Album Art-The Stories Behind Music's Iconic Album Covers
Album Art-The Stories Behind Music's Iconic Album Covers-takes a deep dive into the history of iconic album cover art. Images and additional information on Rolling Stones albums may be found at https://iorr.org/albums/. Find album art images at discogs.com by searching the album title. Look for a new episode each Friday.
Episodes
133 episodes
Rum, Sodomy and the Lash--Pogues
It’s one thing to borrow a painting for your album cover. It’s another to borrow one that includes severed limbs, drowned sailors, and maybe the best metaphor for life in a punk-folk band. For Rum, Sodomy & the Lash, The Pogues wen...
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Season 3
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Episode 131
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34:53
No Code--Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam didn’t just dodge the sophomore slump—they blew up the blueprint. But by No Code, they weren’t chasing hits—they were chasing meaning. The cover? A cryptic collage of Polaroids: teeth, fire, x-rays, Dennis Rodman’s eye, a sti...
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Season 3
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Episode 130
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34:10
The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway--Genesis
This was a cover we wanted to like, but let’s just say it didn’t exactly knock us off our Broadway seats. Black-and-white, enigmatic, and full of art school ambition — it’s either a conceptual masterpiece or a poster for a freshman phi...
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Season 3
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Episode 129
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45:19
Dangerous--Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson wanted Dangerous to last forever—and with Mark Ryden’s mind-bending cover, he may have done just that. Painted by hand over six months, the artwork is a surreal circus of mystery, mythology, and self-mythologizing. You’...
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Season 3
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Episode 128
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53:19
Blind Faith--Blind Faith
What do you get when you mix Eric Clapton, a photographer haunted by his last shoot, and a spaceship that might be a metaphor—or something far weirder? You get Blind Faith—a band, an album, and an album cover that still makes peo...
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Season 3
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Episode 127
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39:19
Man's Best Friend--Sabrina Carpenter
What happens when an album cover drops before the album and instantly splits the internet in two? Sabrina Carpenter’s Man’s Best Friend hasn’t even been released, but its provocative cover has people clutching pearls, ra...
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Season 3
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Episode 126
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44:52
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Pet Sounds--The Beach Boys
Six clean-cut Californians feeding goats at the zoo. That’s the cover. But nothing about Pet Sounds is as innocent as it looks. Behind those matching jackets and polite smiles is a man chasing god through a four-track recorder. B...
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Season 3
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Episode 125
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39:47
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Wish You Were Here--Pink Floyd
Is that a stuntman on fire, or a metaphor for the music industry burning you alive? On the cover of Wish You Were Here, it's both. Pink Floyd turned their own disillusionment into one of the most hauntingly beautiful albums of the 1970...
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Season 3
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Episode 124
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46:41
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Load--Metallica
It looks like a lava lamp had a nervous breakdown. But the truth behind Load’s cover art is even weirder—it’s a cocktail of blood, semen, and photographic lightboxes courtesy of shock artist Andres Serrano. Metallica said yes to all of...
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Season 3
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Episode 123
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31:34
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Led Zeppelin II--Led Zeppelin
This cover takes a sepia-toned war photo, mashes in the band’s faces, throws in a jazz legend, and tops it off with a ghostly Hindenburg. It’s weird, bold, and unforgettable—just like the album it wraps around. Grab a copy and listen along with...
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Season 3
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Episode 122
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37:46
Downward Spiral--Nine Inch Nails
A smear, a spiral, a scream into the void—The Downward Spiral is Nine Inch Nails’ brutal masterpiece, a concept album that drags us down through obsession, despair, and dissolution. The cover, a distressed and decaying surface created ...
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Season 3
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Episode 121
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41:21
Parallel Lines--Blondie
The cover? A stark contrast of black, white, and attitude, with Debbie Harry front and center, daring you to look away. Is it a portrait of power, a nod to new wave precision, or something else entirely? Grab a copy and listen along with us. Qu...
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Season 3
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Episode 120
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38:02
Jar of Flies--Alice in Chains
A jar, a boy, a fleeting moment of innocence—Jar of Flies is a quiet storm in Alice in Chains’ discography, a haunting acoustic detour that strips away the distortion but not the darkness. The cover, eerie in its simplicity, captures i...
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Season 3
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Episode 119
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30:22
Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo--Devo
Whip it good—before Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! scrambled rock ‘n’ roll conventions, it was a statement, a warning, a manifesto. Part dadaist prank, part deconstructed Americana, and 100% new wave revolution. Yellow jumpsuits, m...
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Season 3
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Episode 118
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28:05
Harlequin--Lady Gaga
The Joker has Harley, and now Folie à Deux has Harlequin—a visual feast of theatrical madness, glam chaos, and Gaga at her most unpredictable. Is it a mask, a persona, or something deeper?Grab a copy and listen along wit...
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Season 3
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Episode 117
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37:19
Abbey Road--The Beatles
This may be the most famous crosswalk in the world—and the Beatles made it iconic in just ten minutes. No band name. No album title. Just four lads walking away from work-- John the prophet, Ringo the usher, Paul the barefoot mystery, and Georg...
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Episode 116
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46:59
The Joshua Tree--U2
A barren desert and a band at the height of their powers in both Americas. The Joshua Tree wasn’t just an album; it was a statement. The cover is simple, stark, and unforgettable. Grab a copy and listen along with us. Questi...
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Season 3
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Episode 115
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41:49
Lulu--Lou Reed & Metallica
An Emo Phillips look alike on the cover of the chaotic fusion of Lou Reed and Metallica --love it or hate it, this album—and its cover—demand a reaction. Grab a copy, listen along, and let’s dive in. Grab a copy and listen along with...
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Season 3
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Episode 114
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30:46
Live Through This--Hole
Is that Courtney Love or Carrie White on the cover? It is neither, it is Leilani Bishop who nailed the look that nailed the music for this entire Hole album. Grab a copy and listen along with us. Questions, comments, recommendations? We'd love ...
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Season 3
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Episode 113
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32:02
When the Kite String Pops--Acid Bath (John Wayne Gacy Art)
The John Wayne of serial killers provided the painting that Acid Bath chose for this cover. Gacy's creepy clown persona Pogo reminds us all why we are afraid of clowns. Grab a copy and listen along with us. Questions, comments, recommendations?...
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Season 3
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Episode 112
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33:41
Nantucket Sleighride--Mountain
Ever been on a Nantucket sleighride? You'll want to fasten your seatbelt because Gail Collins is going to give you a peak into her mind and a ride you won't forget. Grab a copy and listen along with us. Questions, comments, recommendations? We'...
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Season 3
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Episode 111
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37:43
British Steel--Judas Priest
Judas Priest, what is that guy thinking? he's thinking this is going to make a really cool album cover. And so it did. Grab a copy and listen along with us. Questions, comments, recommendations? We'd love to hear from you at Albumartthecoversto...
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Season 3
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Episode 110
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26:29
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Small Change--Tom Waits
Small Change was killed with his own .38. He was found in an alley, his pockets turned out, his cigarette is still burning. Tom Waits knows gritty and grimy, the world knows cities teeming with life devoid of humanity. This cover captures...
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Season 3
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Episode 109
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23:50
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Go 2--XTC
We have a theory about this cover. Hipgnosis was up late toking or drinking and riffing on an idea for an album cover that explained the purpose of an album cover in excruciating detail that is hilarious, when stoned. Then one day, under the in...
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Season 3
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Episode 108
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28:48
Come Fly With Me--Frank Sinatra
This was a cover the Chairman of the Board did not like a little bit. it looks like a TWA ad. It comes wrapped in a story that involved Howard Hughes and a Rudyard Kipling controversy. How cool is that? Grab a copy and listen along with us. Que...
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Season 3
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Episode 107
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32:28
