Vinyl LP Cover Art - from the great to the downright awful

A favourite among many vinyl adherents has always been the incredible art displayed on the outside of the cover containing the grooved black vinyl medium of audio purity we love so much. Despite our obsession with the music inside the protective cardboard cover we have always had a love affair with the outer creativity that was advertising the wares within. Not all of it was good of course, and I will add a few really awful ones at the end just for fun.

First up a few that are recognizable by just about everybody that has breathed in the last 50 years.

Pink Floyd - Dark Side Of The Moon

The Beatles - Abbey Road

The Velvet Underground and Nico - The Velvet Underground and Nico

Van Halen - 1984

The Eagles - Hotel California

Nirvana - Nevermind

Pink Floyd - The Wall

I included two Pink Floyd album covers in this first few simply because they have such instantly recognisable art.

Now for some other greats.

Don McLean - American Pie

The Who - Tommy

Electric Light Orchestra - Out of the Blue

Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin

Mike Oldfield - Tubular Bells

The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

White Lies - To Lose My Life

Pink Floyd - Animals (a personal favourite)

Supertramp - The Very Best Of

Don McLean - Homeless Brother

Pink Floyd - The Division Bell

Neil Young - Harvest

Eddie Vedder - Ukulele Songs (not so well known but nice cover anyway)

Pearl Jam - Lightning Bolt (nice new album art)

Herb Albert's Tijuana Brass - Whipped Cream & Other Delights

Portraits of all kinds are always popular for LP covers.

David Bowie - Aladdin Sane

Grace Jones - Night Clubbing

Love - Black Beauty

Madonna - MDNA

Joni Mitchell - Clouds

Queen - II

Next some wonderful cover art from the world of classical music.

Lastly, just for laughs, a few contenders for worst album cover of all time.