Just like book covers, album covers have quite a job to do. They have to instantaneously capture the audience’s attention and intrigue them enough for the person to take some sort of action, whether it’s picking it off the shelf or listening to a song or two.
Album covers also need to reflect what kind of music is in the album, which can be quite a tough task. After all, music is a completely auditory experience and coming up with a visual representation of a sound that also tells a story is complicated to say the least.
That is why the images that end up on album covers are usually so intriguing. And, when you spot one in the wild, you recognize their unique quality right away.
The following list is comprised of such gems found on the Images That Could Be Album Covers subreddit. Scroll down to see them and let us know what band or genre it would suit best.
This post may include affiliate links.
A Lie
When you think about an album cover, there are a few that might come to mind. One of the most iconic ones out there, though, has to be Abbey Road by The Beatles. The image of the band crossing the street is widely recognizable and has been parodied by everyone, from Sesame Street to Red Hot Chili Peppers. It was taken by Iain Macmillan, a photographer who was introduced to the band by Yoko Ono.
After Paul McCartney did some initial sketching for what the image should look like, they did the shoot on August 8th at 11:35AM, believing it was just publicity shots. Macmillan stood on a 10ft ladder in the middle of the street and took 6 pictures. Later on, because of the time crunch, the art director and album cover designer John Kosh decided to just go with the best of six and ended up with a cover that went down in pop culture history.
Kids Posing For A Photo In Chicago 1941
Look at all that class! The outfits are awesome and they all have so much character.
Sun During A Solar Eclipse Behind Some Clouds
What’s interesting about this cover is that it doesn’t have the name of the band or the album written on it. This brilliant decision that was suggested by Kosh was controversial at the time. The people at the record company EMI were very displeased by this idea as they thought they won’t be able to sell any records because of it.
However, the band approved it, and they still went ahead with Kosh’s vision. “It’s one of the biggest bands in the world, you don’t need to actually say who they are—everyone knows who they are, Kosh mentioned when recalling the situation years later. “But it was a major fire. I got threatening phone calls,” he laughed.
The March
This Butterfly In A Skull Formed An Eye Pattern
Distracted Thoughts
I can't explain why, but this disturbs me on a visceral level. Great image, for sure, but still...
Nirvana’s Nevermind is another album cover that is widely recognizable everywhere. A baby swimming underwater and reaching for a dollar bill is quite a concept that instantly appealed to the photographer Kirk Weddle. At the time, he was marketing himself as an underwater photographer and wanted to give it a shot.
Mt. Rainier
Skybow
More complex version of the other entry, but just as spectacularly gorgeous!
Childhood
Coincidentally, his friends had just had a baby, so he paid them 200 dollars for a shoot in a pool. According to him, it was all very low budget because the band wasn’t well-known at the time and he orchestrated it all by himself. The set-up took an hour and the shoot—5 minutes. He walked away with 25 snaps, confident that he had the winning shot. When looking at the shots later, though, he realized how exposed the baby was.
Title
Circuit City
Take me back to the circuit city, where the chips are green and connection's $hitty
The Sight Of Flowers
Afraid that the visible genitalia of the baby might be unacceptable, Weddle set out to get photos of other babies. He took a few pictures of baby girls in a public pool, but the band wanted to go with the initial suggestion. Apparently, the frontman Kurt Cobain suggested that the only acceptable censorship for the image is a sticker covering the private parts that says “If you're offended by this, you must be a closet pedophile.” So, the image was released as it was.
No, Next Question
Ooo, ooo, I know the answer to this question. *waves arm wildly* It's an Emo band, am I right?
Photo Taken By Me At Santa Monica Beach
Planet Closed
The story of the cover image didn’t end there, though. That is because the baby in the photo, Spencer Elden, grew up and started feeling uncomfortable about it. He tried to reach out to people that were in the band and those involved in the production of the album, but didn’t get a single message back. His involvement was quite overwhelming for him.
This Is Not A Coincidence
Rage
I've Been To Places
“[When] I go to a baseball game and think about it: 'Man, everybody at this baseball game has probably seen my little baby penis,' I feel like I got part of my human rights revoked," said Elden when talking to Time magazine about the cover. So, he sued the surviving members of the band, the photographer, as well as Cobain’s estate.
Long Exposure Traffic Light
A Photo I Took On A Foggy Night At My College
Sumo Wrestlers In Sunflower Field
However, his attempt to seek monetary compensation didn’t go well. His case was dismissed multiple times after the defendants argued that he made money off of it his whole life. He did multiple reenactments of the shoot, has “Nevermind” tattooed on his chest, and once mentioned in an interview that he was “glad” they chose him. So why would he be so upset about it now?
Someone Said This Has Album Cover Energy So I Decided To Put It Here
A Man And His Dog During The Australian Wildfires
Came From True I Guess, But Looks Like It Could Be A Album Cover
All in all, album covers are quite a fascinating thing to explore. They have histories attached to them, as well as the stories that come from the pictures themselves. Intriguing and open to interpretation, they capture our minds and hearts and imprint themselves on history. Who knows, maybe the next big thing is on this list.
Twenty Skies
Punk Band Type Album Cover
This Basketball Court
Just Found This And Thought, This Could Be Nice Cover
Shell
Worked with someone whose name was H. Ellis. The company email made it into Hellis@ourcompany.com
Welp, This Street Lamp Looks Absolutely Terrifying
Lights
The Passenger
A Pool Untouched By The Brown Flood Waters
In Loving Memory
Lights Rays In An Abandoned Theatre
Made On Earth By Humans
E X I T
Album Cover?
Guitar Girl
Now D*e
Cloud
Cats Just Want To Watch The World Burn
Reminder
Well I give it a try. Do you know Remi Wolf? She launched a song with Paramore this year and has also a really cool new single called prescription. Then, a band I discovered are The Dresden Dolls, they are old but new for me. Now I'm in love with their songs Girl Anachronism and My Alcoholic Friends. And someone else I discovered recently: Laura Marling. A british folk pop singer, pretty cool
Duck
As I Burn
Caught This At A Great Time A While Back
Flying Cat
I’m pretty sure it’s photoshopped because of how the cat looks
Load More Replies...If this i areal photo, ho awful!! Poor cat!! Whoever done that, you should be ashamed of yourself!
Who throws a cat at a show? Everything involved is gonna get f****d. Poor form.
Of course it's wrong to throw a cat through they air, especially because YES he positively can get hurt, but the odds are huge that the cat was OK. A 12-foot landing is nothing for cats; they can survive falls from 15 stories high. I wouldn't even put it past the kitty to have jumped from some off-screen balcony.
[u/Ilovesurrealism]
:(
Cross
Naah, I much rather prefer the celeb ones, or the affiliate shopping links.. 🤷♂️ JK! (This was good content)
Load More Replies...The man-baby that sued Nirvana for being in a picture is a money-grabbing bastard. Nobody in the world would recognize someone from a baby picture and remember what their member looked like! Go live the rest of your days in your mother's basement as you were already doing sir.
Some awesome photos here. The article kinda reminds me of that "game" where you'd get a wikipedia article as your band name, a random quote from "quotationspage.com" as your album name (or the first/last words of the quote anyway) and the 3rd image of the "explore interesting photos" on flickr for your cover. Used to have so much fun with that. xD
Another reddit ripoff. Just went to reddit, filtered by "top" of "all time" and pasted here. https://www.reddit.com/r/ImagesAlbum/top/?t=all
You're using the word "rape" very lightly Edit: ah yes people, downvote me *after* they fixed their initial comment 🙄
Load More Replies...we need to make a part 2 to this, I have some great pics to contribute!
Naah, I much rather prefer the celeb ones, or the affiliate shopping links.. 🤷♂️ JK! (This was good content)
Load More Replies...The man-baby that sued Nirvana for being in a picture is a money-grabbing bastard. Nobody in the world would recognize someone from a baby picture and remember what their member looked like! Go live the rest of your days in your mother's basement as you were already doing sir.
Some awesome photos here. The article kinda reminds me of that "game" where you'd get a wikipedia article as your band name, a random quote from "quotationspage.com" as your album name (or the first/last words of the quote anyway) and the 3rd image of the "explore interesting photos" on flickr for your cover. Used to have so much fun with that. xD
Another reddit ripoff. Just went to reddit, filtered by "top" of "all time" and pasted here. https://www.reddit.com/r/ImagesAlbum/top/?t=all
You're using the word "rape" very lightly Edit: ah yes people, downvote me *after* they fixed their initial comment 🙄
Load More Replies...we need to make a part 2 to this, I have some great pics to contribute!