What makes an album cover memorable? Is it the way it symbolizes the songs on it, or the way it particularly strikes the viewer? From “Nevermind”’s underwater baby to “London Calling”’s guitar smash, here are the most iconic album covers and their stories.
This simple graphic says so much with only a few lines of white. Even without text, “Unknown Pleasures” is universally recognized (and you’ve probably seen it on at least a few t-shirts). Artist Peter Saville, the designer of the image, says it was based off of radio waves (though they look more like mountains to us).
The acclaimed rock band’s fame didn’t come without controversy. This cover of a hand in a black leather glove resting on a woman’s behind was published in the U.K. & worldwide version of the album release; photographer Colin Lane spontaneously took this picture of his girlfriend after she got out of the shower and found a glove that a stylist left behind. This uproar prevented the cover from reaching the U.S. Instead, we got an image of subatomic particle tracks in a bubble chamber. How educational.
This vintage-looking image of a beautiful woman staring directly into your soul without much of a facial expression has a funny story. Guitarist Rostam Batmanglij found the picture while searching “New York City 1983” on photo sharing website Flickr and promptly found this polaroid taken by photographer Tod Brody; they selected it because they felt it placed well next to the cover of their first album, and looked as if the two were in the same world. The band was soon sued by the model in the photo, Ann Kirsten Kennis, for $2 million for using the picture without her permission. How did the model discover the cover? Her daughter brought the album home.
A scene of a nude baby chasing a dollar on a hook underwater certainly raises a lot of questions about its origins. Lead singer Kurt Cobain was interested in water births — but he knew a water birth slapped onto an album cover would be a bit too much. Instead, this photo was taken in a public swimming pool with a three-month-old child. Cobain and designer Robert Fisher decided it needed something more, and later added the fish hook with a dollar. And yes, the baby is an actual person; his name is Spencer Elden.
Upon viewing the blurry live photo, photographer Pennie Smith didn’t want it used for the cover, but the band disagreed and used it anyway. The pink and green words along the sides were inspired by Elvis Presley’s self-titled album; this album wasn’t the first to be inspired by it, and certainly wasn’t the last. Why was he destroying that bass? Supposedly, the show went well, but Paul Simonon felt that it wasn’t, so he took it out on the bass. Must be fun to be a rock star, huh?
This eerie cartoon is one you can’t look away from. Where is her head? Are those people drowning? Who is she waving to? This cover was taken from a vintage postcard. Lead singer Jeff Mangum asked artist Chris Bilheimer to replace the head of the woman with a potato. Hey, it’s weird, but it’s something you’ll never forget.
Although Amy was 4 hours late to this album photoshoot, she walked away with one of the most instantly recognizable covers ever. This was shot in photographer Mischa Richter’s house in a room filled with blackboard paint, later in the day as the evening light came in, making the perfect lighting and the most hypnotizing glazed face ever.
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