The cover of Jim O'Rourke's Eureka album is extremely provocative, creepy and at the same time amusing. I love it.
What about you? What's your pick? Please post photo's or videos of you choice.
Miles Davis - Bitches Brew
As far as album covers go, I don't think it gets much cleaner than Unkown Pleasures by Joy Division. Played out, I know, but there it is. Fits the music perfectly- spare, tastefully monochromatic, skeletal, somehow coiled and claustrophobic. And it's just a satisfying image. There's a reason why half the world's wispy indie community has it tattooed on their forearms. As far as whole-hog album art design goes, I'm a big fan of Kid A. I think the "themes" that Radiohead incorporated into the art are a little basic/obvious, but the physical layout and the overall aesthetic is great, and does match the music well. I just remember getting this album and loving the textural aspect of the tracing paper against the glossy pages. Before that, all the albums I'd ever gotten were just your standard stapled booklet. God, everything about this album was great. When I was a kid, I would flip through my dad's old record collection and my eyes would constantly be drawn to this one and this one- the second appealed to my pubertal self- boobs and middle fingers? Sign me up! The first just kind of intrigued me. Once I bothered taking the records out of their sleeves and listening, it got even better. Zuma is great, but I became obsessed with Remain in Light. It remains one of my all-time favorite albums. And again, matches up with the artwork well- synthetic, antisocial, stark contrast between warm and cold tones. And there's something oddly mechanical about the red blotches covering the faces- a nice compliment to the glitchier aspects of Eno's production. This is making me realize how central artwork was to my early experiences with my favorite music. It drew me in, convinced me to take chances on things I'd otherwise have ignored, and then acted as a guide to the music. We've really lost something with the whole digital distro thing.
Another early film that really captured me has a young man was 200 Motels, Frank Zappa's weird rock strangeness that also showed me how much fun and how goofy art/music can be. -and it had boobs.This is making me realize how central artwork was to my early experiences with my favorite music. It drew me in, convinced me to take chances on things I'd otherwise have ignored, and then acted as a guide to the music. We've really lost something with the whole digital distro thing.
I hear you, one of the first bands I was very influenced by was Pink Floyd. At a very young age I watched the Wall often. I can't imagine allowing my kid to watch something like that when they're 10,11, 12 years old. It was disturbing, it was riveting, it was sexual, it gave me glimpses in to what art can be and what humans are capable of. Beauty, destruction, madness, lust, love and envy. So much.
Always loved this one. Brand New - Deja Entendu Good inside album work too
All of those are great choices but the one that really hits home for me is Odelay. That album was a part of a particularly kick-ass summer for me back in the day. -Such a great image but even more so for the connotations for me. I'm actually not familiar with Circa Survive. Should I be? Where should I start?
Circa Survive is great, i was really into them in high school but haven't spent much time listening to them lately. hmm, where should you start...if you don't mind i'll give you a couple songs and see if you gravitate towards one of their albums over another. A common criticism is that the singer (Anthony Green) sounds like a prepubescent girl. He kind of does, but i've come to love that honestly. this is from the album Blue Sky Noise This is their first album, Juturna And this is on On Letting Go, the cover i posted.
A common criticism is that the singer (Anthony Green) sounds like a prepubescent girl. He kind of does
-Kind of? The guy makes Geddy Lee sound like Brad Roberts :)
Roger Dean's work for Yes, especially this one :
Also this one by Arthur Wood, for Todd Rundgren's "A Wizard A True Star" :
Yo La Tengo - ...and then nothing turned itself inside out might be my favorite album cover. It's definitely up there with stuff like Let it Bleed.
That YLT cover is brilliant, thanks for sharing it.
Being the most influential album throughout my adolescent years, Wild Beasts's Two Dancers still holds the top spot for album covers in my eyes. It reminds me of an imperfect and surreal rendition of the classic "two men or a vase" optical illusion.
I'm not an especially huge fan of the album itself but I've always liked how factories were chosen for this cover when the music itself is so serene. Though there are some menacing parts if I remember correctly. Album art is always a big thing for me. It changes how I perceive the album more than I'd like usually. Also thumbs up for that O'Rourke cover, I've never listened to it but its made me stop and stare more than once.
Thanks for the thumbs up. It's worth listening to the album, "Ghost Ship in a Storm" is one of my favorites, but honestly the whole thing is great:
http://imgur.com/vPIOSag As a kid, any cover art on a Journey album or concert t-shirt freaked me out. Also it fascinated me how the art didn't seem analogous to the band and their music.
That album and it's cover will forever remind me of a specific girl that I was head over heels for as a kid. Iconic cover, for sure. 
Christian Death - Catastrophe Ballet I was 14 or 15 when I got the album, and I had... dreams... about the scary plaster lady.
Leif Podhajsky's work creating album artworks for bands like Tame Impala, Foals, and Youth Lagoon. Visit his website, its stunning imo. http://leifpodhajsky.com/Follow-1
I like that he has the audio as well as the artwork for some of them, that's a nice touch. There are some of our most talented artists making album art these days. So many talented people are going in to graphic design and working for big companies etc and I know a bunch that will work, on the side, making artwork, tshirts, posters etc for bands. I think it scratches a creative itch that their day jobs don't. Thanks for sharing.
There's a lot of potential in encouraging the right artists to collaborate with musicians on album artwork. It's always fun to interpret or relate the artwork with the style and sound of the album, like painting while listening to music, but in reverse.