Album Art-The Stories Behind Music's Iconic Album Covers

Send us a textWhip it good—before Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! scrambled rock ‘n’ roll conventions, it was a statement, a warning, a manifesto. Part dadaist prank, part deconstructed Americana, and 100% new wave revolution. Yellow jumpsuits, mutant energy domes, and twisted satire—this cover is as subversive as the music inside. Is it evolution, de-evolution, or something else entirely? Grab a copy and listen along with us. Questions, comments, recommendations? We'd love to hear from you at Albumartthecoverstories@gmail.com, or check out our Spotify Song List with a track from each album we’ve covered: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2NrDU39yE9CJcHU6YJT8jj?si=Y1JAE4LWTDmKEDE9QGlB2A&pi=ly2xwE-ERRu-2.

09/05/2025 • 28:05

Send us a text The Joker has Harley, and now Folie à Deux has Harlequin—a visual feast of theatrical madness, glam chaos, and Gaga at her most unpredictable. Is it a mask, a persona, or something deeper?Grab a copy and listen along with us. Questions, comments, recommendations? We'd love to hear from you at Albumartthecoverstories@gmail.com or check our Spotify Song List with a song from each album we have covered https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2NrDU39yE9CJcHU6YJT8jj?si=Y1JAE4LWTDmKEDE9QGlB2A&pi=ly2xwE-ERRu-2

02/05/2025 • 37:19

Send us a textThis may be the most famous crosswalk in the world—and the Beatles made it iconic in just ten minutes. No band name. No album title. Just four lads walking away from work-- John the prophet, Ringo the usher, Paul the barefoot mystery, and George the denim disciple. The cover became an icon, the street a pilgrimage, and the image a global meme decades before memes were a thing. Grab a copy and listen along with us. Questions, comments, recommendations? We'd love to hear from you at Albumartthecoverstories@gmail.com or check our Spotify Song List with a song from each album we have covered: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2NrDU39yE9CJcHU6YJT8jj?si=Y1JAE4LWTDmKEDE9QGlB2A&pi=ly2xwE-ERRu-2

25/04/2025 • 46:59

Send us a text A barren desert and a band at the height of their powers in both Americas. The Joshua Tree wasn’t just an album; it was a statement. The cover is simple, stark, and unforgettable. Grab a copy and listen along with us. Questions, comments, recommendations? We'd love to hear from you at Albumartthecoverstories@gmail.com or check our Spotify Song List with a song from each album we have covered https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2NrDU39yE9CJcHU6YJT8jj?si=Y1JAE4LWTDmKEDE9QGlB2A&pi=ly2xwE-ERRu-2

18/04/2025 • 41:49

Send us a text An Emo Phillips look alike on the cover of the chaotic fusion of Lou Reed and Metallica --love it or hate it, this album—and its cover—demand a reaction. Grab a copy, listen along, and let’s dive in. Grab a copy and listen along with us. Questions, comments, recommendations? We'd love to hear from you at Albumartthecoverstories@gmail.com or check our Spotify Song List with a song from each album we have covered https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2NrDU39yE9CJcHU6YJT8jj?si=Y1JAE4LWTDmKEDE9QGlB2A&pi=ly2xwE-ERRu-2

11/04/2025 • 30:46

Send us a textIs that Courtney Love or Carrie White on the cover? It is neither, it is Leilani Bishop who nailed the look that nailed the music for this entire Hole album. Grab a copy and listen along with us. Questions, comments, recommendations? We'd love to hear from you at Albumartthecoverstories@gmail.com or check our Spotify Song List with a song from each album we have covered https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2NrDU39yE9CJcHU6YJT8jj?si=Y1JAE4LWTDmKEDE9QGlB2A&pi=ly2xwE-ERRu-2

04/04/2025 • 32:02

Send us a textThe John Wayne of serial killers provided the painting that Acid Bath chose for this cover. Gacy's creepy clown persona Pogo reminds us all why we are afraid of clowns. Grab a copy and listen along with us. Questions, comments, recommendations? We'd love to hear from you at Albumartthecoverstories@gmail.com or check our Spotify Song List with a song from each album we have covered https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2NrDU39yE9CJcHU6YJT8jj?si=Y1JAE4LWTDmKEDE9QGlB2A&pi=ly2xwE-ERRu-2

28/03/2025 • 33:41

Send us a textEver been on a Nantucket sleighride? You'll want to fasten your seatbelt because Gail Collins is going to give you a peak into her mind and a ride you won't forget. Grab a copy and listen along with us. Questions, comments, recommendations? We'd love to hear from you at Albumartthecoverstories@gmail.com or check our Spotify Song List with a song from each album we have covered https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2NrDU39yE9CJcHU6YJT8jj?si=Y1JAE4LWTDmKEDE9QGlB2A&pi=ly2xwE-ERRu-2

21/03/2025 • 37:43

Send us a textJudas Priest, what is that guy thinking? he's thinking this is going to make a really cool album cover. And so it did. Grab a copy and listen along with us. Questions, comments, recommendations? We'd love to hear from you at Albumartthecoverstories@gmail.com or check our Spotify Song List with a song from each album we have covered https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2NrDU39yE9CJcHU6YJT8jj?si=Y1JAE4LWTDmKEDE9QGlB2A&pi=ly2xwE-ERRu-2

14/03/2025 • 26:29

Send us a textSmall Change was killed with his own .38. He was found in an alley, his pockets turned out, his cigarette is still burning. Tom Waits knows gritty and grimy, the world knows cities teeming with life devoid of humanity.  This cover captures all of that. Grab a copy and listen along with us. Questions, comments, recommendations? We'd love to hear from you at Albumartthecoverstories@gmail.com or check our Spotify Song List with a song from each album we have covered https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2NrDU39yE9CJcHU6YJT8jj?si=Y1JAE4LWTDmKEDE9QGlB2A&pi=ly2xwE-ERRu-2

07/03/2025 • 23:50

Send us a textWe have a theory about this cover. Hipgnosis was up late toking or drinking and riffing on an idea for an album cover that explained the purpose of an album cover in excruciating detail that is hilarious, when stoned. Then one day, under the influence of XTC, they finally did it. Grab a copy and listen along with us. Questions, comments, recommendations? We'd love to hear from you at Albumartthecoverstories@gmail.com or check our Spotify Song List with a song from each album we have covered https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2NrDU39yE9CJcHU6YJT8jj?si=Y1JAE4LWTDmKEDE9QGlB2A&pi=ly2xwE-ERRu-2

28/02/2025 • 28:48

Send us a textThis was a cover the Chairman of the Board did not like a little bit. it looks like a TWA ad. It comes wrapped in a story that involved Howard Hughes and a Rudyard Kipling controversy. How cool is that? Grab a copy and listen along with us. Questions, comments, recommendations? We'd love to hear from you at Albumartthecoverstories@gmail.com or check our Spotify Song List with a song from each album we have covered https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2NrDU39yE9CJcHU6YJT8jj?si=Y1JAE4LWTDmKEDE9QGlB2A&pi=ly2xwE-ERRu-2

21/02/2025 • 32:28

Send us a textThis is one you need to see. Dig out your CD or search out the images on discogs.com, grab a bottle of Kahlua, lace it with LSD and we'll see you when you get back. Grab a copy and listen along with us. Questions, comments, recommendations? We'd love to hear from you at Albumartthecoverstories@gmail.com or check our Spotify Song List with a song from each album we have covered https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2NrDU39yE9CJcHU6YJT8jj?si=Y1JAE4LWTDmKEDE9QGlB2A&pi=ly2xwE-ERRu-2

14/02/2025 • 45:17

Send us a textThank god, they decided to take the piss instead of putting band members in lingerie drag on this cover. If the monolith was his headstone the cover could not scream Stanley Kubrick more clearly. This is a story you gotta hear. Grab a copy and listen along with us. Questions, comments, recommendations? We'd love to hear from you at Albumartthecoverstories@gmail.com or check our Spotify Song List with a song from each album we have covered https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2NrDU39yE9CJcHU6YJT8jj?si=Y1JAE4LWTDmKEDE9QGlB2A&pi=ly2xwE-ERRu-2

07/02/2025 • 33:39

Send us a textElton was already a friend of Dorothy and he can be seen embracing his authentic self in the vibrant theatrical imagery of this album cover. This is the album that catapulted John into the stratosphere he still orbits in today as the world's 36th most streamed musical act. Grab a copy and listen along with us. Questions, comments, recommendations? We'd love to hear from you at Albumartthecoverstories@gmail.com or check our Spotify Song List with a song from each album we have covered https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2NrDU39yE9CJcHU6YJT8jj?si=Y1JAE4LWTDmKEDE9QGlB2A&pi=ly2xwE-ERRu-2

31/01/2025 • 40:25

Send us a textThe Beastie Boys borrowed a lot more than props to make this album that only got better with age because it had to. They created and preserved the quintessential NYC corner store one day without permission, of course. Grab a copy and listen along with us. Questions, comments, recommendations? We'd love to hear from you at Albumartthecoverstories@gmail.com or check our Spotify Song List with a song from each album we have covered https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2NrDU39yE9CJcHU6YJT8jj?si=Y1JAE4LWTDmKEDE9QGlB2A&pi=ly2xwE-ERRu-2

24/01/2025 • 32:18

Send us a textYou've waited 16 years for this and neither the cover art nor the music will disappoint. This is the cure for what ails you if you need to contemplate the other side of joy. Grab a copy and listen along with us. Questions, comments, recommendations? We'd love to hear from you at Albumartthecoverstories@gmail.com or check our Spotify Song List with a song from each album we have covered https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2NrDU39yE9CJcHU6YJT8jj?si=Y1JAE4LWTDmKEDE9QGlB2A&pi=ly2xwE-ERRu-2

17/01/2025 • 35:44

Send us a textThe origins of this cover go back to 1899. The original round sleeve was the idea of the Stones' original manager, The Small Faces appear as Kings on the cover. Want the story of these East End oiks? We've got it right here. Grab a copy and listen along with us. Questions, comments, recommendations? We'd love to hear from you at Albumartthecoverstories@gmail.com

10/01/2025 • 32:42

Send us a textYou saw Spinal Tap, right? Did you know they were doing a tribute to an actual album called Smell the Glove? Hear the story of the famous all-black album that inspired the Beatles, Metallica and others. Grab a copy and listen along with us. Questions, comments, recommendations? We'd love to hear from you at Albumartthecoverstories@gmail.com

03/01/2025 • 26:01

Send us a textHendrix planned the album cover meticulously. At least four versions were used, none of them paid any attention to Jimi. One cover had 19 naked women and one of them may be your mom. Grab a copy and listen along with us. Questions, comments, recommendations? We'd love to hear from you at Albumartthecoverstories@gmail.com

27/12/2024 • 40:01

Send us a textWhy did Axl pay such big bucks for images he could have had for free? What is that Raphaelite scribe on the cover writing? We'd still like to know the answer to that one, but all the rest of the story we have for you here. Grab a copy and listen along with us. Questions, comments, recommendations? We'd love to hear from you at Albumartthecoverstories@gmail.com

20/12/2024 • 32:39

Send us a textThis is probably the kreepiest kover we have unkovered. Good news, the little girl is okay, we have found her alive and well. You want this story. Grab a kopy and listen along with us. Questions, komments, rekommendations? We'd love to hear from you at Albumartthecoverstories@gmail.com

13/12/2024 • 34:34

Send us a textAlf and his dwarf twin, a juggler, a strongman, Zazel Wild, a photographer, and an assistant pile into a limo. They head to Sniffen Court in New York City. There they stage a circus scene straight out of a Fellini movie with a cab driver they hailed along the way. The result? The only Doors album without a band member on it. Grab a copy and listen along with us. Questions, comments, recommendations? We'd love to hear from you at Albumartthecoverstories@gmail.com

06/12/2024 • 30:30

Send us a textYou gotta hear the story behind the album cover for this Tod Rundgren produced parody of Bruce Springsteen designed by the comic book artist Richard Corben. It is a keeper. Grab a copy and listen along with us. Questions, comments, recommendations? We'd love to hear from you at Albumartthecoverstories@gmail.com

29/11/2024 • 30:49

Send us a text Louisa Livingstone? Your photos are ready. Discover the story behind the album that gave birth to heavy metal—and the haunting album cover that helped bring it to life. Grab a copy and listen along with us. Questions, comments, recommendations? We'd love to hear from you at Albumartthecoverstories@gmail.com

22/11/2024 • 45:07

Send us a textC'est notre lettre d'amour à notre inexplicablement grand nombre d'auditeurs en France! When Gozilla says have Fortitude, everyone should listen. Grab a copy and listen along with us. Questions, comments, recommendations? We'd love to hear from you at Albumartthecoverstories@gmail.com

15/11/2024 • 37:29

Send us a textIn this episode, we dive into the controversy surrounding AI-generated art and its role in the creation of Deicide's Banished by Sin album cover. We'll explore the tension between artistic tradition and emerging technologies, raising questions about creativity, authenticity, and the future of album art (ChatGPT). Grab a copy and listen along with us. Questions, comments, recommendations? We'd love to hear from you at Albumartthecoverstories@gmail.com4o

08/11/2024 • 47:07

Send us a textA bowl of weed, not a pipe, a big bowl, led to this controversial toilet bowl cover-two and a half years before The Stones repeated that faux pas. The Mamas & Papas shenanigans make Fleetwood Mac look like Quakers. Grab a copy and listen along with us. Questions, comments, recommendations? We'd love to hear from you at Albumartthecoverstories@gmail.com

01/11/2024 • 26:26

Send us a textCan you imagine handling an album off and on over about 25 years without knowing it was your face on the cover? It's true. It happened. Get the story of Rio. Grab a copy and listen along with us. Questions, comments, recommendations? We'd love to hear from you at Albumartthecoverstories@gmail.com

25/10/2024 • 33:54

Send us a textThis cover has been called the Mona Lisa of Album Covers and that may be no exaggeration. And to think it is all owed to a rice cooker. Grab a copy and listen along with us. Questions, comments, recommendations? We'd love to hear from you at Albumartthecoverstories@gmail.com

18/10/2024 • 33:35