Album covers that say "Buy me", or, why I miss 12" LP artwork!

Dark Side Of The Moon with the really good pyramid picture. Then of course there's the Roger Waters: The Pros & Cons Of Hitch-hiking.

 

The first Paul Butterfield Blues Band lp. Same story. They just looked so cool standing on the street. I'd never heard their music. It was "cool" back then to be the first one on the block to "discover" new groups.

mud-

 

Juice Newton-Juice
Carlene Carters First Warner LP! So Cute!
MEET THE BEATLES!!!!
INTRODUCING THE BEATLES!!!...just great covers that are burned forever in my memeory and many, many others...

 

I was always intrigued by a lot of the bands on the Elektra label in the late sixites. Bought a bunch of them based on the covers and judgement of the Elektra team. Rhinosceros S/T, Love S/T, Fred Engelbert, Songs of, Ars Nova S/T come to mind. Ended up loving them all and still have them all.

 

Re: Album covers that say "buy me"!

In the early 80's in NYC at an Eric Anderson LP Party I met the girl who appeared in the "You Might Think" Video...I could not believe how small she was...Looked so tall on TV though... Strange, when I hear the Cars I see that video...

 

The Cars 2nd album is right up there too! Brilliant Vargas cover -- maybe that's why I married a redhead

 

Badfinger-No Dice
front and back cover equally good.

 

Agreed. William S. Harvey was their art director from until around '71,and he was a genius who nevertheless made it clear it was an Elektra album you were buying. Think of these titles:

THE DOORS
LOVE: FOREVER CHANGES
TIM BUCKLEY: GOODBYE AND HELLO
JUDY COLLINS: WILDFLOWERS(and IN MY LIFE)
RHINOCEROS
THE STOOGES
LOVE: REVISITED
ROXY(forgettable band, but Mr. Harvey can be seen on the cover!)

Harvey can be forgiven for the occasional dud, like '67's ZODIAC: COSMIC SOUNDS--how awful, and not just the cover!

ED

 

Or you have an extensive collection of old Playboy mags where Alberto Vargas was a regular. Great artist, loved the female form, and it showed. He was never raunchy about it; always classy, even reverent. The Cars were lucky to get him to do that cover.

ED

 

All the Tony Fitzpatrick artwork on all Steve Earle's post-Train-A-Comin' albums is too darn cool for words and a nice signature for Earle's work.

 

Aerosmith's Rocks cover just screamed cool album ($3.99 at Korvettes in Flushing, Queens NY)

 

I've always liked Roxy Music but the covers are like a "Siren" to me. The javelin throwers on the cover of "Flesh & Blood" are absolute knockouts.

 

The White album. The music really has to do the talking with this one!

 

I think the word I'm looking for is "exaggerated"? Then again, his work echoed the times.

Regards,
Metralla

 

I'm going for obvious one, The Beatles "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band". The album is so iconic that it practically represents rock music. The cover just screams "artistic and classy".

 

One could also say 'too perfect'? But then, airbrushing and color correction was Playboy's stock in trade(later taken to ridiculous extremes by Penthouse, its sorry imitator). Vargas' work echoes that aesthetic.

As for the times, when it comes to the ladies, that much hasn't changed, the only difference being, we get more celebs with boob jobs than we ever had in the '60s. Then, the exaggeration was, for the most part, confined to drawings, paintings, comics, etc. Today, everything is exaggerated, and has been for a long time.

The irony: the '60s vision of women Playboy engendered was adapted by so many women later on. Make of that what you will....I would guess trying not to just live up to the expectations of men, but in a way, their own. Or, we can all be insecure and vain, so self-concious.

ED

 

Any album cover by Storm Thorgerson or Roger Dean. Storm's work with Pink Floyd usually overshadows his other work (Led Zeppelin, Dream Theater, Phish just to name a few). I don't think I've seen a Storm cover I haven't loved.

 

I think the covers for all of The Beatles albums were done tastefully well and that always added to their appeal.

I read once where McCartney once told Mike Love that the Beach Boys needed to give more thought to their album covers.

 

I've bought a few albums based on the cover. The Ohio Players' "Honey" and "Contradiction" are two I can think of.

 

Yup. At 13 years old, I saw "Are You Experienced" LP cover on display above the racks. The original fisheye shot with some hairy guys and cool shirts . It called to me. Had never heard of Hendrix or heard him on radio. Got home and it was the most outrageous album I had ever heard! 1967 was a good year! Opened up a brand new world of music that wasn't on top 40.

 

10cc How Dare You
Patti Smith Easter

 

yes! Who would buy a Beach Boys album for the cover!?!?!

(Oh, okay, the cover of Surf's Up isn't too shabby. Will you please stop pounding on my head now? )

 

Whipped Cream and Other Delights. Now THATS a cool cover.

-BZync

 

The first Firefall album, Champagne Jam - A.R.S., Equinox from Styx. Yeah those covers gave me the push back then to purchase those LP's.