10 Amazing Album Covers You Can't Ignore

The White Stripes, Billie Holiday, Albert King and more

Dwight: We found this to be such an interesting exercise. It forced us to think about the album art, as opposed to just choosing what albums we love musically. There are many great album covers where you might not love the music, but they get you to pay attention. To buy the album. I think that the best album art is a permanent art that is also a part of the music that helps to introduce you to the artist.

Nicole: Great album art makes us wonder what the album’s music is and what vibe it includes, but also brings up memories about what we were doing at the time we first paid attention to it. We also find a close connection between feelings and thoughts about what the music means or meant to us at the time. We chose albums that we recalled remembering not only these moments but also those times that we spent a lot of time looking at the art. We were not concerned with a cohesive narrative or thread in the choosing. We think album art is about inviting someone into the world that they will inhabit while listening to our music. I always create, at least in my mind’s eye, what imagery I want to accompany our music as a collection, but also of some of the songs individually. I believe that a good album cover creates a dimensional space that changes your reality at the time that you’re listening along with the music on the album. There’s an alchemy embodied in the best of album covers. 

Miles Davis

Sketches of Spain (1960)

Dwight: The album art is a metaphor for the music. The sparsity allows the images to have deeper meaning but also expresses the landscapes Miles is performing in. It also evokes a feeling of alienation, and that he had a lot to accomplish to defeat the bull.

Roberta Flack

First Take (1969)

Nicole: This was one of my mom’s favorite albums that was always out on display in my childhood home. As a child, I could see myself in that image, and it spoke to me creatively. I identified with Roberta at work in her craft and lost in that moment of creation. I always found it so powerful that she was not playing to the camera but focusing on her work.

Billie Holiday

Lady in Satin (1958)

Nicole: Although this is not my favorite Billie Holiday album, the image reflects Billie expressing her strength as an artist through the imagery, making the statement that she was not washed up. It also captures her sadness and strength at the same time. It draws you in, inviting you to hear what the album possesses.

Bobby Bland

Here’s the Man (1962)

Dwight: He looks like such a badass in that image, and the image is a reflection of the music. One of the greatest singers at the height of his career that predated the “croak,” and the image captured him as “the man.”

Johnny Cash

At Folsom Prison (1968)

Dwight: It is an upshot, which is usually unflattering, but you’re looking at Cash putting out his heart along with the inmates. It’s not the prettiest of moments, but jail is not pretty. Plus, it’s clear he’s giving it his all. It’s not cleaned up and evokes the live performance.

David Bowie

The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (1972)

Dwight: I love the street lamp. 
Nicole: I wonder if the glow of the lamp represents his home planet. 
Dwight: I think Bowie looks otherworldly, but like royalty, and just a man hanging in the alley, all at the same time.

Jimi Hendrix

Axis: Bold as Love (1967)

Nicole: This cover is an art piece that was new at the time. It expresses the psychedelic experience and captures the era. Although its style became a caricature, it was the original.

The White Stripes

Elephant (2003)

Nicole: It is symbolic of two people coming together to create one thing. It’s stark but presents the artists in a collaborative way. We identify with this imagery as a reflection of our process, except Dwight’s the one with the handkerchief.

No Doubt

Tragic Kingdom (1995)

Nicole: I loved this cover when I first saw it in Strawberries as a teenager. I did not know that this was the album containing the music I had heard on the radio. I loved the image that focused on Gwen. I recognized that this image captured Gwen realizing her power, and that she can use that power to get what she wants.

Albert King

Born Under a Bad Sign (1967)

Dwight: Great cover art concept. Ironically, it was Albert King’s biggest hit, and it places all of the bad luck in one place. I love its snarkiness but wonder, because of the cartoonish nature of the art, whether the inclusion of all of the things that are stereotypically bad luck points to everything or anything being bad luck.