Album/CD Covers That I Love!

When I was a kid in the late 80's/early 90's, I was drawn to the loud sounds and glammed up looks of bands like Poison, Def Leppard, and Cinderella.  One of my favorite bands of that time (and still one of my favorites today) was Motley Crue.

Their Dr. Feelgood album proved to be one of the heaviest albums they ever put out.  The liner notes included the band members tied up in straightjackets and the cover simply blew me away.  It was a play on the Caduceus, the symbol of Hermes, which is often used as a symbol for medicine (mistakenly, just Google it).   It featured bat-like wings and a serpent wrapped around a sword topped off by a white-haired skull.

I cannot tell you how many times I sat in class bored out of my skull and drawing this album cover.  I simply love it.  In short, it rocks!


See the full review, "The Best Crue Album Ever(Really!)".

Another album cover of epic awesomeness is Destroyer, which featured the band KISS jumping out at any onlookers from what appears to be a destroyed city and/or world.  Many people consider the album not only to be the best one ever put out by KISS, but also one of the best rock albums of all time.

Interestingly enough, this particular album cover is the "tame" version of the artwork originally submitted to the record label by artist Ken Kelly.  The album is planned to be released in 2012 with Kelly's original artwork on it, featuring even more destruction.

 
See the full review, "An Experiment In Destruction".

Another album considered to be one of the best of all time is Metallica's Master of Puppets.  Not only is it the last album featuring bassist Cliff Burton (and his awesome bass solos in the track Orion), it's also the album that provided a springboard for the much loved ...And Justice For All album that followed it.  

I love the cover for its symbolism.  It features an overgrown cemetery full of crosses and the "master" holding onto the strings of the deceased, as well as Metallica's iconic logo.  A lot of people took this cover to be a cheap shot at both God and the military, but it serves as a visualization of the entire album's themes of being controlled by outside forces (be it drugs, illness, other people, or the government). 

Country music blazes onto this list via Dwight Yoakam's This Time.  This 1993 release by my favorite country artist features Dwight in a fringed jacket, his signature too-tight jeans, and the same hat he has worn on every single album cover he has released with his photo on it (you can actually see the hat age over the years by looking at the album covers). 

It also features a massive clock with Yoakam either cover the hands of the clock behind him or (as I like to see it) with him as the hands of the clock.  The album became one of Yoakam's biggest commercial successes and produced a number of hits including Ain't That Lonely Yet and the massive Fast As You.

Combining punk, rockabilly, country, and alcohol, Dash Rip Rock is a band that is extremely popular throughout the South.  If you've never heard of them, I highly recommend you give them a listen.  I could have listed a number of their album covers as my favorites, but Country Girlfriend makes it on here for the simple fact that it manages to smash almost every single redneck stereotype into one photo.

It features pink flamingos, a mobile home, a three-wheeler (outlawed years ago), a tractor, one of those silhouetted cowboys you find in people's yards all over the southern states, a dog (most likely a huntin' dog), and a beautiful lady scantily clad and quite possibly waiting for you to get home to cook you a good meal and bring you an ice cold Old Milwaukee's Best.

On top of the awesome cover, the music inside is great as well.  As I've already mentioned, this band is a great fusion of punk, country, and straight ahead rock n' roll. 

And what better way to follow up an album cover with a bikini-clad lady on it than with a Christian rock album cover from the band Disciple.  Southern Hospitality is, to me, somewhat of a departure from the band's scratchy nu metal sound, but with a major lineup change, it didn't come as much of a surprise.

When I saw this album cover, I immediately thought "tattoo," but having never gotten on and in no real rush to ink myself due to the fact that I haven't found the right tattoo, I passed on getting this crest/badge-like design on my body.

I love this cover due to the fact that it looks like something you'd find on one of the older southern rock albums that came out of the 70's/80's or emblazoned on the back of a leather jacket.  There aren't many Christian rock bands out there that have an air of "attitude" about them, but this album cover will make you think twice before approaching Disciple.


See the full review, "Anything But Genteel".

Wayne Hancock's guitar-driven Texas country sound would fit perfectly in the 1950's.  His 1997 album, That's What Daddy Wants, personifies this sound thanks to a 50's era-looking photo of Hancock standing in front of a vintage car with a lucky lady sitting on the backside of the vehicle.

I love this cover because not only does it have that brilliant old look to it, I believe that it prepares the listener for exactly what they are about to hear:  hardcore Texas country with a rockabilly bend to it.

 

Dash Rip Rock founder Bill Davis has done many side projects over the years.  One of those projects included a brief run with a band fronted by his wife, Kim Roberts-Davis (I don't think they are still together), that went by the name The Swingin' Haymakers.  While Dash Rip Rock leaned harder to punk and rock music, the Haymakers were all about twang, drawing on influences that ranged from George Jones to Tish Hinojosa, this group produced their one and only album in 1995, For Rent.

The album cover screams retro.  It's littered with bright colors, a pink cowgirl, a broken heart, and a cow-print background.  If you haven't noticed yet, I'm really fond of retro-looking artwork and photos, and this album nails it.

A cross and skull-faced members of Guns N' Roses grace the cover of GnR's pinnacle work, Appetite For Destruction.  Designed by Billy White, Jr., this was not the original cover for this legendary album.  To be honest with you, I believe it was the better choice.

The original artwork was rejected because it featured nudity, a rape attempt by a robot, and a demonic avenger, but to me, it's A) too busy for an album cover, B) obviously was not well-liked by the censors and C) just isn't as iconic as the final album image.

The cross and skulls look great, and the black backdrop makes the cover look even better.  Both covers are posted below for you to decide.


See the full review, "Arguably The Best Metal/Hard Rock Album Ever".

Although it isn't my favorite album by Crowded House, 1993's Together Alone does have a few solid tracks on it such as Locked Out and Private Universe.  What really stands out for me is the Jesus-At-The-Wheel of a red car album cover.

The group's bassist, Nick Seymour, created all of the album covers for the band and this one is my favorite.  It's just a happy, trippy cool cover that personified Crowded House's unique pop rock stylings.

The band is still active, having reunited (surviving members of the band's most successful lineup, drummer Paul Hester committed suicide in the mid-90's) and have remained together since 2006. 

With a retro hairdo and rotten oranges, Gwen Stefani and No Doubt grabbed my attention both with their ska-tinged tracks and their cool Tragic Kingdom album cover.

The cover jumped out at me at a time when grunge was god, and most album covers were either simple band photos or bleak images of the blah grunge world.  No Doubt said, "Wake Up!" with this cover, and fed me some great sounding tunes like "Don't Speak" and "I'm Just A Girl."

Okay, so I might be cheating a bit since this is technically a greatest hits album by the Scorpions, but Deadly Sting:  The Mercury Years has one of the coolest looking covers I've ever seen.  It features a nude woman sitting among and being crawled on by a horde of scorpions.  Deadly?  Yes.  Sexy?  Absolutely.  100% Rock n' Roll?  Oh yeah!

This was actually just one of a long line of Scorpions albums that were either banned by many stores or released in the U.S.A. with alternative covers. 

I was tempted to add their album Lovedrive to this list as well, but Deadly Sting is my favorite.


See the full review, "They Still Sting After All These Years".

"Death Dealer," a 1973 painting by Frank Frazetta, is perhaps the last thing you would imagine would end up as the cover art for an album by a bunch of good ol' boys playing metal-tinged southern rock, but 1978's Molly Hatchet features just that, and it fits the band perfectly.

Considered to be the most metal sounding southern rock band of their time, Molly Hatchet had a solid run throughout the late 70's and early 80's.  This was one of many covers done by Frazetta, and famed fantasy artist Boris Vallejo would contribute album art later on in the band's career.

I love this cover for the simple fact that it is badass.  You'd think it should grace an album by a group like Iron Maiden or Megadeth but, nope, it heralds the coming of tunes like "Gator Country" and Gregg Allman's "Dreams I'll Never See."