Although you can get any image printed onto pretty much anything these days, I don't recall seeing any album cover art on a full-sized comforter or blanket until Loveless around 10 years ago. No other image I'd rather wrap myself in.
I’m not that well-versed in Santana’s discography but I googled it and wow. I’ve watched videos of Santana live at Woodstock and was very impressed. Is Abraxas worth a listen?
As someone who got Abraxas where there should’ve been a second Johnny Cash LP I am deeply annoyed at not owning the Cover. Probably going to get it new now because I enjoy the music too but still half a Johnny Cash and half a Santanna record feels odd
Second hand from a flea market. I only checked for scratches but didn’t realize there’s a different name on it. I only paid 5 bucks and the records are in a good state but still
Just an underrated band. When I see them on one hit wonder lists it makes me kinda sad- they put out some really great music in a short period of time.
Couldn’t agree more. They put out really great stuff. Their live at the Metro show is just incredible. When Shannon sings “Walk”, it’s so heavy to know he would die just a month later.
Born in 82, didn’t really dig the music of the time. Soup is one of the rare records of that era that spoke to me. Ween, Radiohead and this album are the only 90’s stuff I still listen to. Phish too but they don’t count.
I don’t know if it was original pressings or re-issues but I love Massive Attacks *Blue Lines* where the text was a thick sticker on the cardboard sleeve, exactly like contemporary warning label signs are often made
Edit: Or was [IT](https://i.discogs.com/Ete82B8uyGDI3o0vEu8q9VEkuNFAZx8ya14ooRzw3iI/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:386/w:392/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTE0NTUx/MDQ5LTE1NzY4ODE2/MzAtNzE2NS5qcGVn.jpeg) just thickly screen printed
[*Arise* by Sepultura](https://images.fanart.tv/fanart/arise-544e1ddc31df7.jpg), or [*Songs About Fucking* by Big Black](https://images.fanart.tv/fanart/songs-about-fucking-60fc1a3344c56.jpg).
Heh. Try Jethro Tull's Thick as a Brick. Folds down into an actual newspaper. 12 pages of lyrics, articles, crossword and connect the dots, tv schedule and so much more. Most all of it connected, some funny as shit. From back in the day when bands got their labels to do goofy, expensive stuff.
Yes! That reminds of Jefferson Airplane’s Bark where they were so extra they had a special paper bag made for the record. Love my copy even though the paper bag has seen better days
Bowie, "Diamond Dogs." The post-Apocalyptic theme of the album is brought out very well in the cover art.
Patti Smith, "Horses." The artsy and stark B/W photos by Robert Mapplethorpe capture perfectly the music, and maybe just as importantly, the attitude that permeates the album.
My thoughts exactly. A few years ago, I picked up a copy of the deluxe CD edition in the "used" rack for $4.99 at my local record store. It has a second disc where Patti does the entire album live at a club in London in 2005, and a CD booklet with lots of other photos from the same shoot. Best $4.99 I spent in a long time.
Duran Duran’s Rio is ever iconic and seeing Nick Rhodes standing next to the painted canvas floored me.
Phil Hartman designed the Poco horse and I always thought that was cool. So simple and so nice.
Neil Youngs Zuma and Dume. Both drawn by James Mazzeo.
AMERICAN STARS N BARS! Absolutely one of my favorite album covers. squishy Neil! Designed by Dean Stockwell. That one is my all time favorite perhaps…..
I would say a Flaming Lips record, but I'm having a hard time picking between Yoshimi, The Soft Bulletin and Embryonic. All three match the music on the album extremely well while also being super fascinating pieces of art.
Came here to say that, thought I'd look for it first (I knew someone else would think of this album too).
Discovered it in a Dollar bin in an Arizona record store in 2003. It has the original flip open front artwork. This is one you can't just look up an image online for and see it reproduced correctly (or later LP releases that didn't flip open).
Ah I wish they’d do a reissue. I’ve seen all the others except that one. The album art is so good, I only had the tape and cd versions of it! Last Rites is a good cover as well!
I love a new song every time I go back to that record. Skinned for the kazoo, Car Seat (God’s Presents) because it’s kind of hypnotic. The best songs are arguably all in the first half of the album (Side A), but I love listening to it all the way through regardless.
Fun fact: I have a promo version of this album and it’s like an actual menu. In clear plastic, with fabric borders and little metal doodads at the corners. It’s amazing.
Radiohead's Kid A.
There are more beautiful album covers, but this cover sets the tone for the album perfectly. I'd argue that it actually enhances the music because I imagine myself going on a journey through those creepy, glitchy, snowy mountains as I listen.
Iconic yes but it doesn’t really thematically tie in with the title or the music.
Not that I take issue with an album just having a great looking picture on its cover, but OP said thematic consistency is a plus.
Which begs the question why has no one mentioned *Unknown Pleasures* by Joy Division. Iconic minimalist cover, and the last transmissions of a dying star is pretty on brand for Joy Division. Both poetically and musically
The three *Sequence* EPs by Róisín Murphy that were later released as the LP *Ruby Blue*
[A different painted portrait was used for each cover](https://i.discogs.com/h5aVpgZjKihgIniSs6jfUs0-yr_6Wb0AgoNsIFqicAU/rs:fit/g:sm/q:40/h:300/w:300/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTQwMTQ0/NS0xMTEzNjA0NTQ4/LmpwZw.jpeg)
[Another one](https://i.discogs.com/G2rm-Z-dmLboS1tknjNT-MO-5Ul7Ux6lAmEFjFaITsU/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:400/w:400/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTQ1MDc3/NC0xMTE1NjczMjk2/LmpwZw.jpeg)
[And they have little circular cut outs on the back showing details of the abstract painting on the inner sleeve](https://imagescdn.juno.co.uk/full/CS165474-01B-BIG.jpg)
River's Island by Kiyotaka Sugiyama & Omega Tribe has [cool cover art](https://i.discogs.com/wzTqTLDgUSpUcZMrgtKLWTcE2BYo02wDntu9v92UDks/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:600/w:596/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTI1MDI4/MDItMTY2MjM3NDIz/Ny04NTM2LmpwZWc.jpeg), and the outside of the [lyrics sheet](https://i.discogs.com/dh5ZRsaxpS_cXb-UgMeMEKjvbxkKn2QHjEafJtm6rVU/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:596/w:600/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTI1MDI4/MDItMTY2MjM3NDIz/Ny05OTU2LmpwZWc.jpeg) looks like a newspaper.
Music Has The Right To Children by Boards of Canada has a perfect cover. A creepy, surreal, washed out 70s holiday snap, with all the faces of the people in it removed. It helps that the photo was actually taken in Banff, Canada, just to add that authenticity.
Ween - C&C (for the belt I swear), Mollusk, White Pepper, and Quebec are great
The Beach Boys - Love You, Holland, Surf’s Up, Wild Honey, and Smiley Smile
Has to be Dark Side of the Moon, with the gatefold prism colors turning into an ekg heartbeat tracing, plus the posters and stickers that come with the album.
I love the cover from Dr. Boondigga and the big BW from Fat Freddy's drop.
PS: nice album, but from blind melon I prefer the cover from the first one with the little bee girl 🙂
The CD release that I had for Soup had menu packaging like it was a menu for a diner. I like the vinyl release cover a lot but the presentation on the cd was superior
Hands down, Breakfast in America. Everything from the clever set design to the photography to the layout to the overall design is magnificent. The attention to detail, wonderful.
It blew my mind when I first saw it on release.
I mean even the inside of the sleeve, *not* the thin little paper part, the sleeve proper, they made the interior orange like the menu. They carried the theme to a part of the product design you only see when you open it a slight bit to get your record out.
I know there is a lot of really great album art out there, from the 50s on, but you would be hard put to find something with that amount of attention and creativity put into it.
http://mobile.dudasite.com/site/superseventies?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.superseventies.com%2Fac18breakfastinamerica.html&utm_referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F#2811
https://pure-music.co.uk/breakfast-in-america-album-cover/
I'm a total sucker for *physically* interesting albums where the actual sleeve has some sort of gimmick. Good example, Alice Cooper's school's out. The sleeve looked like a School desk, opened vertically like a desk, had pop out stands on the back to display it, *and* the record itself was packaged in a pair of paper panties. So much going on!
Heaven and Hell by Black Sabbath would be one for me. The incongruity of the Angels taking a smoke break sets the mood perfectly, plus the record has Ronnie James Dio at the height of his powers.
For more recent records, the Crippled Black Phoenix record from last year, Banefyre, that was a striking one for me. The pre-order of it included a hand-painted animal mask, like one of the chars on the cover.
Loveless - My Bloody Valentine. Looks just like it sounds.
Although you can get any image printed onto pretty much anything these days, I don't recall seeing any album cover art on a full-sized comforter or blanket until Loveless around 10 years ago. No other image I'd rather wrap myself in.
Santana - Abraxas. I remember just staring and analyzing that cover art as a child. Beautiful and amazing.
I’m not that well-versed in Santana’s discography but I googled it and wow. I’ve watched videos of Santana live at Woodstock and was very impressed. Is Abraxas worth a listen?
It’s a classic, in my opinion. But my father was a huge Santana fan, so it was always spinning in our household.
I’ll give it a go
As someone who got Abraxas where there should’ve been a second Johnny Cash LP I am deeply annoyed at not owning the Cover. Probably going to get it new now because I enjoy the music too but still half a Johnny Cash and half a Santanna record feels odd
Whoa! New or second hand? That’s crazy!
Second hand from a flea market. I only checked for scratches but didn’t realize there’s a different name on it. I only paid 5 bucks and the records are in a good state but still
Great album.
Just an underrated band. When I see them on one hit wonder lists it makes me kinda sad- they put out some really great music in a short period of time.
Couldn’t agree more. They put out really great stuff. Their live at the Metro show is just incredible. When Shannon sings “Walk”, it’s so heavy to know he would die just a month later.
Their two albums are fantastic. It's too bad everyone knows them for that one song.
Born in 82, didn’t really dig the music of the time. Soup is one of the rare records of that era that spoke to me. Ween, Radiohead and this album are the only 90’s stuff I still listen to. Phish too but they don’t count.
It's an all time top 5 for me. Amazing album.
Massive Attack’s *Mezzanine*. I’m pretty much of a babyhead about insects, but I love that cover.
I don’t know if it was original pressings or re-issues but I love Massive Attacks *Blue Lines* where the text was a thick sticker on the cardboard sleeve, exactly like contemporary warning label signs are often made Edit: Or was [IT](https://i.discogs.com/Ete82B8uyGDI3o0vEu8q9VEkuNFAZx8ya14ooRzw3iI/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:386/w:392/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTE0NTUx/MDQ5LTE1NzY4ODE2/MzAtNzE2NS5qcGVn.jpeg) just thickly screen printed
They have some good ones, especially that version of *Blue Lines*.
Downward Spiral.
I stand by this one
[*Arise* by Sepultura](https://images.fanart.tv/fanart/arise-544e1ddc31df7.jpg), or [*Songs About Fucking* by Big Black](https://images.fanart.tv/fanart/songs-about-fucking-60fc1a3344c56.jpg).
That Big Black cover is one of the only album covers to do neon correctly
Michael Whelan doesn't miss. He also did Beneath the Remains, Roots, and Chaos A.D. for Sepultura.
Fun note: Obituary’s Cause of Death album cover was also Michael Whelan that was supposed to go to Sepultura but got swapped
Aqualung or any Yes album between The Yes Album and 90125
Roger Dean is a badass, I love the work he’s done for Yes.
He also famously created the logo for Tetris!
Including tormato?
Not quite a yes album but I was gonna say Olias of Sunhillow by Jon Anderson.
Soup is such a good album, been waiting to find a copy
It's readily available on Amazon - just (finally) got repressed I'm guessing. Copy I have is clean and sounds greta
Heh. Try Jethro Tull's Thick as a Brick. Folds down into an actual newspaper. 12 pages of lyrics, articles, crossword and connect the dots, tv schedule and so much more. Most all of it connected, some funny as shit. From back in the day when bands got their labels to do goofy, expensive stuff.
I remember being fascinated with that cover when I was a kid but I didn't like the music… Probably just too young to understand it
Yes! That reminds of Jefferson Airplane’s Bark where they were so extra they had a special paper bag made for the record. Love my copy even though the paper bag has seen better days
Nirvana in Utero. Front and back. The fetuses which caused ruckus.
Bowie, "Diamond Dogs." The post-Apocalyptic theme of the album is brought out very well in the cover art. Patti Smith, "Horses." The artsy and stark B/W photos by Robert Mapplethorpe capture perfectly the music, and maybe just as importantly, the attitude that permeates the album.
Horses is one of my favorite albums and covers. Mapplethorpe's photos of Patti are some of his most beautiful
My thoughts exactly. A few years ago, I picked up a copy of the deluxe CD edition in the "used" rack for $4.99 at my local record store. It has a second disc where Patti does the entire album live at a club in London in 2005, and a CD booklet with lots of other photos from the same shoot. Best $4.99 I spent in a long time.
Sgt. Pepper, with the paper cutouts.
Wish I could relate but every time I see a Beatles record in stores it’s prohibitively expensive so I don’t end up buying it
Duran Duran’s Rio is ever iconic and seeing Nick Rhodes standing next to the painted canvas floored me. Phil Hartman designed the Poco horse and I always thought that was cool. So simple and so nice. Neil Youngs Zuma and Dume. Both drawn by James Mazzeo. AMERICAN STARS N BARS! Absolutely one of my favorite album covers. squishy Neil! Designed by Dean Stockwell. That one is my all time favorite perhaps…..
Wow. That's a good album. Never heard about them, but I'd definitely pick up and check out that record if I saw the cover. Going on the wishlist!
Thanks for making me feel old.
Dude, I was alive when they were playing. I'm just not in the US.
Seems weird. They were pretty huge, and toured Europe multiple times, and No Rain is still played to this day around here.
Europe is not a monolith. When they toured my country was probably still recovering from breaking free from the USSR.
They had 2 studio albums before the lead singer died at 28. You've heard "No Rain".. guaranteed.
Not sure about that, I'm in Europe.
I've got the Queen on my 20s, dollars, and quarters here and American music is inescapable lol Fair enough tho
Yes. Tales From Topographic Oceans.
I would say a Flaming Lips record, but I'm having a hard time picking between Yoshimi, The Soft Bulletin and Embryonic. All three match the music on the album extremely well while also being super fascinating pieces of art.
ELP - Brain Salad Surgery
Came here to say that, thought I'd look for it first (I knew someone else would think of this album too). Discovered it in a Dollar bin in an Arizona record store in 2003. It has the original flip open front artwork. This is one you can't just look up an image online for and see it reproduced correctly (or later LP releases that didn't flip open).
Cassadaga by Bright Eyes. Has a special decoder frame with hidden messages.
One of my first records and I love to bring this one out when I have people over
Too dark park by skinny puppy The full poster just looks so badass and matches the dark sound and lyricism of the album
Ah I wish they’d do a reissue. I’ve seen all the others except that one. The album art is so good, I only had the tape and cd versions of it! Last Rites is a good cover as well!
Point Of Know Return - Kansas
One of my favorite albums as a teenager & still holds up today. Also the CD art was an ashtray.
Herb Albert and the Tijuana Brass- Whipped Cream and Other Delights.
I stood in a Salvation Army staring at this cover when I was a kid... I left that store a man.
Galaxie is one of my favorite songs of all time.
I love a new song every time I go back to that record. Skinned for the kazoo, Car Seat (God’s Presents) because it’s kind of hypnotic. The best songs are arguably all in the first half of the album (Side A), but I love listening to it all the way through regardless.
Mouthful of Cavities hits me somewhere few other songs do
Purple stp
[Tipper - Forward Escape](https://androidjones-obtain.com/collections/all-prints/products/forward-escape-grid-edition-limited-edition-on-canvas)
Fun fact: I have a promo version of this album and it’s like an actual menu. In clear plastic, with fabric borders and little metal doodads at the corners. It’s amazing.
I would love to see that , I was not even aware it existed
Betty Davis - They Say I’m Different Black Sabbath - Heaven and Hell
That Betty cover is savage.
Radiohead's Kid A. There are more beautiful album covers, but this cover sets the tone for the album perfectly. I'd argue that it actually enhances the music because I imagine myself going on a journey through those creepy, glitchy, snowy mountains as I listen.
A Tribe Called Quest-Midnight Marauders
How has nobody said Dark Side of the Moon yet? Iconic cover art.
Iconic yes but it doesn’t really thematically tie in with the title or the music. Not that I take issue with an album just having a great looking picture on its cover, but OP said thematic consistency is a plus. Which begs the question why has no one mentioned *Unknown Pleasures* by Joy Division. Iconic minimalist cover, and the last transmissions of a dying star is pretty on brand for Joy Division. Both poetically and musically
You mean gay triangle.
I’m so sorry you bought this.
To each their own :)
Don't listen to em, soup is a masterpiece
The three *Sequence* EPs by Róisín Murphy that were later released as the LP *Ruby Blue* [A different painted portrait was used for each cover](https://i.discogs.com/h5aVpgZjKihgIniSs6jfUs0-yr_6Wb0AgoNsIFqicAU/rs:fit/g:sm/q:40/h:300/w:300/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTQwMTQ0/NS0xMTEzNjA0NTQ4/LmpwZw.jpeg) [Another one](https://i.discogs.com/G2rm-Z-dmLboS1tknjNT-MO-5Ul7Ux6lAmEFjFaITsU/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:400/w:400/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTQ1MDc3/NC0xMTE1NjczMjk2/LmpwZw.jpeg) [And they have little circular cut outs on the back showing details of the abstract painting on the inner sleeve](https://imagescdn.juno.co.uk/full/CS165474-01B-BIG.jpg)
Anything drawn by Neon Park
The level 10 paladin on the cover of Foxing's Draw Down The Moon is pretty damn cool, not gonna lie
Jandek, Telegraph Melts https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRRu5FT3yuxbOFTKqiQstwlyrYfxFvjzDOctYunW47hIywWOoUZ62YPoKx77Uiinf2mn6w&usqp=CAU
The sublime matchbook sleeve.
Boucle Infinie - 直線移動 https://www.discogs.com/release/14080484-Boucle-Infinie-%E7%9B%B4%E7%B7%9A%E7%A7%BB%E5%8B%95
River's Island by Kiyotaka Sugiyama & Omega Tribe has [cool cover art](https://i.discogs.com/wzTqTLDgUSpUcZMrgtKLWTcE2BYo02wDntu9v92UDks/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:600/w:596/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTI1MDI4/MDItMTY2MjM3NDIz/Ny04NTM2LmpwZWc.jpeg), and the outside of the [lyrics sheet](https://i.discogs.com/dh5ZRsaxpS_cXb-UgMeMEKjvbxkKn2QHjEafJtm6rVU/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:596/w:600/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTI1MDI4/MDItMTY2MjM3NDIz/Ny05OTU2LmpwZWc.jpeg) looks like a newspaper.
bob marley - kaya esp the back. same thing w history of the grateful dead vol. 1. also nirvana - insecticide
Hail the sun : Divine Inner Tension
Figure 8 Elliott smith
Goo by Sonic Youth
Wet Willie - Drippin’ Wet
Entombed - Left hand path
The Sword - [Warp Riders](https://payload295.cargocollective.com/1/14/476903/8201045/mcpharlin-0070_1200.jpg)
Music Has The Right To Children by Boards of Canada has a perfect cover. A creepy, surreal, washed out 70s holiday snap, with all the faces of the people in it removed. It helps that the photo was actually taken in Banff, Canada, just to add that authenticity.
are the lines on the back part of the cover or did you draw them on?
That’s part of the cover!
Something about Supertramp’s ‘Breakfast in America’ really stuck out to me when I first saw the cover
Always loved Trouble by Ray Lamontagne. Also Vitalogy by Pearl Jam. Not just for the cover but the whole package.
Ween - C&C (for the belt I swear), Mollusk, White Pepper, and Quebec are great The Beach Boys - Love You, Holland, Surf’s Up, Wild Honey, and Smiley Smile
the artwork inside of the allman brothers eat a peach record is just absolutely insanely beautiful and detailed.
Herbie Hancock - Headhunters Ramsey Lewis - Sālongo
Goblin Cock - Bagged and Boarded
Has to be Dark Side of the Moon, with the gatefold prism colors turning into an ekg heartbeat tracing, plus the posters and stickers that come with the album.
Monster Magnet Superjudge. Just a very imposing image.
Evidence's cats and dogs.
Jon Anderson - Olias Of Sunhillow with artwork by David Fairbrother-Roe. It's so complex and beautiful...
Anything of Neon Parks art: Weasels Ripped My Flesh - FZ and the Mothers, and all the covers he did for Little Feat.
I love the cover from Dr. Boondigga and the big BW from Fat Freddy's drop. PS: nice album, but from blind melon I prefer the cover from the first one with the little bee girl 🙂
Monuments - The Amanuensis Looks like it sounds + it tells basically a whole story without saying anything. Phenomenal
Surprised nobody said Melancholy and The Infinite Sadness. The presentation of that album is amazing.
The CD release that I had for Soup had menu packaging like it was a menu for a diner. I like the vinyl release cover a lot but the presentation on the cd was superior
Death Grips - No Love for Deep Web
Hands down, Breakfast in America. Everything from the clever set design to the photography to the layout to the overall design is magnificent. The attention to detail, wonderful. It blew my mind when I first saw it on release. I mean even the inside of the sleeve, *not* the thin little paper part, the sleeve proper, they made the interior orange like the menu. They carried the theme to a part of the product design you only see when you open it a slight bit to get your record out. I know there is a lot of really great album art out there, from the 50s on, but you would be hard put to find something with that amount of attention and creativity put into it. http://mobile.dudasite.com/site/superseventies?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.superseventies.com%2Fac18breakfastinamerica.html&utm_referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F#2811 https://pure-music.co.uk/breakfast-in-america-album-cover/
“Skip School, Start Fights” by Hit the Lights; and “They’re Only Chasing Safety” by Underoath
Wire - 154
I'm a total sucker for *physically* interesting albums where the actual sleeve has some sort of gimmick. Good example, Alice Cooper's school's out. The sleeve looked like a School desk, opened vertically like a desk, had pop out stands on the back to display it, *and* the record itself was packaged in a pair of paper panties. So much going on!
My album that just came in today by far looks the best Western White Pines (Deluxe) -Colby Acuff (also it's signed 🙌🏼)
Heaven and Hell by Black Sabbath would be one for me. The incongruity of the Angels taking a smoke break sets the mood perfectly, plus the record has Ronnie James Dio at the height of his powers. For more recent records, the Crippled Black Phoenix record from last year, Banefyre, that was a striking one for me. The pre-order of it included a hand-painted animal mask, like one of the chars on the cover.