Album Cover Art

Continuing our album cover art series, let's explore more controversial, weird, best and worst album covers as compiled by the staff at Gigwise.

Controversial


Clocking in at #44 is David Bowie's ‘Diamond Dogs’ – The cover art features a striking half-dog, half-Bowie figure painted by Belgian artist Guy Peellaert. It was controversial as the full painting clearly showed the hybrid’s genitalia. Very few copies of this original cover made their way into circulation at the time of the album's release. According to the record-collector publication Goldmine price guides, these albums have been among the most expensive record collectibles of all time, as high as thousands of US dollars for a single copy. The genitalia was quickly airbrushed out for the 1974 LP’s gatefold sleeve, although the original artwork (and another rejected cover featuring Bowie in a cordobes hat holding onto a ravenous dog) was included in subsequent Rykodisc/EMI re-issues.

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Weird


44. Penguin Café Orchestra: 'Signs of Life' - not much to say, they love penguins and naked people (if you look at their other album covers. Released in 1987 on the Editions E.G. label, now on Virgin. The Penguin Cafe Orchestra was a loose assembly of musicians headed by classically-trained guitarist, composer and arranger Simon Jeffes (Sussex, England, 1949-1997). Only Jeffes and cellist co-founder Helen Liebmann were core members; other musicians were drafted for the requirements of particular pieces or performances. Its sound does not fit easy categorization, but has elements of exuberant folk music and a minimalist aesthetic occasionally reminiscent of Philip Glass.

The Penguin Cafe Orchestra recorded and performed for 24 years until Jeffes died of a brain tumour in 1997.

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Worst


44. Razorlight – ‘Razorlight’ You would think that a band with such promise could have done more with an album cover- but why spend the money? Razorlight released their second album Razorlight on July 17, 2006, in the United Kingdom and it debuted at #1 in the UK Albums Chart a week later. It received mixed reviews, Q magazine giving it a rare 5/5 rating, whilst Pitchfork Media gave it 2.8/10. The leading single from the album, "In the Morning" was released as a single on July 3, 2006, which peaked at #3 in the UK Singles Chart. To date, it is their third biggest single after "Somewhere Else", which peaked at #2, and "America", which peaked at #1. It also reached #2 on iTunes' top songs chart.

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Best


44. Thom Yorke: ‘The Eraser’ The Eraser is the debut solo album by Radiohead lead singer Thom Yorke, released on 10 July 2006 in the United Kingdom and on 11 July in the United States and Canada. The album debuted at #3 on the UK Albums Chart and at #2 on the Billboard 200 in the United States, selling over 90,000 copies in its first week. The Eraser was nominated for both the Mercury Music Prize and the 2007 Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album.

The album's cover, a linocut by Stanley Donwood, depicts a figure in black hat and trenchcoat standing in imitation of King Canute, trying and failing to command the ocean. Around him are iconic London buildings that have been swept away by the Thames, including the Tower of London, the Houses of Parliament and the Thames Barrier. Donwood included this picture and other images seen in The Eraser booklet in his art exhibition London Views, prior to the album's release. The images were inspired by a large flood Donwood and Yorke both witnessed in Cornwall in 2004.