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Best Album Covers Of All Time: 40 Of The Most Iconic Record Sleeves
List & Guides

Best Album Covers Of All Time: 40 Of The Most Iconic Record Sleeves

When done right, the best album covers transcend the music they were made for, becoming iconic works of art in their own right…

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“Don’t judge a book by its cover” goes the age-old saying, but it’d be a flat-out lie to pretend millions of us didn’t walk out of record stores with soon-to-be essential albums in our record collections just because the sleeve looked good. The best album covers can be as important as the music within, leading many fans to display them on the walls, like artwork, or to look for hidden details in the design (like the UFO you can spot in Fleetwood Mac’s Tango In The Night album). Designing a great record sleeve takes skill – and while there have been no shortage of terrible efforts in the history of music, when they’re done right, the best album covers can lead to fame and fortune for the greatest designers.

Here, then, are 40 of the best album covers of all time.

Original article: 17 September 2020

Updated: 28 July 2022. Extra words: Michael Cranston

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