An album with famous cover art
When you hear “albums famous for their cover art,” which jackets come to mind?
There are all sorts: the photo of a baby swimming underwater, the banana illustration, the shot of the band walking across a crosswalk, and more.
In this article, we’ll introduce a roundup of classic albums with jackets you’ve probably seen somewhere.
You might even find works where you haven’t heard the songs but the cover design looks familiar.
Let’s dive right in!
Albums with famous cover art (1–10)
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club BandThe Beatles
The album covers of the Beatles, the most famous rock band in the world, are all iconic and have influenced countless aspects of culture, spawning innumerable parodies.
Among them, the artwork for Sgt.
Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band stands out not only as a masterpiece of album cover design, but as a work of art in its own right for its sheer completeness.
Conceived by Paul McCartney of the Beatles and finalized by British pop artist Peter Blake and his wife, Jann Haworth, the artwork reportedly cost £3,000 to produce—equivalent to more than £50,000 today—and ultimately became a historic masterpiece, artwork included.
The piece itself is conceptual, presenting a “show by a fictional band,” and the cover—featuring the Beatles in the guise of the Sgt.
Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band alongside prominent cultural figures of the time and important historical personalities—perfectly ties into the album’s concept.
If you’re curious about who appears in this quintessential piece of 1960s culture, be sure to look it up!
DookieGreen Day
A towering, timeless pop-punk album that has sold over 20 million copies worldwide, Green Day’s third overall and major-label debut Dookie also sparked a melodic hardcore boom here in Japan and inspired countless band kids to pick up instruments.
Packed with punk anthems that haven’t faded even well into the 2020s—like Basket Case, Longview, and Welcome to Paradise—this record also drew many listeners in with its comic-style, catchy album cover.
According to artist Richie Bucher, who created the artwork, the design depicts the Bay Area punk scene where Green Day first made their mark.
Look closely and you’ll spot famous musicians like AC/DC’s Angus Young, Big Star’s Alex Chilton, and Patti Smith, along with numerous references to other cultural works.
Since Richie himself was active as a musician in the Bay Area scene and designed many local bands’ covers, you can feel Green Day’s spirit in choosing an artist like him to handle the artwork for their major-label debut.
In the Court of the Crimson KingKing Crimson
When it comes to album covers with an impact you can’t forget once you’ve seen them, it has to be King Crimson’s debut and the eternal masterpiece of British progressive rock, In the Court of the Crimson King! Also known in Japan as “Kurimuzon Kingu no Kyūden,” the album was released in 1969.
Its songs—featuring mystical and abstract lyrics by a dedicated lyricist and a cutting-edge, thrilling band ensemble performed by musicians of exceptional technique—had an enormous influence on the bands that followed.
The striking artwork for this album was created by Barry Godber, a graduate of the prestigious Chelsea College of Art.
Sadly, Barry passed away suddenly in February 1970, shortly after the album’s release.
Yet the shock of that illustration—like the death scream of a person driven to the very limit—became a legend in rock history, together with the album’s content.
The Dark Side Of The MoonPink Floyd
Pink Floyd, the progressive rock band that Britain proudly presents to the world, released The Dark Side of the Moon in 1973—a work known as one of the best-selling albums in history, with over 50 million copies sold worldwide.
In Japan, it’s also famous under the title “Kyōki” (“Madness”), and it stands as a landmark concept album.
As their eighth studio album, it also marked a turning point for the band: it was the first time founding member Roger Waters wrote all the lyrics.
It’s well known that the covers of many of Pink Floyd’s major works were created by the British design collective Hipgnosis, who also produced iconic album art for bands like Led Zeppelin.
This album—Kyōki—was likewise designed by Hipgnosis, and it’s no exaggeration to say that, jacket included, it remains one of the greatest works eternally etched into the history of music.
The stark black background, the triangular prism, the white light and the rainbow—ponder what meaning this artwork, at once beautiful and faintly eerie, might hold as you listen to this album with its many-layered charms.
In RockDeep Purple
Deep Purple, the pioneering global hard rock band born in the UK, released Deep Purple in Rock in 1970.
Driven largely by guitarist Ritchie Blackmore—who was inspired by Led Zeppelin’s explosive dominance of the scene at the time—the album marked the band’s shift toward a hard rock direction.
It brought them major success in their home country and became hugely popular in Japan as well, introducing the genre of “hard rock” to many young listeners.
The album’s iconic cover is also very famous: the members’ faces carved into a rocky mountainside leave a powerful impression.
This design has been referenced by many bands beyond this album, but its original source is the monument on Mount Rushmore in South Dakota, USA.
The actual carvings are the faces of U.S.
presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln.
For some people, Deep Purple in Rock may have been their first encounter with the original monument.
St. AngerMetallica
After albums like the simple “Metallica” with a black jacket featuring a snake, and “Load” and “Reload,” which used photos of the band members themselves, 2003’s “St.
Anger”—their first original album in roughly six years—stands out in Metallica’s history for its highly impactful cover art.
Created amid numerous difficulties, including the departure of longtime bassist Jason Newsted and deteriorating relationships within the band, the album reclaimed the speed and aggression of their early years while unfolding with complex song structures that embodied Metallica’s uncompromising character.
Its raw sound production—including the distinctive snare tone that sparked heated debate—led many to call it a controversial work in various senses.
The album artwork was handled by Pushead, an artist renowned at the top tier of the hardcore and metal scenes.
The stark design—featuring nothing but a fist bound with rope, with neither the band’s name nor the album title—could be seen as a reflection of Metallica’s stance toward this work.
Cool Struttin’Sonny Clark
With an album title like “Cool Struttin’” and this ultra-stylish artwork! It’s nothing short of the ultimate in cool, packed with the essence of ’50s jazz—a monumental classic released in 1958 that became more popular in Japan than in its home country.
Created by the giant jazz pianist Sonny Clark, who passed away at the young age of 31, this solo album needs no introduction as a timeless masterpiece and a classic of hard bop to funky jazz.
The artwork, which seems to declare that a stylish-sounding album deserves a stylish cover, features the legs of a woman walking through the city in a slitted tight skirt and high heels—said to be “the most famous legs in the world.” Jazz albums released by the prestigious Blue Note label often have chic covers, but this one is so captivating that even those not into jazz might want to buy it for the jacket alone.