Cover art and you

[OhJohnNo]

Put simply, what's your favourite piece of cover art? Album or single, it doesn't matter. An explanation would be nice too. Also, try to keep it to just one image - I know we all love more than one, but we don't want the thread getting too cluttered. Still, if you really can't decide between two (or more), then you can post all of them if you want.

Personally, my favourite is The Ladder (a Yes album):

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b4/Yes_The_Ladder.jpg

Beautifully surrealist, this. Instantly catches the eye, with all those bulbous spires and arches, but look closer and you'll find other things too - at the very right, do you see those floating rock stairs? And on that natural bridge at the front - there are what looks like mountain climbers. Come to think of it, I love the odd font (if you can call it that) they used to write the Album and Band title too.

So, there's mine. What about you guys?

[Mnementh]

Just an interesting point about this image, it used to have spaceships in it. Though I've never seen it with the ships :(


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cc98lLVONUI

[Harmanoff]

My fav:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/da/Black_Sabbath_debut_album.jpg

So this is the cover for Black Sabbaths eponymous first album(interestingly, that very album is used as an example in the wiki article (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eponym) about eponyms). The picture shows the Mapledurham Watermill on the river Thames and a strange sickly woman in front of it. I don't know why but somehow that picture caught me the instant i saw it and i even went to a record store right away to see if i could find it on vinyl, the format where cover art really shines imo. It goes perfectly with the rather bleek themes on that album too. The very first line of the song Black Sabbath(first song on the album) goes "What is this that stands before me? Figure in black which points at me". Coupled with that strange woman it sends chills down my spine.

[Tiresias]

http://images2.fanpop.com/image/photos/12600000/Unknown-Pleasures-joy-division-12623677-1024-768.jpg

Unknown Pleasures by Joy Division to me has to be the absolute definitive cover. Minimalist, striking, it's actually a visualisation of the radio signal picked up at Jodrell Bank radio telescope array outside Manchester (i'm seeing a gig there next month :D), but people have seen it as a heartbeat or something similar. It seems so relelvant to the music, modern, maybe slightly unnerving too, and mysterious.

No band name or album title on it either, which is always fun.

[MadCatChiken]

I really like Yes album cover art they got some really nice art, good music too! Iron Maiden have some really good looking covers.

I don't really have a fav but this stick out. Pink Floyds Dark Side of The Moon

http://www.progarchives.com/progressive_rock_discography_covers/364/cover_2213172112008.JPG

[Octopus Rex]

Most of the covers I've liked in recent years are actually more tactile than they are visually beautiful, or at least the tactile aspect is what takes them to the next level. I looked through my CDs and couldn't really see any worth posting images of. Interesting video by the way nemmy.

[coldspyderSLS]

As a new music player, jazz cover from the 50's and 60's are what I lean towards Bluenote Records come to mind, even tho their are some funk, rock, and soul cover's that I like. lets see what I can dig up.

[Open Blue]

http://i876.photobucket.com/albums/ab321/Asrielathome/muse-the-resistance-album-460-100-460-70.jpg
Great album, great cover. The colours, the art styling and the picture itself are all fantastic and work really well to frame the music.
My second choice was Dark Side of the Moon, but MadCatChicken beat me to it.

[OhJohnNo]

Heh, yeah, I've always liked that. My personal favourite of Muse's album covers is Absolution (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vOU15t4lEvY/TbTHzccwDVI/AAAAAAAAAB0/qD5yMwSJ5HU/s1600/absolution.jpg), though.

[Rotlung]

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_b7Y-awtoX8Q/S4Gf9xjevII/AAAAAAAADtM/-yfusxIvF6E/s400/Genesis-Nursery62938.jpg

Nursery Cryme by Genesis. I found this album cover somewhat mystical when I first encountered it - it used to appear to be a bunch of farmers to me. I wasn't familiar with Genesis back then but I knew they were a Progressive Rock band so the album cover was probably meant to look really weird or something.

Also, check out that decapitated head by the corner. It's meant to reflect something that happens in one of the songs.

Once I finally heard the stuff though... hehe. Needless to say, my fascination with the cover has stuck ever since.