The Grammy Awards has recently introduced a new category for Best Album Cover, and there are so many albums from years gone by with incredible and iconic covers. Here are just three classic rock album covers from the 1970s that could easily have won the award in their time.
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Alice Cooper, ‘Welcome To My Nightmare’
The cover for Alice Cooper’s 1975 album Welcome To My Nightmare features art by Drew Struzan, who started out around this time painting album covers and posters for underground bands. The soft style and pastel color palette is a juxtaposition to the title of the album, creating curiosity and interest.
Struzan’s painting features Alice Cooper in a dapper suit and top hat, beckoning listeners closer. This meshes with the more theatrical approach Cooper was taking in his solo career, apart from the glam rock roots of The Alice Cooper Band. The cover art serves as an introduction to a contradictory image and sound. It presents a sense of whimsy and delight, but there is ultimately a darker concept underneath.
Paul McCartney, ‘McCartney’
The cover image for Paul McCartney’s first solo album from 1970 is iconic and hard to forget. Its simple color scheme and imagery evoke a sort of emptiness in abundance. The vibrant cherries are scattered around the top of a white wall, but the bowl stands empty. It’s a stunning image by Linda McCartney, former professional photographer, titled “Feeding The Birds In Antigua, 1969.”
What makes this cover art more iconic is that McCartney launched his solo career with this. An album that effectively announced the end of The Beatles, featuring neither McCartney’s face or name. His image appeared on the back cover, however. Another photo by Linda, this image confused fans into thinking it was actually the front of the album.
Jefferson Airplane, ‘Thirty Seconds Over Winterland’
Bruce Steinberg created the cover art for Jefferson Airplane’s live album Thirty Seconds Over Winterland from 1973. It features a psychedelic array of flying toasters in soft pastel colors, evoking an idyllic sunset migration for the winter.
Steinberg was an artist and photographer in the 70s and 80s who took many portraits of musicians during that time. Janis Joplin, Jerry Garcia, and Jefferson Airplane were just some of his subjects. His photos were often used for concert posters or magazine covers. For example, one of his portraits of Jefferson Airplane was used for a 1972 concert flyer as well as the cover of a Rolling Stone issue.
Photo by Chris Walter/WireImage
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