
Caught playing the guitar and singing during a performance at the Fort Homer Hesterly Armory, Tampa, Florida, on July 31, 1955, you can still feel the primal rock’n’roll energy from a young man ready to take over the world. Two simple words: “Elvis” and “Presley” (the latter barely hiding that controversial pelvis from view): that’s all it needed to say. While you’re reading, listen to our Greatest Album Covers playlist here. Our list of the 25 most iconic album covers of all time may not be exhaustive, but it certainly reveals why album covers deserve to be held in as high a regard as more traditional modes of artwork. While art might be a matter of taste, lasting legacy is something that’s more easily measured. The best album covers see these graphic designs bypass linear thinking and emerge with an image that is a bona fide work of art in its own right. Andy Warhol, meanwhile, dreamed up The Rolling Stones’ iconic blue jeans crotch and zipper on Sticky Fingers. Peter Saville made Factory Records a sensation with the radio waves of Joy Division’s Unknown Pleasures (and many more).

The firm Hipgnosis defined the 70s with their many optical illusions. Other iconic album covers are envisioned by creative masterminds. Sometimes album covers are helped on their way to iconic status because of the musicians they feature: photogenic stars, such as Elvis Presley, David Bowie, or Prince, whose godlike images are burned into our retinas. Sometimes they do all three: what is The Beatles’ Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club album cover, if not the ultimate manifestation of 60s psychedelia for the “peace and love” crowd? bandmate, helped complete the 10-track album.Truly iconic album covers don’t just define an album, they define an era, a generation, and, in some cases, an entire musical genre. The newly appointed Creative chairman of Priority Records will release a compilation album on July 13th which will feature tracks from artists such as EPMD, Master P, N.W.A., Eazy E and more.

AC/DC Aerosmith Alice Cooper All Over Print Bad Company Baseball Basketball Beatles Beer Bikers Billy Joel Black Sabbath Blue Oyster Cult Bob Dylan Bob Marley Bon Jovi Bruce Springsteen Cheap Trick Clash Coca Cola College Comic Tees Costume Cure David Bowie Dead Kennedys Def Leppard Dio Eagles Eazy-E Elton John Elvis Costello Eric Clapton Festivals Fleetwood Mac Foghat Football Frank Zappa Funny Genesis Grateful Dead Guns N' Roses Hall & Oates Halloween Heart Ice-T Iggy Pop Iron Maiden Jane's Addiction Jefferson Starship Jerseys Jethro Tull Jimi Hendrix Journey Judas Priest Kansas City KISS Led Zeppelin Lynyrd Skynyrd Madonna MC Hammer Meat Loaf Metal Metallica Michael Jackson Misfits Motley Crue Motorhead Movies N.W.A. Microsoft and partners may be compensated if you purchase something through recommended links in this article.

Neil Diamond Neil Young New Kids On The Block New Order New York Dolls Nike Nine Inch Nails Nirvana Other Ozzy Osbourne Pantera Paul McCartney Peter Frampton Peter Gabriel Pink Floyd Police Prince Public Enemy Punk Queen Quiet Riot Radiohead Ramones Ratt Red Hot Chili Peppers Ringers Rod Stewart Rolling Stones Royals Run D.M.C. The 26-year-old singer, who is pregnant with her first child, unveiled the stunning and powerful cover for her upcoming album, titled If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power. Rush Sammy Hagar Santana Scorpions Skid Row Slade Slayer Soccer Special Prints Sports Star Wars Steve Miller Stray Cats Stryper Styx Supertramp Talking Heads The Cars The Kinks The Police The Tubes The Who Tie Dye Tina Turner Tom Petty Triumph Twisted Sister U2 Van Halen W.A.S.P.
