The Greatest Album Covers of All Time

by Grant Scott, Barry Miles, Johnny Morgan

At a time when listeners increasingly download or upload songs, creating personal playlists on MP3 players and I-Pods, the art of packaging music seems to be fading away. But, for more than 50 years, musicians have released their work inside brilliantly-designed packages that made an important statement about their music and style. Look at the cover of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart Band , for example—just one of the 500 memorable images in this amazing collection, all chosen by a panel of 50 experts and each accompanied by enlightening commentary. Among the the brilliantly psychedelic and way-out art from the Rolling Stones’ Their Satanic Majesties Request ; Peter Tosh’s fiery cover for Bush Doctor ; and the somewhat demented-looking prom queen on Hole’s Live Through This album. From rock to pop, jazz to blues, these are all artistically, stylistically, and culturally significant in their own way, and will undoubtedly spark a debate with fans around the world.

Genres: Music, Art, Design, Coffee Table Books

256 pages, Hardcover

First published October 28, 2005

Reviews

[Elizabeth Wylder]

Not bad--especially for the earlier sections on jazz--but the selections made for the '90s and '00s are a bit of a let-down and an odd representation of the overall album art being produced at the time.

[Rudy Gutierrez]

Enjoyed the walk down memory lane and the changes in music through out the years. Not all the styles covered were genres I cared for and would have much more enjoyed more of a classic rock format but this gave me exposure to some genres I was not used to listening to and gave me a well rounded view.

[DJ]

Fun to look at and educational. I’m curious what the criteria was for the selection. Why no classical or country?

[Janet]

didn't read, just wanted to see which album covers were chosen and the artwork

[Avis Black]

Unfortunately, the quality of the choices in the book are very uneven, and there are too many just plain bad covers.