Some album covers are artistically intriguing, while others are outright controversial. Some find a healthy balance between those two extremes, often with interesting stories behind them. Let’s take a look at the meaning behind five iconic and artistic album covers!
1. ‘The Dreaming’ by Kate Bush
This is a stellar Kate Bush album with a notably interesting album cover. On the cover of this 1982 classic, a sepia-toned bush holds the head of a chained-up man, looking away from the camera with a small golden key in her mouth.
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The photograph is actually a reference to the fan-favorite track “Houdini”. The real-life Houdini was known for “escaping” chains and other restrictive situations by using a key slipped into his mouth through a kiss from his wife and assistant, Bess. The pair also agreed that “key” would be the code used by the first to pass away as proof of an afterlife.
2. ‘Season Of Glass’ by Yoko Ono
The meaning behind most album covers leans more towards niche than tragedy. Unfortunately, the meaning behind the cover of Yoko Ono’s 1981 album Seasons Of Glass is particularly heartbreaking.
The cover features a photo of a glass of water next to John Lennon’s blood-stained glasses, which he was wearing when he was shot to death by a fan in 1980. Ono even said that people thought it was in bad taste. However, she defended the cover, saying “this [the eyeglass] is what John is now.”
3. ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’ by The Beatles
This album cover is quite an eyeful. It’s apt, considering that the 1967 Beatles album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band is packed with a lot of really great and timeless music. The collage of colorful imagery features the band members in military garb, surrounded by cutouts of celebrities, flowers, statues, instruments, and more.
Peter Blake, the artist behind the cover, said that the intention of the album cover art was to show a “new” band surrounded by a surreal group of fans after a performance. It seems like the cover was more of an artistic choice, rather than something with a really deep meaning.
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4. ‘The Velvet Underground & Nico’ by The Velvet Underground And Nico
This iconic 1967 album cover features a simple illustration of a banana with the caption “PEEL SLOWLY AND SEE”. It was created by none other than famed artist Andy Warhol.
The artwork was inspired by Warhol’s artistic trend of turning everyday, ordinary objects into artistic statements. The Velvet Underground & Nico features songs about lewd sexuality in New York City’s underbelly, so the sexual overtones of the banana and caption were likely related to that.
5. ‘Igor’ by Tyler, The Creator
Fun fact: If you stare at this album cover for a few seconds, then look away and blink, you’ll see an inverted version of it. It’s not clear if that was intentional for the cover of the 2019 Tyler, The Creator album Igor.
The cover features a cut-and-paste photograph of Tyler himself above the album’s title and credit against a pastel pink background. It’s very minimalist, but also very intriguing. If we had to analyze it, the unfazed look on Tyler’s face matches the energy he brings to his music: unbothered, but not quite fit for the mainstream.
Photo via Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album cover
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