.

The front of Elvis’ self-titled release offered us a visual introduction to rock ‘n’ roll and a lovely picture of young Presley for all to admire.

Several artists have paid homage to this album cover, including Big Audio Dynamite, k.d. Lang, Chumbawamba, and the Clash, who we’ll discuss shortly.

‘VELVET UNDERGROUND & NICO’ (1967)

The Velvet Underground and Nico were onto a winner when an Andy Warhol print of a banana was used on the cover of their debut record.

A special machine was needed to manufacture the covers exactly how MGM Records wanted them, which delayed the release date. MGM happily paid for the extra costs as they were certain that the association with Warhol would cause the album to fly off the shelves.

Those early copies of the record had a special feature that the recent releases are missing.

Following the “peel slowly and see” instructions would lead you to find a flesh-coloured banana underneath the original. When the album was transferred to CD, the peeled banana was instead found inside the case, beneath the CD.

‘ABBEY ROAD’ (1969) – THE BEATLES

If we had the room for two Beatles album covers, we would have also included 1967’s Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and dealt with some icons-within-icons mind-bending.

However, since so many other bands and artists have imitated Abbey Road’s artwork, it stands out above the rest in the realm of iconic album covers.

Abbey Road is the 11th studio album from the Beatles and the cover was designed by Apple Records’ creative director Kosh.

The UK version of the record doesn’t have any text on the cover image, which was Kosh’s idea. EMI Studio felt this choice would be detrimental to sales, but they were very wrong and fans grabbed their copy of the album as soon as they saw the Fab Four crossing the road.

‘BITCHES BREW’ (1969) – MILES DAVIS

In 1969, Miles Davis dropped his straight-laced, tailored Italian suit-wearing presentation when he released Bitches Brew and unveiled the jaw-dropping artwork on the front cover. The jazz trumpeter continued to experiment with the electric instruments featured on his previous record as he creatively distanced himself from traditional jazz.

For this reinvention, Davis utilised the surrealist art style of German painter Mati Klarwein. The amazing front cover of Bitches Brew drew people in at the same time as letting them know that Davis was in full-bore experimentation mode.

The record became Davis’ highest-charting album and it peaked at number five on the US.. Billboard 200 in 1971.

‘LED ZEPPELIN’ (1969) – LED ZEPPELIN

According to some, the black and white picture of the burning Hindenburg encapsulated Led Zeppelin perfectly.

When the group’s founder/leader/guitarist Jimmy Page was toying with the idea of forming a group with some friends, Kieth Moon joked, “It would probably go over like a lead balloon”, to which John Entwistle exclaimed, “a lead zeppelin!”

The recording session for Led Zeppelin’s debut album took place before the band had even secured a record deal. They were billed £1,782 (in 1968) for 36 hours of studio time, which was paid for by Page and Zeppelin’s manager Peter Grant.

Many dismissed the band as taking a tasteless, opportunistic shot at cashing in on the disaster. Others saw it as Zeppelin’s way of keeping the reminder of the horrific event alive.

‘STICKY FINGERS’ (1971) – THE ROLLING STONES

The work of Warhol makes another appearance on our list, but this time alongside the Rolling Stones. In a similar manner to the Velvet Underground’s peelable banana cover, Warhol wanted the Sticky Fingers record to stand out and to be more than just a printed graphic.

With the focus of the art being on an unidentified male’s crotch in a tight pair of jeans, Warhol had a working zipper with white briefs underneath implemented onto the early releases.

The metallic zippers caused some retailers to complain about damage caused to the vinyl when being stacked and transported, but that’s just the price of Warhol’s art.

This album also featured the first use of John Pasche’s “tongue and lips” Rolling Stones logo, which became an iconic image in its own right.

‘ALADDIN SANE’ (1973) – DAVID BOWIE

Although Aladdin Sane (a lad insane) isn't the album that introduced David Bowie’s alter ego from out of space to the world, its cover is what everyone sees in their mind when they think about Ziggy Stardust.

The front of Bowie’s sixth album shows him in full Ziggy makeup and costume. The instantly iconic album cover was photographed by Brian Duffy in his north London studio and Bowie’s makeup artist at the time was Pierre Laroche.

The artwork found itself on the wall of many fans as a poster and The Guardian’s Mick McCann called the picture “the Mona Lisa of Album Covers” when he visited an exhibition of Duffy’s photographs of Bowie at the White Cloth Gallery in Leeds, England.

‘DARK SIDE OF THE MOON’ (1973) – PINK FLOYD

Wish You Were Here (1974) is also a contender from Pink Floyd, but there’s unfortunately only room for one album cover per artist on this list.

For Dark Side Of The Moon, designer Storm Thorgerson discovered a picture of a prism with a colour beam projecting through it in a photo book and showed it to the band. George Hardy, a graphic designer who had worked on the band’s previous albums, took the concept and handily fulfilled the request for a “simple and bold” design.

If you obtained a “gatefold” copy of the record, you would find a continuation of the artwork on the inside.

The same photograph had previously inspired the inventor of album cover art Alex Steinweiss when designing the illustration for the New York Philharmonic’s performance of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto in 1942.

The Pink Floyd/George Hardy variation became so popular, you can even find it printed on T-shirts and merchandise today.

‘NEVER MIND THE BOLLOCKS…’ (1977) – SEX PISTOLS

Never Mind The Bollocks, Here’s The Sex Pistols is the one and only album from London’s princes of punk, the Sex Pistols.

Throughout their careers, the Pistols persisted with a DIY mentality in their music, their dress sense and even their record’s front cover.

With a blinding bright yellow background (or pink if you bought it in the USA), the simplistic design looks like it was put together by hand and snipped out of a newspaper.

As proud as they were to have “God Save the Queen” banned from most radio stations, getting the word “bollocks” on their cover really stuck it to their would-be censors, which in turn got them more publicity.

‘LONDON CALLING’S’ (1979) – THE CLASH

No, you didn’t just see this album a minute ago. But don’t worry, you’re not going mad. Here’s the “homage” to Elvis Presley’s 1956 record by The Clash.

We used quotation marks there because, if truth be told, it seems rather clear that a photo of Paul Simonon smashing up a bass guitar while using the same font and colour scheme as Elvis may be more of a response than a tribute.

Punk was a reaction to how dull, bloated and commercial rock/rock‘n’roll had become.

If London Calling’s album art is saying anything, it’s surely demonstrating what Simonon and the rest of The Clash thought of Elvis and what he’d done to the genre.

‘BORN IN THE USA’ (1984) – BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN

“The Boss” Bruce Springsteen has over 20 studio albums in his catalogue. Born In The USA. is by far his most successful release and its cover is the most recognisable of the bunch.

The world-famous photograph of Springsteen from behind was taken by Annie Leibovitz. In the shot, Springsteen portrays a blue-collar American with a baseball cap in his back pocket, standing in front of the American flag.

If the intimate view of Springsteen’s rear wasn’t enough to make you grab your purse, critics hail Born In The USA. as one of the greatest albums of all time.

The Recording Industry Association of America certified the record 17x Platinum, selling over 17 million copies in the USA and over 30 million worldwide. The album produced seven “Top Ten” singles and the titular track reached number one in nine different countries.

‘PURPLE RAIN’ (1984) – PRINCE

When the flamboyant multi-talented musician Prince released his sixth studio album, there was a lot more to the intended experience than just putting in the vinyl/cassette/CD and pressing play.

Prince’s Purple Rain is undoubtedly one of the most critically acclaimed records of all time, but it also pulls double duty as the soundtrack to a film (starring Prince) of the same name.

Because of this, the iconic cover artwork had even more exposure. It was also the poster, the VHS cover, and later the DVD cover for the musical movie. In the end, it doesn’t matter if the observer thinks of the film or the album, whenever someone sees Prince on that purple motorbike in his purple suit, they immediately think of Purple Rain.

‘NEVERMIND’ (1991) – NIRVANA

The controversial album art for Nirvana’s Nevermind displayed an underwater four-month-old baby being lured with a dollar bill on the end of a fishing line.

Although the child (Spencer Elden) was the son of a friend, there were understandable concerns regarding the baby’s penis being on full display. Geffen, Nirvana’s record label prepared an alternative cover, but the band put their foot down.

According to the 1993 biography Come As You Are: The Story of Nirvana by Michael Azerrad, frontman Kurt Cobain’s only compromise was if a sticker covering the area could be placed reading "If you're offended by this, you must be a closet pedophile".

The original cover was released uncensored and a grown-up Spencer Elden unsuccessfully took the remnants of the band to court over sexual exploitation in 2021 and child pornography in 2022.

Both times saw the judge tell Elden he’d waited too long to make any claims.

‘RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE’ (1992)

The powerful image of the Vietnamese Mahayana Buddhist monk Thích Quảng Đức setting himself on fire at a busy Saigon road intersection is one that remains in the memory of many around the world.

Malcolm Browne captured the famous photograph on June 11, 1963, and Quảng Đức’s protest via self-immolation became international news. It also won Browne the “World Press Photo of the Year” award.

Quảng Đức was protesting the Ngô Đình Diệm-led South Vietnamese government and the treatment of Buddhists.

Fast-forward to 1992, and the up-and-coming, anti-establishment band Rage Against The Machine felt Quảng Đức’s sacrifice was exactly what they needed on their namesake debut album’s cover.

The combination of the two encapsulates the state of 20th-century politics brilliantly.

‘(WHAT’S THE STORY) MORNING GLORY?’ (1995) – OASIS

The British indie-pop legends Noel and Liam Gallagher were the staple members of the band Oasis. Despite having other members in the group during the years it was active, whenever you think of Oasis, you immediately imagine the brothers from Manchester swaggering around.

The cover of Oasis’ second studio album featured two men passing each other down Berwick Street in London. This location was chosen as the area was very popular with record shops at the time.

As well as the Gallaghers paying homage to the Beatles and their use of people walking in the street for cover artwork, the album’s producer, Owen Morris, can be seen on the left footpath covering his face with the album’s master tape.

Cover Credit: Hisham Baroocha, Vidar Logi, Pavielle Garcia, livepict.com, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc

For more articles on iconic albums:

• Music Rewind: 20 Iconic Early Noughties Albums Turning 20 in 2023
• Surprising 22 for 2022: Welcome to a Soundtrack for a World in Turmoil
• Earl Sweatshirt 'SICK!': A 27-Year-Old's Bittersweet Hope
• Of Saxophones, NFTs & Interactive Albums with Mike Casey

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Writer | DB Damage

DB Damage is a freelance content writer passionate about creative subjects like music, film, and video games. He studied IT and music technology at college and has a background in managing and promoting local bands.