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One of the reasons that
convinced the boys in the 70s to invest their money (not so little) to buy a
vinyl LP was represented by its cover.
Originally it was only a protection for the vinyl record inside. But in the '60s, first
in jazz and then, even more, in the rock, the cover has become a specific form
of art. Reaching the maximum with the great gatefold covers, that led to a
unique conclusion: you could not miss to buy that LP.
It's very difficult to choose the most beautiful, those with the greatest impact. But we
try with our personal Top-5.
If you think of any other, or if you want to propose your own personal ranking,
you need not do anything but contact us.
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Top-5 "fantasy" |
1 |
Santana |
Abraxas |
1970 |
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Apotheosis of the imagination and best evidence of the
potential of the cover art for a vinyl LP. The cover, in gatefold format, is
based on a painting by Mati Klarwein (Annunciation, 1961). Bob Venosa for
the graphics, photos (inside cover) by Joan Chase. Great impact: the Madonna
is black, and not only, and the image shows as best you can the kaleidoscope
of sound that the group of Carlos Santana presented to its new listeners.
By the same artist was painted the beautiful cover of Miles Davis'
masterpiece, the prototype of the jazz-rock: Bitches Brew. |
2 |
Pink Floyd |
Animals |
1977 |
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Simplicity for the best results. A photo that looks like a
picture of a science fiction movie, instead it is a coal power plant
(Battersea Power Station, built in 1939, is the largest brick building built
in Europe), which is still in the outskirts of London, brilliantly
photographed and with only an insert, one of the pigs cited in the album
(which is a tribute to "Animal Farm" by George Orwell). The graphic idea is
of Roger Waters. |
3 |
Quicksilver |
Shady Groove |
1969 |
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From a painting by L.K. Hollister, graphically post-edited, a
dreamy cover and effective, in shades of relaxing green, out of time, as the
endless guitar rides of the Quicksilver Messenger Service. Wonderful effect
in the gatefold format. |
4 |
Big Brother |
Cheap Trills |
1968 |
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For the wonderful album that marks the maximum capacity of
Janis Joplin to involve her audience, as front-woman here of a band at its
peak, Big Brother & The Holding Company, the album cover art was created by
cartoonist Robert Crumb, well known for the irreverent cartoon Fritz the
Cat. Here he draws a series of pictures specifically dedicated to each of
the songs on the album. The mere pleasure of the sight and the time required
to read the cover art of this LP justified completely the price. |
5 |
Rolling Stones |
Sticky Fingers |
1971 |
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Here is involved a great artist and talent manager, the
well-known Andy Warhol. It's not his first experiment in the world of LP
cover art, the first album of The Velvet Underground, the famous banana, was
created by Wharol, too. But here we have a 3D art cover, with a real zip
made of cardboard, and opening it ... the mocking tongue that later became
the logo of the Stones. In the subsequent issues of the album the zip was
reduced to an image printed, but I remember the first edition and my
schoolmate Sandro inviting boys and girls to find out what was underneath. |
+1 |
Roxy Music |
Stranded |
1973 |
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Indolent glamorous, sexy unwittingly, boredom exposed
together with a careless beauty, memories of past eras and gone luxury
years, elegance on dirty bare earth. All the ingredients of The Roxy Music
of Bryan Ferry and Brian Eno in their heyday, are effectively present in
this famous cover art, using once again the size of the double gatefold
format (60 cm) to get the maximum impact from the image of the languid
half-naked woman.
(photo by Karl Stoeker, design by Nicholas DeVille, concept Roxy Music) |
+2 |
Yes |
Fragile |
1972 |
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The progressive-rock was not only a source of ideas and
influences for music and poetry, but also a school of creativity in the
field of images and cover art. Arriving to overturn the format, go beyond
what can be done in typography, using new materials and combinations. You
could do a lot of alternative choices, but we choose the elegance and
creativity of the cover arts painted by Roger Dean for The Yes British
group, and in particular the one of their most successful album, an
illustration that comes from an imaginary world. |
+3 |
Audience |
The House on The Hill |
1971 |
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Few remember the Audience, sophisticated art-rock group
active between the '60s and '70s, characterized by the originality of the
arrangements which widely used the sounds of acoustic guitar and sax (two
virtuosos of the instruments were part of the group) but combining them with
the energy of rock. Great cover art, nostalgic and evocative of a situation
that could have any development, deliberately inspired to a '40s movie. The
cover art was created by the design studio Hipgnosis, very active at the
beginning of the 70s in the "cover-art" in UK. |
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1 |
Bob Dylan |
The Freewheelin' B.D. |
1963 |
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We need a separate ranking for those albums that do not use
the free the imagination, but the effectiveness of a simple photo of the
musicians.
The best example can be surely the famous cover art of the second album by
Bob Dylan, the one that made great the American songwriter, the one with
Blowin 'In The Wind. One shot in New York in February, after a light
snowfall, taken with a Rolleiflex camera. Dylan walks chilled and happy with
his girlfriend Suze Rotolo. An image (by Don Hunstein) with many symbols in
it, probably without an explicit will, that nevertheless induced in the boys
of the time an irresistible urge to freedom. |
2 |
Beatles |
Abbey Road |
1969 |
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Another famous shot, this time slightly more designed (the
clothes, subject of many speculations in the following years) but always
very simple. The walkway is in fact just outside the Abbey Road studios
where the Beatles were recording their latest masterpiece with the group yet
united. One image (photo by Ian McMillan) imitated many times, and that has
given rise to one of the oldest urban legends of the entire history of rock:
the alleged death of Paul. Something in common with the previous cover art?
Of course, here in London there is a Volkswagen parked, in New York a
Volkswagen van. |
3 |
Carole King |
Tapestry |
1971 |
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An image at home, relaxed. A young woman in her simple house,
traditional, comfortable, barefoot, in the foreground his gray cat, her eyes
are straight and firm, she's happy, aware, a woman who knows who is
presenting a group of songs that will always remain classics of today's
music, starting from You've Got A Friend and then Natural Woman, The Way
Over Yonder and many others.
A cover that testifies to the great evocative power of a simple photograph. |
4 |
CS&N |
Crosby, Stills and Nash |
1969 |
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Harry Diltz took the photo of the cover art of the first
album of the most famous supergroup in rock history. A picture taken in a
location identified by chance, an old sofa left out of a cottage for sale,
perfect location for the west coast sound of the three new friends. In
addition, an image that seems to go in deep in the characters of the three,
that allow to know what would be revealed later. The shy and restrained
Stills, Nash ambitious and idealistic, the distant look of the explorer of
artificial paradises, Crosby. The cover gatefold contained another picture
in poster size of the three musicians. |
5 |
Incredible String Band |
The Hangsman's Beautiful Daughter |
1968 |
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A collective image, a simple group photo (taken on Christmas
Day, 1967), which portrays not only the musicians of the psychedelic folk
British band, but also their friends and their children, dressed in timeless
suits, in a forest that we can imagine to be close to their homes, in the
new world described in the acoustic ballads of Robin Williamson and Mike
Heron, for an album that has proven over time to be a perfect transposition
in music of the hippie culture. |
+1 |
Sade |
Promise |
1985 |
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With a musician with the appearance of Sade Adu is not a
difficult task to obtain an image for the cover art of his second (and
excellent) album. The very refined photo (by Toshi Yajima, design by Graham
Smith), enhanced by a slight grain effect, tone on tone, is something more
than a pretty picture, is a perfect introduction to the sophisticated music
of the beautiful and talented Anglo-Nigerian singer. |
+2 |
Joan Armatrading |
Back To The Night |
1975 |
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A simple profile portrait, a strong backlight (not a photo
effect) for a very effective result, essential and direct as the songs on
this album, one of the best of the Anglo Jamaican singer, to which
M&M have presented over time
translations of many albums and many songs.
Photo by Clive Arrowsmith, design by Flavio Nicoli. |
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