This is Part Six in my series listing my 50 Favorite Rock Album Covers of All Time. This group of five, Numbers 21 to 25, has some of the most visually-interesting and eye-popping covers yet on the list.
As I say in every post of this list, if you have a favorite album cover or two you’d like to share, please post it/them in the comments on the blog here, on my Facebook page facebook.com/collindanielsfanpage, or Tweet it to me @collindaniels.
Collin's 50 Favorite Rock Album Covers of All Time
#25: Coldplay – Parachutes
I feel like one of the big themes I’ve written about as I’ve posted this list is simplicity when it comes to art. Another great example here. One single, spinning globe against a dark background. And it was all yellow.
#24: Silversun Pickups – Pikul
To me, this would be a beautiful painting/etching/drawing (I’m not exactly sure which it is) if it were hanging in a museum all by itself. The colors, the scratchy band logo, the childlike, playful album title, the pretty-yet-dark depiction of the girl on the swing, with her right arm outstretched…I’m in awe of whoever created this.
#23: Oasis – Definitely Maybe
I just noticed that this cover has a globe on it too. Isn’t that a globe, in the upper right corner of the photo? Or maybe it’s just a big, round paper lantern? Anyway, it’s got that. Everything in this seems at first glance normal, on second glance slightly out-of-place and curiosity-inducing. Does that ceiling light have a giant moustache? What’s a flamingo doing on the mantle? Who is that on the poster and in the framed photo? What is a miniature palm tree doing next to the couch (this is England, right)? What’s up with that mirror on the wall to the left?
#22: Joe Satriani – Surfing with the Alien
This is the only album cover I’ve ever seen that is a direct depiction of an established comic book character. It features, of course, Marvel Comics’ Silver Surfer, who you may have seen in the comics, or the 2007 Hollywood movie The Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer. If you’ve ever listened to the title track or any other Satriani songs like it, it’s a pretty good match of image to sound. I love the pure boldness and action of it, which the primary-color barrage of a background accentuates nicely.
#21: Ministry – Psalm 69: The Way to Succeed and the Way to Suck Eggs, a.k.a. KEɸAΛHΞΘ
If I were to look at this cover without hearing the record, I might think the sound behind it would be dark, haunting, and also perhaps airy and subtle. Dark and haunting would be accurate, but if you know the music of Ministry, or this album specifically, you know airy and subtle are not exactly the right words for it. I think the imagery sets the listener up perfectly to put their ear softly to the door, so that the band can kick it in.
Coming soon, we edge ever-closer to the top with Numbers 16 to 20. There will be one cover that is very black, another that is very pink, and two from the same artist – back to back, in fact.
Remember, if you have a favorite album cover or two you’d like to share, please post it/them in the comments on the blog here, on my Facebook page facebook.com/collindanielsfanpage, or Tweet it/them to me @collindaniels.
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As I say in every post of this list, if you have a favorite album cover or two you’d like to share, please post it/them in the comments on the blog here, on my Facebook page facebook.com/collindanielsfanpage, or Tweet it to me @collindaniels.
Collin's 50 Favorite Rock Album Covers of All Time
#25: Coldplay – Parachutes
I feel like one of the big themes I’ve written about as I’ve posted this list is simplicity when it comes to art. Another great example here. One single, spinning globe against a dark background. And it was all yellow.
#24: Silversun Pickups – Pikul
To me, this would be a beautiful painting/etching/drawing (I’m not exactly sure which it is) if it were hanging in a museum all by itself. The colors, the scratchy band logo, the childlike, playful album title, the pretty-yet-dark depiction of the girl on the swing, with her right arm outstretched…I’m in awe of whoever created this.
#23: Oasis – Definitely Maybe
I just noticed that this cover has a globe on it too. Isn’t that a globe, in the upper right corner of the photo? Or maybe it’s just a big, round paper lantern? Anyway, it’s got that. Everything in this seems at first glance normal, on second glance slightly out-of-place and curiosity-inducing. Does that ceiling light have a giant moustache? What’s a flamingo doing on the mantle? Who is that on the poster and in the framed photo? What is a miniature palm tree doing next to the couch (this is England, right)? What’s up with that mirror on the wall to the left?
#22: Joe Satriani – Surfing with the Alien
This is the only album cover I’ve ever seen that is a direct depiction of an established comic book character. It features, of course, Marvel Comics’ Silver Surfer, who you may have seen in the comics, or the 2007 Hollywood movie The Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer. If you’ve ever listened to the title track or any other Satriani songs like it, it’s a pretty good match of image to sound. I love the pure boldness and action of it, which the primary-color barrage of a background accentuates nicely.
#21: Ministry – Psalm 69: The Way to Succeed and the Way to Suck Eggs, a.k.a. KEɸAΛHΞΘ
If I were to look at this cover without hearing the record, I might think the sound behind it would be dark, haunting, and also perhaps airy and subtle. Dark and haunting would be accurate, but if you know the music of Ministry, or this album specifically, you know airy and subtle are not exactly the right words for it. I think the imagery sets the listener up perfectly to put their ear softly to the door, so that the band can kick it in.
Coming soon, we edge ever-closer to the top with Numbers 16 to 20. There will be one cover that is very black, another that is very pink, and two from the same artist – back to back, in fact.
Remember, if you have a favorite album cover or two you’d like to share, please post it/them in the comments on the blog here, on my Facebook page facebook.com/collindanielsfanpage, or Tweet it/them to me @collindaniels.
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