Nowadays, you’ll rarely encounter a music release without some sort of visual accompaniment. Album covers have become as necessary as the music itself, since Columbia Records began designing vinyl sleeves for classical recordings in 1938. We’re told not to judge books by their covers, and extend that sentiment to album artwork, but an album cover can and will help establish its tone—serving as the music’s visual equivalent, or grossly juxtaposing it. Nevertheless, they enrich the body of work. Whether you like these albums, hate them, or have never heard them, they’re mainstays in music and pop culture, about as recognizable as famous examples of visual art.
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1. The Velvet Underground & Nico, The Velvet Underground & Nico (1967)
Speaking of famous art, and artists, the cover of The Velvet Underground & Nico was designed by none other than Andy Warhol himself. Known for his pop art of items like Campbell’s Soup cans and “manufacturing” his works in a factory setting, dubbed The Factory, Warhol became one of the most prominent artists of the 1960s with his commentary on art commodification.
The Velvet Underground was a premiere, experimental rock band in the 1960s, preceding the punk and prog-rock movements by seven to eight years. Their music was deliberately inflammatory, taking “sex, drugs, and rock ’n’ roll” to a new level for the time. Listeners could peel off the banana peel, revealing the fruit in a hallucinatory pink hue. The concept is suggestive and banal—whether for its phallic shape, the “stripping” aspect, or the childhood notion that smoking banana peels can get someone high.
[RELATED: The Story Behind The Velvet Underground’s Iconic Banana Album Art]
Andy Warhol’s role in the Velvet Underground’s upbringing extended far beyond the cover, with the two parties in cahoots for one of Warhol’s own endeavors. The band was an exhibit, in their own right, during his Exploding Plastic Inevitable event tour as a performance act. Later, he acted as the band’s manager and paid for their recording sessions, leading some to wonder if the Velvet Underground was a true rock band or a performance art piece.
The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts would be sued by The Velvet Underground in 2012 for copyright and trademark infringement after the foundation planned to release iPhone and iPad cases sporting the album artwork. It goes to show that the artwork is recognizable both as a musical fixture and in the wider art world.
2. The Dark Side of the Moon, Pink Floyd (1973)
An album cover that needs no accompanying text, The Dark Side of the Moon was named one of the most iconic album covers of all time by Billboard in 2023, placing at No. 6. Simple yet striking, it’s found on any merch item imaginable, and it’s been riffed on in pop culture countless times.
Unlike the design itself, though, how it came into being was very straightforward. Co-designer Aubrey Powell told Forbes in 2023, ‘I was reading this magazine—an American magazine actually—about the refraction of light. And [Storm Thorgerson] standing next to me and he said, ‘I’ve got it. A triangular shape with a prism.’ I could illustrate quite well, so I drew it out on a piece of paper. We rushed up to Abbey Road Studios and said [to the band], ‘How about that?’ And they all went, ‘Yeah, that’s us! That’s Pink Floyd.’
[RELATED: The Story Behind the Album Cover: Pink Floyd’s ‘The Dark Side of the Moon’]
Turning a grayish-white light beam into a vibrant rainbow, many consider it a metaphor for Pink Floyd’s craft. As one of the defining bands of progressive rock, they were able to take bread-and-butter, ordinary instruments and create tantalizing, larger-than-life soundscapes and stories.
3. Thriller, Michael Jackson (1982)
Some of the earliest album covers were portraits of musicians, able to foster an interpersonal connection between the listener and artist; as the listener took the music, and musician, in, the artist seemed to be doing the same right back. Michael Jackson’s 1982 album, Thriller, follows that exact formula to an extreme extent, given the caliber of his pop stardom at the time. He became the album and its sounds, with his glowing white suit, lounged position with a sullen stare, and a tiger cub resting on his knee, as seen in the uncrossed photo. The photoshoot calls back to past male heartthrobs but breathes new life into the portrait style.
4. Enema of the State, Blink-182 (1999)
Among the likes of Green Day’s American Idiot and Nirvana’s Nevermind, as one of the most celebrated punk rock album covers of all time, Blink-182’s Enema of the State is the most unsung of the three. Complimenting the band’s crude but goofy personality, the cover features a nurse dressed scantily clad, about to snap a rubber glove onto her right hand.
The photograph was taken by David Goldman, who transitioned into photojournalism after the album shoot, including for outlets like 60 Minutes.
[RELATED: Behind Blink-182’s Suggestive ‘Enema of the State’ Album Cover]
The nurse is played by Janine Lindemulder, a model and adult entertainer. She joined the band for a supplemental photoshoot, and starred in the music video for “What’s My Age Again?” Her story after the album cover shoot, detailing her multiple arrests, has been well-documented, but rumors emerged in 2022 about her appearing on the cover of a new Blink-182 album since she had been turning her life around.
5. Lemonade, Beyoncé (2016)
A recent classic, the cover of Beyoncé’s 2016 album, Lemonade, subverts a traditional album cover portrait, purposely blocking the global superstar’s face. Rather than instigating a parasocial connection between the listener and artist, as many portrait covers risk doing, Lemonade’s cover takes the focus off of Beyoncé and encourages fans to better take in the music and message.
The album’s accolades went beyond those reserved for music—in part owing to its visual aspects. Not only was it named one of the greatest albums of the 2010s by the Associated Press, but Lemonade also received an Emmy nomination for its film accompaniment, and the Peabody Award for entertainment.
