Artist Album Cover ResearchFaye Rodgers

History of Album Artwork

The earliest signs of an album cover can date as far back as 1910 when it was just a basic CD wrapped in brown paper. The first notable album cover was designed by Alex Steinweiss in 1938, with the artistic cover of Music of Gershwin (left).

Since then, album covers have played a major part in the advertising for an artist or band. Bands/artists like The Beatles, Guns’n’Roses, Coldplay and Michael Jackson have all used their album covers to promote upcoming singles.

The future of album covers looks steady. Although with CD stores such as HMV going into administration, the designs are still available when any song is bought through iTunes.

Abbey Road – The BeatlesAbbey Road is the 11th studio album from The Beatles, and the one which caused the most controversy. Towards the end of their album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Band, Lennon sings ‘I Buried Paul’ which sparked rumours that McCartney had died in a car accident, but due to the rising fame of The Beatles, they tried to hide this. The band humoured this rumour by going along with it. McCartney is seen not wearing any shoes, which shows he is the deceased, Lennon is wearing all white to symbolise angelic features, Starr is in all black to take the role of the undertaker, and Harrison is wearing dirty denim to indicate he’s the grave digger.

This became The Beatles’ most iconic album cover with the simplicity of it all, and has been recreated by other bands such as One Direction.

Bat Out Of Hell – Meatloaf Who’s Next? – The Who

Both of these rock albums are iconic in their own right. With the dark and rocker motorbike and graveyard theme to Meatloaf’s cover, to the simple and not so rock-like cover by The Who, both albums represent the genre of the artists music at this time. Who’s Next? Is the album which produced the famous song Baba O’Riley, whereas Bat Out Of Hell produced the self-named single Bat Out Of Hell, both songs of which are rock ballads.

Cruel Summer – Kanye West

Cruel Summer is West’s 7th studio album. Released in 2012 it included artists such as Jay-Z, 2Chainz, PushaT, Big Sean and Rick Ross on the album. Since releasing My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, West has gone from being a rapper to an artist with his music. The album cover has a religious feel to it, with the white statue and angelic woman in the middle. Even though the album name isn’t visible on the album, the uniqueness of the design means buyers recognise the album instantly.

Watch the Throne – Jay-Z & Kanye West

Similar to West’s Cruel Summer album, Watch The Throne also takes on the no name included on the cover. The gold background with various patterns is meant to represent the illuminati, which is what Jay-Z and West are usually associated with. Watch The Throne was released in late 2011/early 2012, and the album was instantly on the charts. West says the design to the album cover is one of his favourites, as it shows a new him is being born, and that he feels he finally has become an artist.

SpiceWorld – Spice Girls

The revolution of the Spice Girls started the craze for girl bands and ‘Girl Power’. The SpiceWorld album links in with the self named movie ‘SpiceWorld’. The album cover is rather basic. With a white background and the word ‘SPICE’ written across it, it links in with the Spice Girls saying of ‘Spice Up Your Life’. Each band member is printed within a letter, identifying them as the band members.

The Evolution of Man – ExampleTake Me Home – One Direction

One Direction’s 2nd studio album ‘Take Me Home’ represents the pop culture. The shot includes all the boys fooling around by a phone box – this plays up to their boyish attitude they stereotype.

‘The Evolution of Man’ is Example’s 4th studio album. There is a hand holding up the picture, which suggests Example has always wanted to perform. The name ‘Evolution of Man’ links in with the cover as it shows Example as a child, in front of a crowd he performed to in Australia. This shows Example’s journey to get to where he wants to be today.

xx – The xxCoexist – The xx

The xx’s first studio album ‘xx’ was released in 2009. The self named album was The xx’s first shot to fame. The basic black background and white X on the front made the album extremely recognisable to buyers. The 2nd album ‘Coexist’ was released in 2012. Similar to ‘xx’, ‘Coexist’ still portrayed the basic background with a large X on the front. The X this time looked as though it had been coloured in. The simplicity of both albums made them eye-catching to buyers as the band have such a simple name in the first place.

Until Now – Swedish House Mafia‘Until Now’ is Swedish House Mafia’s 2nd studio album. The band associates themselves with House music. The album cover features all 3 members of SHM, in a negative grayscale format. It also features the three dots behind them, which is a trademark of the band, signifying the three members. This album cover differs from other album covers due to the genre of the band and the amount going on in one cover. The colours, the picture and the merge of the name all is a lot going on in one photo which can link to the style of music House is.