Album Covers

[Isaac]

One of the best things about vinyl is that the album covers are bigger which means that the art work has more room than on a CD. What are some of the best covers?

[Jon]

Some of my favorites, off the top o' my head:

Pink Floyd--"Wish You Were Here"
Iron Maiden--All, but especially "Somewhere In Time" since there's a lot of hidden stuff to look for.
Megadeth--"Youthanasia"
Scorpions--"Lovedrive" & "Animal Magnetism"
Rolling Stones--"Sticky Fingers" (just cause the zipper worked!)
Roxy Music--"Country Life"
Roger Waters--"The Pros And Cons Of Hitchhiking
Molly Hatchet--The Frazetta covers
Uriah Heep "Abominog" and Black Sabbath "Born Again" since they're oh so EVIL
Funkadelic--"Hardcore Jollies"
Guns N' Roses--the original "Appetite For Destruction" album art that was quickly yanked off shelves


Another I remember is Led Zeppelin's "In Through The Out Door". It came in a grocery bag type cover, then had the actual album cover inside and the dust cover was actually a watercolor. If you took a damp tissue and gently rubbed the dust cover, color would start to appear.

[Steven]

Great Album Covers all.
Blackmore's Rainbow- Rising, no?

[Jon]

I have never really looked at that Rainbow album until you mentioned it, and it is pretty cool!

[Scott]

This is what I miss most... The album covers and the sleeves. Somehow the CD jewel case insert doesn't have the same feel. Here's some of my favorites...

.38 Special: Wild Eyed Southern Boys
Alice Cooper: From the Inside. It had doors that opened and great inner sleeve, not too mention the music is really good
Triumph: Just a Game. If you remember the initial release of this was a fold out that actually contained a game (which was lame to play, but that didn't matter - you could play this album in two different ways hahaha)
ELO: Out of the Blue
Iron Maiden: Somewhere in Time
Judas Priest: Hell Bent for Leather and British Steel, Two Classics back to back
Kansas: Lefoverture
Kiss: Destroyer. What other album did you have as an LP and a poster?
Rainbow: Straight Between the Eyes (Agree with Rising also, but I would pick the guitar being jammed through the guys head versus the fist breaking the horizon)
Rush: Permanent Waves (my only reason is that I loved the seductive view of the lady on the front, why I don't know, just always struck me that way)
Shooting Star: Hang on for your Life
SuperTramp: Crisis? What Crisis?
The Beatles: Abbey Road

[Jon]

Might as well throw in "Moving Pictures" by Rush too since it's funny. Well, to me at least, for some strange reason.

And then there's "Hemispheres" by Rush too. Makes not a lick of sense.......and to add to the naked guy butt thing I have going here, toss in "Going For The One" by Yes.

[Gordon Williams]

I agree with Rainbow's "Rising" being a great cover. I also love Uriah Heeps "Demons And Wizards". I think "Dark Side Of The Moon" is great, partially because of its simplicity...simple, yet kind of strange.

I do have the Scorps "Lovedrive" on vinyl, with the original cover, with the guy pulling his hand away from the ladies...umm, upper private area...that cover was replaced not that long after initial release, I think, and the original is somewhat of a collectors item.

Other covers I like: Priests "Painkiller"...although I never was into the music of that one too much. UFO 's "Force It"...my vinyl copy has the couple in the bath tub "lighted out"...you can still see them, but it is not clear, like in other verisons. Slaughters "Stick It To Ya"...simply because the chick on the front is sooooooo dang hot!! And finally, a trio of Savatage recordings: "Edge Of Thorns", "Gutter Ballet", and "Hall Of The Mountain King".

Great topic, Isaac!

[Jon]

I also have "Lovedrive" on vinyl and I have it framed and on the wall, next to "Animal Magnetism" which is almost as perverted as "Lovedrive", if you use your imagination I suppose.

Don't have "Force It" on vinyl, but the CD reissue is the original cover from what I understand, no blurring or anything.

[Jon]

"Dark Side Of The Moon", I think it came with a double-sided poster and some stickers. Did it also come with 4 separate photos of the band members?

[Gordon Williams]

I had Dark Side on 8 track, then got it later on CD...never owned the vinyl. But I will say this...since joining this community, I have a re-newed interest in going back and listening to a lot my albums...some of which I have not heard in well over 20 years...so I'm enjoying this "renaissance" of classic music! I'm pretty sure I still have well over 600 albums, hundreds and hundreds of cassettes, and my CD collection is getting out of control! LOL.....got CD's everywhere in my bedroom...anywhere there is some empty space...well, its not empty anymore!

[Jon]

Man, I know wha you're saying. I have a ton of vinyl still, occasionally listen to them but they're slowly getting framed and put on th basement wall (yes, my "man cave"). I have a room in the basement that's half dedicated to CD's, got one of those monster 2000+ storage units and it's filled. It's a sickness I tell ya!

[Gordon Williams]

We be "down with the sickness"!!!.... :)

[Isaac]

ELP- Tarkus has a great cover