Photography operates on two levels: (1) Technical skill and (2) Inner narrative. All art does, but it’s especially true for photography. A beautiful, perfectly lit headshot, like the Ariana cover, is no where as visually interesting as the White Stripes’ example here. Why? Because one looks like a profile pic (maybe even a magazine shoot), one has dramatic trappings. When we’re talking about an album cover, we usually expect it to visually tell the story of the album. So, we could lose some technical quality in favor of more striking visuals. All that said, a headshot should pretty much never make it on a list like this.
@@dontpanic5278Objectivity is generally just the compilation of several agreeing subjective opinions though, and I doubt this list reflects anything near this type of consensus.
7:16 This was actually considered the first album cover ever made. Does it explain why it’s on the list? Yes. Does it justify why it’s on the list? Probably not
@@Clay3613 I that's what I was thinking it was interesting like i get the cover is not to his taste, but it does something unlike the others he rightly in my opinion dismissed from the list for being boring and forgettable, especially compared to what is out there.
I can agree with some of them, as photography is still artistic and can take a lot of work to get the right photo, but this list was waaaaay too bloated with them. Its like the person who made the list has never once seen a painting in their life.
Whoever made this list failed art school, photography, and graphic design, good god. They failed English too with how horrible the argument is for nearly every pick.
And you failed to notice that all of these lists are straight bait to make people upset and click the article and then bitch about it increasing their views even more...
@@aw2584 I'm aware lists like these are usually bait but they're never THIS bad. Usually there's a good chunk of picks that make sense in these. This is just all around horrible.
@@aw2584 all because it’s done on purpose doesn’t mean the list isn’t ass and everyone’s gonna go view the article to hate on it, people don’t hate raid newspapers the same way they do videos
Honestly, what I love most about the London Calling album art is just the mere fact that it's referencing an Elvis album cover and yet it's 20x more memorable, especially bc of how striking the guitar smash image is - it just shows this new shift in attitudes towards the pre-established Rock'n'Roll genre and is ultimately one of the most classic punk photos of all time.
You hit the nail on the head with the ‘no Bjork?’ Comment. An absolute travesty. I can name 5 Bjork covers that should be on the top 20. Post and Vespertine for example should be top 5 easily. Post to me is one of the most captivating album covers of all time, I never get tired of seeing it
The only thing I don’t like about the vespertine cover is that she’s in the swan dress and there’s also a swan drawn over the top. That’s one too many swans. Like do one or the other. Love the Post cover though.
Maybe they didn't want to overrepresent Floyd with Dark Side being so high, but the lack of Wish You Were Here is insane to me. Literally the first cover I thought of
As far as their actual best album cover as apposed to just being their most recognizable that’s a big W to me I think the wish you were here cover is my favourite of all their covers for me I get chills down my spine looking at it. I guess the ummaguma cover is also very cool and very trippy I mean who doesn’t love that endless reflection you might get from the room with mirrors on all sides and then you get well endless reflections at the discovery centre or what ever. Although ummagumma is more like mirrors on two sides reflecting upon reflecting where it doesn’t know when to stop kind of like when people place bets on each other for who’s dick is the biggest to who can get the most no scopes in call of duty and then the competition never ends, just two competing powers that defines space and time and will probably cause a black whole that will eventually swallow us all whole but you get the point.
A couple minutes in, I had a feeling In the Court of the Crimson King wasn't going to be on the list, and I was right. It's arguably the most iconic prog rock album cover of all time, but they ignored it. I haven't seen the full list, but given the band's history, I'm assuming 2112 also didn't make the cut.
Honestly the self titled album is Rush's best art, but I like 2112 too. Also yeah, Hemispheres is really something. Court of the Crimson King is iffy for me just because it's so damn weird, it makes me kinda uncomfortable. Maybe that's more reason to have it. Plus if we wanna talk iconic, it beats almost this entire list. Oh also not quite the same but, Surfing with the Alien. How the fuck is that not in here?
the only album cover that just has a name of the album on a blank one colour backround and nothing else that COULD be on such list is the white album by the beatles.
Animals by Pink Floyd, such a simple cover, but it fills me with so much emotion, fear, nostalgia and pain. It’s post apocalyptic vibe fits so well with the music itself, which is some of the best music ever written in my opinion.
I know the Rio album cover is dated but personally I find Patrick Nagel's artwork incredibly distinct and striking. His repertoire definitely captures the fashion zeitgeist of the era and he didn't even live to see the end of the 80s.
There is not a single album cover on that list where I could imagine that whoever made the list thought ''This album is awful, but the cover is pure genius''. It's not about greatest album covers, it's just albums they like and wanna put on some list
Two albums that are not considered anything amazing that have covers that caught my eye when I first looked them up are Billy Joel's 1993 album River of Dreams, and Chicago's 1979 album Chicago 13. The latter of which simultaneously has a cool cover of a skyscraper and received one star from Allmusic. Also if you like sepia, then Bruce Hornsby & The Range's The Way It Is deserves a look (much better album, but also an overlooked cover). Someone could probably make a long video list of their favorite overlooked album covers.
@@fortynights1513 Wow, that Billy Joel cover would be top10 to me if listen among the Billboard list. The different sections are divided in a way that seems nonsensical at first but actually perfectly fit. Chicago cover is quite cool, and very well done, though I don't think I'd have a hard time finding 100 better than it. better than maybe 70% on the actual list though. tbh ''the way it is'' cover is incredibly basic to me. Just seems like every other cover where a band stands in a room looking at the camera...still, better than many on the billboard list
@@adxdenerlx6969That’s pretty fair. Not saying there aren’t better album covers than those, but I think those are cool and whenever album covers are brought up I never hear them mentioned. Also, now that I look back at it, the covers of Boston’s 1986 album “Third Stage” deserves mention as do the covers of the Elton John albums “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road”, and “Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy”. One other poorly received work whose cover is pretty cool in my opinion is “Thank You” by Duran Duran from 1995, and among more recent releases, Drake’s “Thank Me Later” from 2010 has a cool cover in my opinion. What are some covers you find interesting out of curiosity?
The Season of Glass cover is probably the only one that comes close. The album itself is mid to good, depending on who you ask, but that album cover is an absolute thunderbolt of an artistic statement.
@@theheresiarch3740 Yeah when I looked through the Billboard list most were garbage, but that one I immediately felt fantastic, even though I haven't heard the album and I'm not that familiar with the context.
Not a single Blue Note album cover is such disrespect. No Blue Train, Moanin', or Speak No Evil. Beyond just jazz covers that are missing, this list is insane.
I guess one Miles Davis album was enough jazz for them, since the modern-day editorial wisdom seems to be "people don't care about jazz anymore". Still disappointing, I could make a top 100 entirely of ECM album covers.
@@esmerylan And that is such a disappointing notion since there has definitely been an uptick in interest of jazz lately. A disappointing trend I hope gets rectified.
No Demon Days is insane, Turn on the Bright Lights by Interpol, Tim by The Replacements, The Downward Spiral by NIN, and at least one of The Smiths' covers also seem like easy picks but those are more subjective.
My only hope was Blonde on Blonde. Pretty simple but goes pretty hard, as the whippersnappers say. The color palette was always really comforting to me, and opening the album vertically (especially since it was the first record I ever bought) always got me really excited to give it a spin.
Why did they mainly pick albums that are portraits? There are so many cool paintings/drawings as album covers. Also, I know it's a meme, but I genuinely love ITAOTS and I think it deserves a spot on any "best covers" list. It's striking and has a lot of emotion to it. It seems happy but also has a kind of dread underneath it. It's a top 5 for me.
Some of my picks in no order: Fragile - Yes Magentalane - Klaatu Apollo 18 - They Might Be Giants Axis: Bold As Love - Jimi Hendrix Experience Revolver - Beatles Also Jazz - Queen and Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd
Not only paintings, a great way to show the immense beauty of album covers, fantano's 2020 album list. That list made me appreciate album covers cause of the rich diverse artistic approaches to an album cover. Some are like paintings, exquisite closeups, abstract art, and minimalism
Duran Duran's Rio cover is actually quite good, iconic and transcendental in the world of design and fashion. Helped cement the status and style of the group from then on. It was designed by Patrick Nagel and set a trend in the 80s and excellently defined their concept.
Surfer Rosa - Pixies Three Imaginary Boys - The Cure Revolver - The Beatles Round Midnight - Miles Davis The Madcap Laugh - Syd Barret Debut/Post - Bjork Closer - Joy Division Miami - The Gun Club Ocean Rain - Echo and the Bunnymen The Libertines - The Libertines Heroes/ Ziggy Stardust/Hunky Dory - David Bowie The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady (and almost everything) - Charles Mingus Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers - Kendrick Lamar Mezzanine - Massive Attack And every THE SMITHS Covers
I know you aren’t super crazy about her music, but Grimes’ album covers are insane, especially considering the ones pre-miss anthropocene she did solo. The Art Angels album cover SHOULD BE HERE. Or even Visions.
I know it'd probably be a metric fuckton of work for both Anthony and his editor but I would love it if for each of these tier list reactions he made one of his own. I would LOVE to see a list of his favorite album covers.
How is this list gonna exclude basically all of metal, a genre known for having amazing album covers? I mean so many damn great ones: Black Sabbath, Master of Puppets, Rust In Peace, None So Vile, Transilvanian Hunger, DMDS, Filosofem, Mirror Reaper, Severed Survival, Exercises In Futility, I could go on
I feel like whoever did this is the type of person that wants an album cover to tell you exactly who made the music and then they sprinkled in some obvious picks like Joy Division or Pink Floyd.
And they didn't even pick the right album for some of the bands with better covers. Wish You Were Here, Animals and The Wall are all better album covers than DSOTM
@bvd8861 I'd also say Closer has a better cover than Unknown Pleasures, but I also get that Unknown Pleasures is more iconic. I also generally prefer Closer so that probably feeds into it.
Vulgar Display of Power by Pantera Filosofem by Burzum Terrifyer by Pig Destroyer Mirror Reaper by Bell Witch From Mars to Sirius by Gojira Reign in Blood by Slayer Not to mention pretty much anything by Converge, Ne Obliviscaris, or Full of Hell As well as the countless classic covers from Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Metallica, and Megadeth
@@Willofflineonline born again, paranoid, sabotage, self titled, heaven and hell, all god tier covers from iconic metal albums. no led zeppelin covers. barely any pink floyd.
@@Willofflineonline Carcass Heartwork. Or the multiple other H.R Giger done covers and Agreed From Mars to Sirius is legendary as a cover. Whales will live on forever lol.
Here's some great ones: All Shall Perish - The Price of Existence All Shall Perish - This Is Where It Ends Asking Alexandria - Reckless & Relentless August Burns Red - Constellations August Burns Red - Messengers August Burns Red - Thrill Seeker Bad Omens - The Death of Peace of Mind Between the Buried and Me - The Great Misdirect Black Sheep Wall - i'm going to .... Bring Me the Horizon - Suicide Season Bring Me the Horizon - There Is a Hell Believe Me I've Seen It. There Is a Heaven Let's Keep It a Secret Car Bomb - Meta Car Bomb - w^w^^w^w Chat Pile - Cool World Chat Pile - God's Country Converge - All We Love We Leave Behind Converge - Jane Doe Daughters - Hell Songs Deafheaven - Sunbather Deftones - Around the Fur Deftones - Gore Deftones - Saturday Night Wrist The Dillinger Escape Plan - Miss Machine The Dillinger Escape Plan - Option Paralysis The Fall of Troy - F.C.P.R.E.M.I.X. Gaza - No Absolutes in Human Suffering The Human Abstract - Midheaven I Declare War - Songs for the Sick iwrestledabearonce - Ruining It for Everybody Jesus Piece - ...So Unknown Job for a Cowboy - Demonocracy Job for a Cowboy - Moon Healer Job for a Cowboy - Sun Eater Korn - Follow the Leader Korn - Korn Korn - See You On the Other Side Knocked Loose - You Won't Go Before You're Supposed To Loathe - I Let It In and It Took Everything Mayhem - Deathcrush Metallica - Kill 'Em All Metallica - Master of Puppets Metallica - Ride the Lightning Nailbomb - Point Blank Nails - Unsilent Death Narrows - New Distances The Number Twelve Looks Like You - Nuclear. Sad. Nuclear. Parkway Drive - Deep Blue Parkway Drive - Horizons Press to Meco - Here's to the Fatigue Rage Against the Machine - Rage Against the Machine System of a Down - Toxicity Traitors - The Hate Campaign Tool - 10,000 Days Tool - Ænima Tool - Lateralus Underoath - Erase Me Underoath - Lost in the Sound of Separation
she will always be overlooked in these types of lists but janelle monae deserves to be recognized for how fantastic all her album covers are EVERY TIME
Unironically a very striking, iconic, expressive album cover that fits the sound and themes of the album, and was also extremely well-painted. I'd respect it being in someone's top 10.
Seriously though Terrifier’s cover is one of my absolute favourites ever, like top 10 tbh. The colour choice, the font, the amount of space the woman takes up, the weird mixture of allure and disgust in the woman’s design, it’s legitimately an insanely badass and well put together cover imo and I’m not even usually that into metal covers that much
Angelic 2 The Core will always be the best album cover! No other album cover could ever compare to the masterpiece that is Corey Feldman's Angelic 2 The Core! There is no competition, period!
I was sorry to see no Depeche Mode representation on the list. Violator, at the very least, should have gotten on; the photograph for A Broken Frame was award-winning, so it’s iconic in that way.
Absolutely A Broken Frame! I’m very surprised that isn’t on this list. So many mediocre choices on the list, and they chose to ignore something ACTUALLY recognized as one of the best-ever photographs (not just album cover photos… photos, period).
as an artist, i definitely agree that a lot of these are kind of stinkers. most aren't overwhelmingly bad, but when we have thousands of albums being released yearly, i cant help but scoff a little. like, for example... beyonce's name on a black square works well enough because shes freaking beyonce, but it works SOLELY because of the name recognition. and i definitely feel like a lot of these are front loaded by that mentality. happy dark side of the moon placed so high. now that's a nice simple but iconic cover right there.
There's such weird politic-ing under the hood of these big music journal lists that are always awkward but its hard to pin down why the editors picked anything in particular. Putting Hole above Nirvana like they wanted this list to go viral on Twitter with discourse?
I think Remain In Light deserves a spot on here. Also most of Ween's album covers are actually pretty great, especially The Mollusk as it was designed by Storm Thorgerson, who made the art for Dark Side Of The Moon, which should also be on here.
The album cover for Animals is probably my favorite. Not much to it but that power station just looks so menacing that it fits with the songs on the album incredibly
I think the Sticky Fingers album cover (on top of just being a great album cover) has a lot of mystery behind it. Andy Warhol took the photo but nobody knows who the photo is of, dozens of people have claimed to be the person in the photo but no one has ever been identified.
I can't even talk about albums covers without mentioning Dangerous by Michael Jackson. That cover is an absolute work of art with so much meaning. You can get lost in it.
I agree with everything Anthony said except for the Duran Duran cover. I like the minimalist art with the weird lines and simple coloration. I mean it obviously looks a bit weird, but that just makes it stand out even more for me as a cool cover. It’s obviously up to opinion though, I can see why someone might not like the weird design.
I think context is important for this one as well, through the 80's we saw a ton of this style of art and we can largely thank this album cover for that.
I don’t like it, but it’s a matter of personal taste. I think it deserved to be here, because it was something new and different at the time. The vast majority of this list redefined “bland”.
Some of my favorite album covers: Roxy Music: Avalon Joy Division: Unknown Pleasures, Closer Duran Duran: Rio The Cramps: Bad Music for Bad People Bruce Springsteen: Nebraska Iron Maiden: Killers, Number of the Beast, Powerslave DEVO: Q: Are We Not Men? Dead Can Dance: Spleen and Ideal Dio: Holy Diver Pink Floyd: Animals
Also, just to put it out there for hip hop history purposes... The Roots - "Things Fall Apart" album has multiple covers that were released, (with the one shown in this video as the main and most available one), and they were all pretty amazing
on a serious note, butchered at birth deserves a spot imo. it is so grotesque, and kinda aesthetic at the same time. i love the red bloody zombie gore on the black background. super well made artwork by the artist. great compositon too with the fetuses in the background.
Many covers are missing, but to me the omission of Rage Against The Machine's self titled is unforgivable. It is one of the most stunning and iconic albums covers OAT and it is such a bold statement that perfectly captures the contents of the record.
Idk if it's necessarily self-absorbed, it could just be a case of someone being enamored with the projected image of “the performer.” That's pretty common, it's closer to a fandom-view of musicians than anything, it's just most people grow out of that.
Truly bizarre, also your pfp of White Pony is a great counter-example to the minimalistic take on an album cover, leagues better pick than Beyonce's name on black background.
Here's a bunch of classic covers I think should've been included: Prince-Sign O' the times Red hot chilli Peppers-Californication Rage against the machine-self titled The Beatles-Revolver System of a down-Toxicity Gorillaz-Demon days Madvillain-Madvillany The rolling stones-Exile on Main St Pink Floyd-Wish you were here Lorde-Melodrama Talking heads-Remain in light Radiohead-Kid A Danny Brown-Atrocity Exhibition Led Zeppelin-Physical graffiti Gucci Mane-Trap story
Man, I’m actually shocked you hated the Columbia Records cover at 7:16. For a record from 1939 it’s such a strange image that feels really ahead of its time to me, playing with weird juxtapositions of flat and 3D imagery. Probably not deserving to be on the list but I do think it’s a good album cover.
List should have led off with Big Black's _Songs About Fucking._ Also, Duran Duran's _Rio_ is awesome and iconic, and what's with knocking 80s covers as "dated," but giving a pass to all the dated covers from other decades? Hell, the Marvin Gaye and NWA covers are dated, but they still belong on the list.
The new Aesop Rock vinyl cover has LED lights in the cover that plays a song and you can plug the cover into a micro USB 😂 it’s my best vinyl purchase to date
I genuinely think Flower Boy ought to be on here. Not only does the vibrant, colorful cover fit the music _perfectly,_ but it’s just a visually striking and pleasing image on its own. Easily one of my all-time favorites.
This list didn't have: Heaven or Las Vegas Flower Boy Kids see ghosts Graduation Melt my eyez see your future Madvillian Atrocity exhibition Speaking in tongues Titanic rising Thriller 4eva is a mighty long time The miseducation of Lauryn Hill
@@CGR0620 The Velvet Undergound at number 1 makes total sense though. It is one of the most iconic album covers, made by one of the most famous artists of all time. I would even say that it has transcended the album itself - a lot of people have seen it without actually having listened to the album. Other picks would probably be Abbey Road, Sgt. Peppers, Dark Side of the Moon, all of which i would put above Thriller.
WTF? She's So Unusual by Cyndi Lauper IS absolutely an incredible album cover to this day. Actually she has pretty awesome run of album covers. True Colors, A Night To Remember, Hat Full Of Stars, Twelve Deadly Cyns, At Last are all top tier.
While I agree with just about most of the the comments you made, I didn’t get the slander on many of the 80’s album covers like “She’s So Unusual” (very iconic and visually stunning) “Rio” (created by one of the most popular artists of the decade and staple visual style of the decade) which perfectly captures the essence of that album.
Our high school art department had a book of 100 album covers (it was the late eighties so they were mostly 60s/70s records). I don;t remember any of these being in there. Free's eponymous 1969 record was in there. Fantastic cover.
I agree. Only about 15% of these are legendary. It also points to the role of an album cover in today’s context. In the past, the packaging was an integral part of the experience. I’m definitely biased, but there are so many beautiful designs by Hipgnosis, Roger Dean, Pore Know Graphics, Peter Saville, Anton Corbijn, Annie Leibovitz, Robert Mapplethorpe, Afrofuturist designs generally…and more broadly, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, King Crimson, Rush, Pink Floyd, Stevie Wonder, Earth Wind and Fire, Parliament Funkadelic, Bar-Kays, Public Enemy, John Coltrane, Ornerte Coleman, Eric Dolphy, Chambers Brothers, Sun Ra, Nina Simone, Sly and the Family Stone,Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Blue Öyster Cult, Queen, Gang Of Four, Wire, Toyah, Bauhaus, The Cure, Sonic Youth, Laurie Anderson, Devin Townsend, Low, Lush, Split Enz, XTC, Japan, Yellow Magic Orchestra, John Zorn, Fred Frith, Deerhoof, Shellac, Trenchmouth, Tortoise, June of 44, Stereolab, Robyn Hitchcock….
I don't know if it would count as "Top 100" material, but I like the album cover for Florence + The Machines "Ceremonials". Its very simple, but its such a cool photo that they made. Other album covers that I really like include SVRCINA's "Elysian Fields" for its photography and color gradient, as well as the one featured for Aimer's song "sailing" for the same reasons.
One of my absolute favorite covers as of late is Tori Amos’s Boys For Pele. So striking, so much to unpack, Tori looks so unsettling, and I really like the typography I’m not sure why
Not even ONE supertramp, Kate Bush, MF doom, Black Sabbath, Metallica, R.E.M, ACDC, Michael Jackson, Queen, Beastie boys, Kiss, Guns n Roses, Stevie Wonder, Boston, ELO, George Harrison, Talking Heads cover, yup, Rolling stone can are for me just wanting the attention either good or bad
I need another publication to drop a better list. There’s so many iconic album covers I can think of especially from recent pop memory. Future Nostalgia, Pang, Chromatica, Melodrama. Also, how did blonde not make it?
Gag Order, Born This Way, Kala and If I can’t have love I want power. SHOULD BE ON THAT LIST AS WELL. I’m all fairness Lady Gaga did get on the list for The Fame Monster even though it’s not her best album cover in my opinion compared to her other ones.
Duran Duran's Rio absolutely deserves a spot in the top 100 album art lists of the world for it's use of Patrick Nagel's Nagel Girl. both Patrick Nagel and Margret Keane are the real world action of the thesis behind Andy Warhol's Campbell's Soup print series. both the Nagel Girl and Big Eyes were so highly printed and reproduced and displayed from homes across America to cheap nail salons and banks that the enigmatic nature turns into mundane and worthless. melon really throwing a normie take here.
The NFR cover I thought was really ugly when it first dropped, but it really grew on me after a while. It gives a "bad on purpose" sorta anti-art vibe and I dig it a lot now. Also helps that it's such a departure from the usual vibe of her album art
the way lana is reaching out is so 4th wall breaking to me. it is kinda surreal. the pose and the random comic letters on the upper left corner. the painting like sky. the clenched eyelids of the boy she is clutching on. him in an insecure jack sparrow type pose. its kinda all over the place. really weird.
None of Roger Dean’s YES covers? Dark Side as the ONLY cover from Hipgnosis? None of James Marsh’s covers for Talk Talk? There were some outstanding album covers from The Grateful Dead. Ghost In The Machine was a great graphic design joke for The Police.
For a spin on the "artists on the album cover" trope, Tears For Fears' album 'The Seeds Of Love' is artistic while still featuring the band, and is a really good album cover. I'm also partial to Styx's album covers for 'The Grand Illusion' and 'Paradise Theater'.
I can't believe they left out XTC's "Drums And Wires", I absolutely adore that cover, I love the minimal aesthetic, but with rough shapes, I love how the same lines form the band name as well as the guy's face, Basically everything about it. Far better than some of the covers they had on this list. Also if we're talking about album covers that send a message, You don't get much better than Chumbawamba's Anarchy, Although I will admit it probably could've been better looking.
I remember that one! Drums and Wires. Never listened to it but just read about the band now and they sound like the exact sort of music I would be into. You're right though, it should be on here given that I remember the name and cover and I haven't even heard the album.
@@asinglebraincell6584 I would highly recommend it, honestly I feel like XTC are a bit underrated, considering how much influence they had it's surprising to me they're not remembered as well as some other similar bands of the late 70s and 80s such as Talking Heads, Where I live at least, possible they're better remembered elsewhere. I don't think I've ever heard their songs playing on like 80s radio stations though, while I've heard tonnes of random obscure (and sometimes honestly not that good) stuff there.
Meatloaf - Bat out of Hell should be on here, and high. I remember seeing it in my Dad's record collection, I absolutely had to hear it immediately. Theres probably loads of 80s hard rock ones missing, Dio's Holy Diver also fire. Other big omissions: RATM Bad Brains BJORK, literally any Bjork Radiohead - Kid A Just so many it makes my head spin that they picked that normal ass photo of 3 women in a forest....
I get that it's maybe to new for this type of list, but the album art for PetroDragonic Apocalypse is so damn good. It immediately communicates the entire "Dragon as metaphor for climate change" theme that the album is based on even without any words. It's the kind of thing I'd have framed somewhere if I was the type of person to hand art on my walls. It's no Maggot Brain, but I'd put it above most of what else I've seen on this list.
no bjork? mastodon? fka twigs? chumbawamba? jamiroquai? travis scott? gorillaz? kanye? black sabbath? muse? even evanescense debut album. come on, there's so many iconic covers that supposed to be mentioned here.
About the NFR cover, it has A LOT of layers of meaning, but it's sorta "had to be there" to get the meaning on the first go (the death of monolith culture, the california fires, the last reach for emotional connection, also the direct reference to norman rockwell the painter the album is called after, etc etc), Indigo's cover is good specifically for RM and the concept of denim and indigo as a symbol for his late twenties, but I understand why it wouldn't attract to most people and be considered as mid (I like it better than Harry's house tbh) under this are my personal entries and me explaining some of them, if you're interested :) ⬇ Personal entries for me: Skool Luv Affair and Dark & Wild by BTS, Jack In The Box by j-hope, Dangerous and HIStory by Michael Jackson, Modern Life Is Rubbish by Blur, Plastic Beach by Gorillaz, Rattle and Hum by U2, Dream Girl and Why So Serious? by SHINEe, Californian Soil by London Grammar, So Long See You Tomorrow by Bombay Bicycle Club, Lo Que Te Conte Mientras Te Hacias La Dormida by La Oreja De Van Gogh, MultiViral by Calle 13, Pa' Otro La'o by Chichi Peralta, check all those covers, they're stunning (also excellent albums) Gonna explain some of them: - Proof by BTS (anthology album): this is more than a trade than a fave, because choosing MOTS: The Journey above Proof (the cover is the word PROOF being spelled only using their band logo) or Skool Luv Affair or Dark & Wild (both EXCELLENT albums, hip hop and r&b heavy) is a CRIME. - Jack In The Box by j-hope: it's a great continuation of his mixtape Hope World color scheme, him floating in seven colorful hands made by kaws (an artist he admires and collects artwork from) while he's wearing a black and white wavy checkers fit suit (which is so unlike his usual baggy/casual wear but at the same time very him) is beautiful, also the album cover and his name missing in the cover helps to its premise of the story of the JITB as a toy and the Pandora's box story too, not only is a beautiful album cover, but it also helps to evoke and represent the music inside it. - Dangerous by Michael Jackson: it's so intricate, the fact it's a full on painting with easter eggs about his rumors, life and headspace, also using his eyes as the welcome to his "world" where inside of him there's an industrial setting is so cool and interesting. - HIStory by Michael Jackson: this is CAMP in an interesting way, people assume "camp" always means colorful, but this album cover has such campiness and ridiculous nature to it, the dark and cloudy sky, the infamous statue of him in his Dangerous tour first outfit all in blue, the first time we've ever seen like an actual MJ logo, the fancy serif font, the italic HIS to emphasize the album is mostly autobiographical, this being the next album after the first criminal allegations he got, being at the height of his career, this cover expresses the rise and soon-to-come downfall with the sky, he has been considered a legend and icon until that point, it tells a story without doing much (also it adds up that the HIStory continues part of the double album is darker and a slightly unhinged side of MJ we had ever seen) - Modern Life Is Rubbish by Blur: this album being a painting about one of the main things (trains) that introduced us to the industrial revolution while the album being about how the "current life" of young people was dim and completely mundane (and also the cover looks exactly how the album sounds) - Plastic Beach by Gorillaz: The cover being directly related to the theme of climate change, consumerism and the loss of meaning of it, the official one has always been my favorite (the magic hour one), the wavy font right on top of the water, the island being made out of the trash of the world thanks to said consumerism. - Viva La Vida by Coldplay: the album has been described as what it would sound if you go to war (and the album itself indeed having such subjects of war, beliefs and love), having the name Viva La Vida in spanish (literally Long Live Life translated, name of a Frida Kahlo painting of fruits), the liberty leading the people painting, the brush written Viva La Vida in all white with messy paint drops of the same color. It's the perfect example of using something already made and making it yours, you see the original painting on its on, and both Coldplay and Viva La Vida (song) come right to you. - Pa Otro La'o: translated "to the other side" in spanish, it resembles a little to Grace Jones Island Life cover, but instead a white background and both him (with a surprised expression) and bongos floating, it's a simple yet very fun album cover. - Rattle and Hum by U2: love the lighting, the edge's pose, how crafty it looks by the lighting being only provided by a huge spotlight hand held by bono, the clever placement of "u2" and the stylistic choice of " rattle and hum", it's a simple cover but it works really well. - Dream Girl "the misconceptions of you" by SHINEe: another album hat sounds exactly how it looks, the collage aspect of it, how it plays the "inside of his mind" concept but does the opposite and showcase that in the outside, covering most of one of the member's face, yet you can faintly still see him under all of it. - Why So Serious "the misconceptions of me" by SHINEe: the second part of the "misconceptions" trilogy, this cover background wise is more simple, but it's a body (yet faceless this time) collage of all the five members, kinda like a stylized frankenstein of the band, the mini members are faceless to convey the title and the most mysterious element of the album.
"The Mysterious Flying Orchestra", Solo Monk album cover, Camel's "Mirage" cover, ABBA's "Super Trouper" cover had great lighting. Daft Punk's last album cover was simple and a good send off.
chill on duran duran!!! it's not your taste which is fine idc but omg patrick nagel is such an incredible artist, i LOVE the bright colors and sharp edges it's so cool!!!
The "Smash Hits by Rogers & Hart" at 7:15 is iconic for me. It's the first album cover in history, the first illustration. Despite being generic, it's an important one
I dont think it deserves as high as it is, but patrick nagels work on rio is not only iconic but beautiful. I literally have one of his prints on my wall and everything he does is in this style.
We need a full Fantano best album covers list
I hope he sees this comment
@@pablodemorais9320I don't think he reads comments nowadays
THIS🔥🔥🔥🔥
I need my dad to say he loves me
@@jamesburkyI love you son
Photography is one of the most subjective art forms there is, but holy shit there be some mediocrity in here.
The fact that it is subjective is the reason that you're allowed to call it mediocre. This goes for all art.
Album covers and photography are two pretty different mediums but your point still applies
number 97 💀💀💀
Photography operates on two levels: (1) Technical skill and (2) Inner narrative. All art does, but it’s especially true for photography. A beautiful, perfectly lit headshot, like the Ariana cover, is no where as visually interesting as the White Stripes’ example here. Why? Because one looks like a profile pic (maybe even a magazine shoot), one has dramatic trappings. When we’re talking about an album cover, we usually expect it to visually tell the story of the album. So, we could lose some technical quality in favor of more striking visuals. All that said, a headshot should pretty much never make it on a list like this.
@@dontpanic5278Objectivity is generally just the compilation of several agreeing subjective opinions though, and I doubt this list reflects anything near this type of consensus.
The writer should have titled this list "100 of the 100 most recent album covers I looked at"
Right lol cuz clearly
Maybe a fun title would be "An ode to recency bias"
@@beaualoevv”I looked at”
Minorities and women edition
7:16
This was actually considered the first album cover ever made. Does it explain why it’s on the list? Yes. Does it justify why it’s on the list? Probably not
It looked interesting too.
@@Clay3613 I that's what I was thinking it was interesting like i get the cover is not to his taste, but it does something unlike the others he rightly in my opinion dismissed from the list for being boring and forgettable, especially compared to what is out there.
Tbh i like the cover actually very much
I think it looks dope
Personally one of my favourites is Weyes Blood's Titanic Rising. That album cover always blows me away knowing that it was a real photoshoot
it’s sooo beautiful
One of the best album covers of all time for sure
I whole-heartedly agree. Did not disappoint
gorgeous cover
Oh god yes that was so beautiful
No Rage Against the Machine is actually insulting. That dude set his ass on fire just to be snubbed from a list with 40+ mid ass picks
Came to comment this, actually insane to not have that cover
No Dead Kennedys is wild as well.
Even Evil Empire is an amazing cover
@@vb2388not as good as self titled, not even coose
I'd go further: any cover from Rage Against The Machine is better than 90% of what was shown here. Even Renegade. What a shitshow.
absolutely baffling that any "just a photo of the artist" covers were selected
Thats what makes it so funny it's so absurd. Probably ai generated
I can agree with some of them, as photography is still artistic and can take a lot of work to get the right photo, but this list was waaaaay too bloated with them. Its like the person who made the list has never once seen a painting in their life.
95% of the list
@@princeapoopoo5787like with the Beatles, and queen 2, those pictures are works or art
Debatable.
Whoever made this list failed art school, photography, and graphic design, good god. They failed English too with how horrible the argument is for nearly every pick.
100% chance this list was made by AI
And you failed to notice that all of these lists are straight bait to make people upset and click the article and then bitch about it increasing their views even more...
@@aw2584 I'm aware lists like these are usually bait but they're never THIS bad. Usually there's a good chunk of picks that make sense in these. This is just all around horrible.
@@aw2584 all because it’s done on purpose doesn’t mean the list isn’t ass and everyone’s gonna go view the article to hate on it, people don’t hate raid newspapers the same way they do videos
Yes
Honestly, what I love most about the London Calling album art is just the mere fact that it's referencing an Elvis album cover and yet it's 20x more memorable, especially bc of how striking the guitar smash image is - it just shows this new shift in attitudes towards the pre-established Rock'n'Roll genre and is ultimately one of the most classic punk photos of all time.
No
@@kdrkdr5123 no?
@@kdrkdr5123 schizophrenia
@@kdrkdr5123 yes 🙂
You hit the nail on the head with the ‘no Bjork?’ Comment. An absolute travesty. I can name 5 Bjork covers that should be on the top 20. Post and Vespertine for example should be top 5 easily. Post to me is one of the most captivating album covers of all time, I never get tired of seeing it
Post absolutely.
Vulnicura too
The only thing I don’t like about the vespertine cover is that she’s in the swan dress and there’s also a swan drawn over the top. That’s one too many swans. Like do one or the other.
Love the Post cover though.
I feel like the sole purpose of these lists is to infuriate people and make them talk about it lol
Absolutely and this dude should definitely know this by now, if he doesn’t.
Yeah they also put like two BTS albums one every list to get the stan account retweets it's so pathetic
@@seffers4788Of course he does, he just pretends not to know because it’s easy content
Suh dude! I would enjoy more album art reviews! ✌️ 😎
True! I can also see why Billboard didn't include Madvillainy in that list.
I thought the title was exaggerated but man this list feels randomly generated
This could have easily been one of their best lists and the bar really wasn’t high to begin with. Definitely has to be randomly generated
Yeah this is HORRENDOUS lol.
@@twosharksinatrenchcoatchatgpt would pick better ones honestly
I'm sad to say MBV's Loveless didn't make the list
Maybe they didn't want to overrepresent Floyd with Dark Side being so high, but the lack of Wish You Were Here is insane to me. Literally the first cover I thought of
The first I would think of is Ummagumma
Or the Division Bell!
@@gailism Even the momentary lapse of reason album cover is MAGNIFICENT
I think Syd Barrett’s Madcap Laughs cover deserves a spot on the list too if it didn’t get one (I haven’t seen the full list)
As far as their actual best album cover as apposed to just being their most recognizable that’s a big W to me I think the wish you were here cover is my favourite of all their covers for me I get chills down my spine looking at it. I guess the ummaguma cover is also very cool and very trippy I mean who doesn’t love that endless reflection you might get from the room with mirrors on all sides and then you get well endless reflections at the discovery centre or what ever. Although ummagumma is more like mirrors on two sides reflecting upon reflecting where it doesn’t know when to stop kind of like when people place bets on each other for who’s dick is the biggest to who can get the most no scopes in call of duty and then the competition never ends, just two competing powers that defines space and time and will probably cause a black whole that will eventually swallow us all whole but you get the point.
Radiohead, Gorillaz, Björk, Talking Heads, RATM... so many great covers just ignored.
Feels bad to even entertain this list.
A couple minutes in, I had a feeling In the Court of the Crimson King wasn't going to be on the list, and I was right. It's arguably the most iconic prog rock album cover of all time, but they ignored it. I haven't seen the full list, but given the band's history, I'm assuming 2112 also didn't make the cut.
Hemispheres cover > 2112 cover
Rolling stone just continue to forget they exist. It’s just puzzling
Honestly the self titled album is Rush's best art, but I like 2112 too. Also yeah, Hemispheres is really something. Court of the Crimson King is iffy for me just because it's so damn weird, it makes me kinda uncomfortable. Maybe that's more reason to have it. Plus if we wanna talk iconic, it beats almost this entire list.
Oh also not quite the same but, Surfing with the Alien. How the fuck is that not in here?
Started watching the video and thought the same. Shame it didnt make it on the list. RS lists suck anyways so
No Yes or Gentle Giant covers either is wild. Relayer and Tales From Topographic Oceans not being here is insane
I'm also surprised they didn't include "Thriller" or "Purple Rain" on here. Those are pretty iconic covers.
And out of all the Prince covers they could’ve chosen too, I think they just wanted to be different
Sign 'O' the Times is my favorite Prince cover (and album)!
I gotta say Parade is the one for me.
i feel like bad is mj’s best cover but no michael jackson at all is insane
Maggot Brain being so low is insulting. I’ve never seen an album cover that fills me with joy and utter horror at the same time like Maggot Brain.
not even acid rap?
8:30 😐no words. mostly cuz theres nothing going on
glazing
that album used to scare the sh*t out of me when i was little. my grandfather used to hide it when i would come over 😂
the Cosmic slop cover is amazing too.
Beyonce: Here's my name on a black background.
Billboard: Fucking genius.
What if it was Channel Orange instead?
The name in the middle is tacky, should have went with something like Donda or the two Spinal Tap Albums, Smell the Glove and This is Spinal Tap.
the only album cover that just has a name of the album on a blank one colour backround and nothing else that COULD be on such list is the white album by the beatles.
Literally looks like that Nirvana cover from 2000
Bleach?@@AverageUser-
Animals by Pink Floyd, such a simple cover, but it fills me with so much emotion, fear, nostalgia and pain. It’s post apocalyptic vibe fits so well with the music itself, which is some of the best music ever written in my opinion.
animals is my favorite cover ever, so well composed yet a little silly with the inflatable pig.
The glazing is insane
@@eschmabriel the story of it is better
I know the Rio album cover is dated but personally I find Patrick Nagel's artwork incredibly distinct and striking. His repertoire definitely captures the fashion zeitgeist of the era and he didn't even live to see the end of the 80s.
Ironic that the comment on it was that you wouldn’t buy it in a Goodwill, consider how collectible Nagel’s art is.
There is not a single album cover on that list where I could imagine that whoever made the list thought ''This album is awful, but the cover is pure genius''. It's not about greatest album covers, it's just albums they like and wanna put on some list
Two albums that are not considered anything amazing that have covers that caught my eye when I first looked them up are Billy Joel's 1993 album River of Dreams, and Chicago's 1979 album Chicago 13. The latter of which simultaneously has a cool cover of a skyscraper and received one star from Allmusic.
Also if you like sepia, then Bruce Hornsby & The Range's The Way It Is deserves a look (much better album, but also an overlooked cover).
Someone could probably make a long video list of their favorite overlooked album covers.
@@fortynights1513 Wow, that Billy Joel cover would be top10 to me if listen among the Billboard list. The different sections are divided in a way that seems nonsensical at first but actually perfectly fit.
Chicago cover is quite cool, and very well done, though I don't think I'd have a hard time finding 100 better than it. better than maybe 70% on the actual list though.
tbh ''the way it is'' cover is incredibly basic to me. Just seems like every other cover where a band stands in a room looking at the camera...still, better than many on the billboard list
@@adxdenerlx6969That’s pretty fair. Not saying there aren’t better album covers than those, but I think those are cool and whenever album covers are brought up I never hear them mentioned.
Also, now that I look back at it, the covers of Boston’s 1986 album “Third Stage” deserves mention as do the covers of the Elton John albums “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road”, and “Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy”.
One other poorly received work whose cover is pretty cool in my opinion is “Thank You” by Duran Duran from 1995, and among more recent releases, Drake’s “Thank Me Later” from 2010 has a cool cover in my opinion.
What are some covers you find interesting out of curiosity?
The Season of Glass cover is probably the only one that comes close. The album itself is mid to good, depending on who you ask, but that album cover is an absolute thunderbolt of an artistic statement.
@@theheresiarch3740 Yeah when I looked through the Billboard list most were garbage, but that one I immediately felt fantastic, even though I haven't heard the album and I'm not that familiar with the context.
Bjork and Gaga are some of the best visual artists, and for them to not be represented is weird
Gaga is number 64 on the list.
@@harishsubramanian1241 which one was it?
@@bp2159 No. 64 was Lady Gaga's The Fame Monster (2009)
homogenic not being on the top 10 is actually insane
*Cough, cough* Gorillaz *cough, cough* Jamie Hewlett *cough, cough*
Not a single Blue Note album cover is such disrespect. No Blue Train, Moanin', or Speak No Evil. Beyond just jazz covers that are missing, this list is insane.
I guess one Miles Davis album was enough jazz for them, since the modern-day editorial wisdom seems to be "people don't care about jazz anymore". Still disappointing, I could make a top 100 entirely of ECM album covers.
@@esmerylan And that is such a disappointing notion since there has definitely been an uptick in interest of jazz lately. A disappointing trend I hope gets rectified.
Jazz covers from Blue Note were one of the most iconic.
No music publication is about music as an art form in itself: it's about popular music as a commodity.
Speak no evil, amazing cover
No Demon Days is insane, Turn on the Bright Lights by Interpol, Tim by The Replacements, The Downward Spiral by NIN, and at least one of The Smiths' covers also seem like easy picks but those are more subjective.
I personally think Plastic Beach is better, but I agree nonetheless. Rolling stone is tweaking
I love demon days
Demon Days is an iconic one too. I feel like a good metric is, has your artwork been remixed or parodied? If so, probably iconic.
@@YukonHexsun but this artwork is a remake of Beatles’ Let it be. but looks sick ngl
your taste is perfect
My only hope was Blonde on Blonde. Pretty simple but goes pretty hard, as the whippersnappers say. The color palette was always really comforting to me, and opening the album vertically (especially since it was the first record I ever bought) always got me really excited to give it a spin.
Why did they mainly pick albums that are portraits? There are so many cool paintings/drawings as album covers.
Also, I know it's a meme, but I genuinely love ITAOTS and I think it deserves a spot on any "best covers" list. It's striking and has a lot of emotion to it. It seems happy but also has a kind of dread underneath it. It's a top 5 for me.
What album?
@diddleking448 in the aeroplane over the sea lol.
Oh god a neutral milk hotel mention 🤢
Some of my picks in no order:
Fragile - Yes
Magentalane - Klaatu
Apollo 18 - They Might Be Giants
Axis: Bold As Love - Jimi Hendrix Experience
Revolver - Beatles
Also Jazz - Queen and Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd
Not only paintings, a great way to show the immense beauty of album covers, fantano's 2020 album list. That list made me appreciate album covers cause of the rich diverse artistic approaches to an album cover. Some are like paintings, exquisite closeups, abstract art, and minimalism
Gotta hand it to Green Day’s Father of All Motherfuckers for coming in clutch at the #1 spot
Duran Duran's Rio cover is actually quite good, iconic and transcendental in the world of design and fashion. Helped cement the status and style of the group from then on. It was designed by Patrick Nagel and set a trend in the 80s and excellently defined their concept.
Absolutely. Nagel's art was iconic. A shame he died so young.
you know i was actually wondering what came first, that duran duran cover or everything else. i could have seen it go either way.
Fantano doesn’t appreciate the legacy of this cover because he’s never been to a hair salon.
You can make it sound good with words all day mate, but fuckin look at it.
@@bluemeltedpopsicleyeah it looks awesome. exactly how the music sounds
Surfer Rosa - Pixies
Three Imaginary Boys - The Cure
Revolver - The Beatles
Round Midnight - Miles Davis
The Madcap Laugh - Syd Barret
Debut/Post - Bjork
Closer - Joy Division
Miami - The Gun Club
Ocean Rain - Echo and the Bunnymen
The Libertines - The Libertines
Heroes/ Ziggy Stardust/Hunky Dory - David Bowie
The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady (and almost everything) - Charles Mingus
Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers - Kendrick Lamar
Mezzanine - Massive Attack
And every THE SMITHS Covers
I know you aren’t super crazy about her music, but Grimes’ album covers are insane, especially considering the ones pre-miss anthropocene she did solo. The Art Angels album cover SHOULD BE HERE. Or even Visions.
I know it'd probably be a metric fuckton of work for both Anthony and his editor but I would love it if for each of these tier list reactions he made one of his own. I would LOVE to see a list of his favorite album covers.
Same
How is this list gonna exclude basically all of metal, a genre known for having amazing album covers? I mean so many damn great ones: Black Sabbath, Master of Puppets, Rust In Peace, None So Vile, Transilvanian Hunger, DMDS, Filosofem, Mirror Reaper, Severed Survival, Exercises In Futility, I could go on
Fr metal has the best album covers as a genre overall imo lol.
It's by Billboard, what do you expect?
Painkiller and almost any maiden album to(besides dance of death)
They had maiden, Judas Priest, Metallica, and megadeth covers. Fantano didn’t show it
Metal bands are very over the top with their covers, especially death metal. And Billboard clearly has a bias for big selling albums.
I feel like whoever did this is the type of person that wants an album cover to tell you exactly who made the music and then they sprinkled in some obvious picks like Joy Division or Pink Floyd.
They forgot to sprinkle in an obligatory Kraftwerk. So random to know and pick the Hosono cover over any YMO.
And they didn't even pick the right album for some of the bands with better covers.
Wish You Were Here, Animals and The Wall are all better album covers than DSOTM
@bvd8861 I'd also say Closer has a better cover than Unknown Pleasures, but I also get that Unknown Pleasures is more iconic. I also generally prefer Closer so that probably feeds into it.
and you know they probably only put those in because they've seen them on t-shirts or something
Metal got snubbed here, i feel like Metal is one hell of a genre for bold album covers
Vulgar Display of Power by Pantera
Filosofem by Burzum
Terrifyer by Pig Destroyer
Mirror Reaper by Bell Witch
From Mars to Sirius by Gojira
Reign in Blood by Slayer
Not to mention pretty much anything by Converge, Ne Obliviscaris, or Full of Hell
As well as the countless classic covers from Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Metallica, and Megadeth
@@Willofflineonline born again, paranoid, sabotage, self titled, heaven and hell, all god tier covers from iconic metal albums. no led zeppelin covers. barely any pink floyd.
@@Willofflineonline Carcass Heartwork. Or the multiple other H.R Giger done covers and Agreed From Mars to Sirius is legendary as a cover. Whales will live on forever lol.
@@OlgaZuccatiin through the out door is one of my absolute favourite album covers the way it’s so atmospheric and plays with perspective
Here's some great ones:
All Shall Perish - The Price of Existence
All Shall Perish - This Is Where It Ends
Asking Alexandria - Reckless & Relentless
August Burns Red - Constellations
August Burns Red - Messengers
August Burns Red - Thrill Seeker
Bad Omens - The Death of Peace of Mind
Between the Buried and Me - The Great Misdirect
Black Sheep Wall - i'm going to ....
Bring Me the Horizon - Suicide Season
Bring Me the Horizon - There Is a Hell Believe Me I've Seen It. There Is a Heaven Let's Keep It a Secret
Car Bomb - Meta
Car Bomb - w^w^^w^w
Chat Pile - Cool World
Chat Pile - God's Country
Converge - All We Love We Leave Behind
Converge - Jane Doe
Daughters - Hell Songs
Deafheaven - Sunbather
Deftones - Around the Fur
Deftones - Gore
Deftones - Saturday Night Wrist
The Dillinger Escape Plan - Miss Machine
The Dillinger Escape Plan - Option Paralysis
The Fall of Troy - F.C.P.R.E.M.I.X.
Gaza - No Absolutes in Human Suffering
The Human Abstract - Midheaven
I Declare War - Songs for the Sick
iwrestledabearonce - Ruining It for Everybody
Jesus Piece - ...So Unknown
Job for a Cowboy - Demonocracy
Job for a Cowboy - Moon Healer
Job for a Cowboy - Sun Eater
Korn - Follow the Leader
Korn - Korn
Korn - See You On the Other Side
Knocked Loose - You Won't Go Before You're Supposed To
Loathe - I Let It In and It Took Everything
Mayhem - Deathcrush
Metallica - Kill 'Em All
Metallica - Master of Puppets
Metallica - Ride the Lightning
Nailbomb - Point Blank
Nails - Unsilent Death
Narrows - New Distances
The Number Twelve Looks Like You - Nuclear. Sad. Nuclear.
Parkway Drive - Deep Blue
Parkway Drive - Horizons
Press to Meco - Here's to the Fatigue
Rage Against the Machine - Rage Against the Machine
System of a Down - Toxicity
Traitors - The Hate Campaign
Tool - 10,000 Days
Tool - Ænima
Tool - Lateralus
Underoath - Erase Me
Underoath - Lost in the Sound of Separation
she will always be overlooked in these types of lists but janelle monae deserves to be recognized for how fantastic all her album covers are EVERY TIME
Especially her most recent record
I agree, Anthony. Pig Destroyer's Terrifyer DID deserve the number one spot
Every Chris Taylor cover deserves number 1
Boobs
Unironically a very striking, iconic, expressive album cover that fits the sound and themes of the album, and was also extremely well-painted. I'd respect it being in someone's top 10.
Seriously though Terrifier’s cover is one of my absolute favourites ever, like top 10 tbh. The colour choice, the font, the amount of space the woman takes up, the weird mixture of allure and disgust in the woman’s design, it’s legitimately an insanely badass and well put together cover imo and I’m not even usually that into metal covers that much
Pig Destroyer? Isn't that just a synonym for butcher
Angelic 2 The Core will always be the best album cover! No other album cover could ever compare to the masterpiece that is Corey Feldman's Angelic 2 The Core! There is no competition, period!
Weird to hear Fantano ranting for 16 minutes about how No Love Deep Web should be on the list.
unironically would've been a super interesting pick
It is on my least that's for sure.
@@uglyaniimalswhat makes it interesting? It's just a dick
I was sorry to see no Depeche Mode representation on the list. Violator, at the very least, should have gotten on; the photograph for A Broken Frame was award-winning, so it’s iconic in that way.
Absolutely A Broken Frame! I’m very surprised that isn’t on this list. So many mediocre choices on the list, and they chose to ignore something ACTUALLY recognized as one of the best-ever photographs (not just album cover photos… photos, period).
I had no clue that was a photograph, also I looked it up and the photographers name was Brian Griffin...
as well as some great reward, black celebration, songs of faith and devotion, imho even exciter is a nice one
as an artist, i definitely agree that a lot of these are kind of stinkers. most aren't overwhelmingly bad, but when we have thousands of albums being released yearly, i cant help but scoff a little. like, for example... beyonce's name on a black square works well enough because shes freaking beyonce, but it works SOLELY because of the name recognition. and i definitely feel like a lot of these are front loaded by that mentality. happy dark side of the moon placed so high. now that's a nice simple but iconic cover right there.
There's such weird politic-ing under the hood of these big music journal lists that are always awkward but its hard to pin down why the editors picked anything in particular. Putting Hole above Nirvana like they wanted this list to go viral on Twitter with discourse?
Would it be hard for you to believe that, yes, they did indeed want more traffic to their website?
i wouldnt put any hole cover over nevermind but musically i like hole much much better
When that Beyonce album came on I genuinely burst out laughing
Same here. List is pretty funny up to that point, but that was the moment that really did it for me.
holy shit i recognize your pfp!! cool to see other people knowing this artist
@@mishaps4041who’s the artist
In my opinion, Dangerously in Love’s album cover should of been on this list instead of her self titled album cover
I think Remain In Light deserves a spot on here. Also most of Ween's album covers are actually pretty great, especially The Mollusk as it was designed by Storm Thorgerson, who made the art for Dark Side Of The Moon, which should also be on here.
RIL's matches the mood of its music and has an interesting backstory, but I much prefer More Songs as a cover.
Craters Of The Sac sweep 🗣️🗣️🗣️
The album cover for Animals is probably my favorite. Not much to it but that power station just looks so menacing that it fits with the songs on the album incredibly
I think the Sticky Fingers album cover (on top of just being a great album cover) has a lot of mystery behind it. Andy Warhol took the photo but nobody knows who the photo is of, dozens of people have claimed to be the person in the photo but no one has ever been identified.
I can't even talk about albums covers without mentioning Dangerous by Michael Jackson. That cover is an absolute work of art with so much meaning. You can get lost in it.
Really any MJ album cover like wtf was this list on abt not including him
I was thinking the same. Dangerous is a wonderful album cover
A man of culture
Which is crazy, when the rest of his covers are just… pictures of him. Dangerous is such a colossal jump.
Exactly!!!
i was literally thinking about this list like last week. it is so bad like the omission of ANY bjork album is absolutely insane
I agree with everything Anthony said except for the Duran Duran cover. I like the minimalist art with the weird lines and simple coloration. I mean it obviously looks a bit weird, but that just makes it stand out even more for me as a cool cover. It’s obviously up to opinion though, I can see why someone might not like the weird design.
I hate Duran Duran and I think that cover is great
I think context is important for this one as well, through the 80's we saw a ton of this style of art and we can largely thank this album cover for that.
I don’t like it, but it’s a matter of personal taste. I think it deserved to be here, because it was something new and different at the time.
The vast majority of this list redefined “bland”.
@@6li8storm40 I agree, it’s better to at least be different and bad than to be bland and uninteresting.
@@kirbyizlife just curious, why do you hate Duran Duran?
Some of my favorite album covers:
Roxy Music: Avalon
Joy Division: Unknown Pleasures, Closer
Duran Duran: Rio
The Cramps: Bad Music for Bad People
Bruce Springsteen: Nebraska
Iron Maiden: Killers, Number of the Beast, Powerslave
DEVO: Q: Are We Not Men?
Dead Can Dance: Spleen and Ideal
Dio: Holy Diver
Pink Floyd: Animals
Also, just to put it out there for hip hop history purposes... The Roots - "Things Fall Apart" album has multiple covers that were released, (with the one shown in this video as the main and most available one), and they were all pretty amazing
Honestly as much as a joke it’s become, I think The Blue Album (Weezer) was a pretty big snub. Like, c’mon, it’s friggin iconic.
I’m just checking, Weezer yeah?
@@jakdee1295Yes
Or Baroness?
or the beatles??
Guys he's talking about Blue "Da Ba Dee" by Eiffel 65
It was so bold of them to exclusively include brutal death metal and goregrind album covers!
on a serious note, butchered at birth deserves a spot imo. it is so grotesque, and kinda aesthetic at the same time. i love the red bloody zombie gore on the black background. super well made artwork by the artist. great compositon too with the fetuses in the background.
@KzudemRiM fantastic cover despite being probably the weakest Barnes era album
Transilvanian hunger
None So Vile
Need some Piss Grave or Leprophiliac in the mix :P
I completely agree Anthony - it's absurd that Baby GOAT didn't make the list. Truly a work of art, akin to renaissance painters such as DaVinci.
If I spotted a Patrick Nagel piece at a Goodwill it would be mine in a HEARTBEAT
I'm thinking in three album covers, Bury The Hatchet by The Cranberries, Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd and It's Blitz! By Yeah Yeah Yeah
Many covers are missing, but to me the omission of Rage Against The Machine's self titled is unforgivable.
It is one of the most stunning and iconic albums covers OAT and it is such a bold statement that perfectly captures the contents of the record.
I was thinking through the whole thing, "wonder where in the top 10 ratm-ratm will be"
My thoughts exactly. The further into the video I got, the more I was expecting not to see it though
I feel like the emphasis on self portraits in this list reflects the self absorbed nature of the author of the article.
Honestly agreed, very little actual conceptual art lol
Idk if it's necessarily self-absorbed, it could just be a case of someone being enamored with the projected image of “the performer.” That's pretty common, it's closer to a fandom-view of musicians than anything, it's just most people grow out of that.
Truly bizarre, also your pfp of White Pony is a great counter-example to the minimalistic take on an album cover, leagues better pick than Beyonce's name on black background.
Here's a bunch of classic covers I think should've been included:
Prince-Sign O' the times
Red hot chilli Peppers-Californication
Rage against the machine-self titled
The Beatles-Revolver
System of a down-Toxicity
Gorillaz-Demon days
Madvillain-Madvillany
The rolling stones-Exile on Main St
Pink Floyd-Wish you were here
Lorde-Melodrama
Talking heads-Remain in light
Radiohead-Kid A
Danny Brown-Atrocity Exhibition
Led Zeppelin-Physical graffiti
Gucci Mane-Trap story
Blood sugar sex magik’s cover is ten times better than californication’s
In Rainbows* - Radiohead
A Moon Shaped Pool - Radiohead
nah i gotta say replace the rolling stones exile with some girls
Trap Story💀😂😂😂
Man, I’m actually shocked you hated the Columbia Records cover at 7:16. For a record from 1939 it’s such a strange image that feels really ahead of its time to me, playing with weird juxtapositions of flat and 3D imagery. Probably not deserving to be on the list but I do think it’s a good album cover.
List should have led off with Big Black's _Songs About Fucking._ Also, Duran Duran's _Rio_ is awesome and iconic, and what's with knocking 80s covers as "dated," but giving a pass to all the dated covers from other decades? Hell, the Marvin Gaye and NWA covers are dated, but they still belong on the list.
One of my favourite things is when artists incorporate the design into the vinyl structure or CD booklet itself.
The new Aesop Rock vinyl cover has LED lights in the cover that plays a song and you can plug the cover into a micro USB 😂 it’s my best vinyl purchase to date
Sticky Fingers
I genuinely think Flower Boy ought to be on here. Not only does the vibrant, colorful cover fit the music _perfectly,_ but it’s just a visually striking and pleasing image on its own. Easily one of my all-time favorites.
this sounds like i'm trolling but i actually love the cherry bomb piss cover and i think it's in my top 50 of all time.
@@wozaowdisgusting
Tyler is really good at album covers he should sell rugs instead
Honestly same, also weird not to see KIDS SEE GHOSTS on the list
L
This list didn't have:
Heaven or Las Vegas
Flower Boy
Kids see ghosts
Graduation
Melt my eyez see your future
Madvillian
Atrocity exhibition
Speaking in tongues
Titanic rising
Thriller
4eva is a mighty long time
The miseducation of Lauryn Hill
I legit thought Thriller was gonna be #1 and it’s not even my favorite cover.
This list is way beyond ass
also no RATM debut or Court of the Crimson King
@@CGR0620 The Velvet Undergound at number 1 makes total sense though. It is one of the most iconic album covers, made by one of the most famous artists of all time. I would even say that it has transcended the album itself - a lot of people have seen it without actually having listened to the album. Other picks would probably be Abbey Road, Sgt. Peppers, Dark Side of the Moon, all of which i would put above Thriller.
Some based choices here
Not having Madvillany was a travesty.
Sgt. Pepper's?!
WTF? She's So Unusual by Cyndi Lauper IS absolutely an incredible album cover to this day. Actually she has pretty awesome run of album covers. True Colors, A Night To Remember, Hat Full Of Stars, Twelve Deadly Cyns, At Last are all top tier.
Never saw it before but when he got to it and wrote it off I was like "wtf" cause my immediate reaction to it was "yoo that's cool"
While I agree with just about most of the the comments you made, I didn’t get the slander on many of the 80’s album covers like “She’s So Unusual” (very iconic and visually stunning) “Rio” (created by one of the most popular artists of the decade and staple visual style of the decade) which perfectly captures the essence of that album.
Our high school art department had a book of 100 album covers (it was the late eighties so they were mostly 60s/70s records). I don;t remember any of these being in there. Free's eponymous 1969 record was in there. Fantastic cover.
That's cool.
I agree. Only about 15% of these are legendary. It also points to the role of an album cover in today’s context. In the past, the packaging was an integral part of the experience.
I’m definitely biased, but there are so many beautiful designs by Hipgnosis, Roger Dean, Pore Know Graphics, Peter Saville, Anton Corbijn, Annie Leibovitz, Robert Mapplethorpe, Afrofuturist designs generally…and more broadly, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, King Crimson, Rush, Pink Floyd, Stevie Wonder, Earth Wind and Fire, Parliament Funkadelic, Bar-Kays, Public Enemy, John Coltrane, Ornerte Coleman, Eric Dolphy, Chambers Brothers, Sun Ra, Nina Simone, Sly and the Family Stone,Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Blue Öyster Cult, Queen, Gang Of Four, Wire, Toyah, Bauhaus, The Cure, Sonic Youth, Laurie Anderson, Devin Townsend, Low, Lush, Split Enz, XTC, Japan, Yellow Magic Orchestra, John Zorn, Fred Frith, Deerhoof, Shellac, Trenchmouth, Tortoise, June of 44, Stereolab, Robyn Hitchcock….
License To Ill? Band on the Run? Animals? The Blue Album? Sgt. Pepper?
I don't know if it would count as "Top 100" material, but I like the album cover for Florence + The Machines "Ceremonials". Its very simple, but its such a cool photo that they made. Other album covers that I really like include SVRCINA's "Elysian Fields" for its photography and color gradient, as well as the one featured for Aimer's song "sailing" for the same reasons.
While I agree Duran Duran being in 20 is dumb, you really didn't have to do Patrick Nagel dirty like that. His art is ICONIC.
have these people ever heard of album covers that aren't just a picture of the lead singer?
One of my absolute favorite covers as of late is Tori Amos’s Boys For Pele. So striking, so much to unpack, Tori looks so unsettling, and I really like the typography I’m not sure why
Not even ONE supertramp, Kate Bush, MF doom, Black Sabbath, Metallica, R.E.M, ACDC, Michael Jackson, Queen, Beastie boys, Kiss, Guns n Roses, Stevie Wonder, Boston, ELO, George Harrison, Talking Heads cover, yup, Rolling stone can are for me just wanting the attention either good or bad
I need another publication to drop a better list. There’s so many iconic album covers I can think of especially from recent pop memory. Future Nostalgia, Pang, Chromatica, Melodrama. Also, how did blonde not make it?
Gag Order, Born This Way, Kala and If I can’t have love I want power. SHOULD BE ON THAT LIST AS WELL. I’m all fairness Lady Gaga did get on the list for The Fame Monster even though it’s not her best album cover in my opinion compared to her other ones.
The cover in the 20th album (Duran Duran - Rio) is by Patrick Nagel. That man was iconic and his ilustrations of women are incredibly famous.
But that cover isn’t even close to his best work.
Duran Duran's Rio absolutely deserves a spot in the top 100 album art lists of the world for it's use of Patrick Nagel's Nagel Girl. both Patrick Nagel and Margret Keane are the real world action of the thesis behind Andy Warhol's Campbell's Soup print series. both the Nagel Girl and Big Eyes were so highly printed and reproduced and displayed from homes across America to cheap nail salons and banks that the enigmatic nature turns into mundane and worthless.
melon really throwing a normie take here.
I was pretty offended by his Rio take not gonna lie
I love that art work
Very interesting bit of history! Thanks for that! But I do kinda agree that it looks pretty mid..
The NFR cover I thought was really ugly when it first dropped, but it really grew on me after a while. It gives a "bad on purpose" sorta anti-art vibe and I dig it a lot now. Also helps that it's such a departure from the usual vibe of her album art
the way lana is reaching out is so 4th wall breaking to me. it is kinda surreal. the pose and the random comic letters on the upper left corner. the painting like sky. the clenched eyelids of the boy she is clutching on. him in an insecure jack sparrow type pose. its kinda all over the place. really weird.
I would have expected it to be in the style of a Norman Rockwell piece, or at least a similar vibe, hence the name drop.
anti-art isn't necessarily bad art.
That cover is bad art.
@@necromax13 nah
No Master of Puppets, And Justice For All, Toxicity or In Utero huh
None of Roger Dean’s YES covers? Dark Side as the ONLY cover from Hipgnosis? None of James Marsh’s covers for Talk Talk? There were some outstanding album covers from The Grateful Dead. Ghost In The Machine was a great graphic design joke for The Police.
I think the NFR cover is referencing Ray Lichtenstein, not just comic art. That gives it points for me, quite surprised he didn't like at all
It is, and the intertextuality is meant to cross-reference the pop-art context. Melon missed the point.
And I don't even care for Lana.
How the hell did RATM's debut not make it?!
Or evil empire?
Tool: Lateralus should be on here. Alex Gray's paintings are insane. And it fits the music perfectly.
Agreed. I’d also say 10000 days could make a case as well.
Real talk I only listened to the album because of the cover lmao, I don't even like nu-metal/alternative metal but that cover is rad.
I like Cam De Leon better for Aenema.
And you can "peel off" the layers of the body if you own it on CD. No lyrics booklet, you see the inside of the squeleton as you move the pages
expecting a tool album on this list is like expecting Israel to announce a ceasefire
For a spin on the "artists on the album cover" trope, Tears For Fears' album 'The Seeds Of Love' is artistic while still featuring the band, and is a really good album cover. I'm also partial to Styx's album covers for 'The Grand Illusion' and 'Paradise Theater'.
I can't believe they left out XTC's "Drums And Wires", I absolutely adore that cover, I love the minimal aesthetic, but with rough shapes, I love how the same lines form the band name as well as the guy's face, Basically everything about it. Far better than some of the covers they had on this list.
Also if we're talking about album covers that send a message, You don't get much better than Chumbawamba's Anarchy, Although I will admit it probably could've been better looking.
I remember that one! Drums and Wires. Never listened to it but just read about the band now and they sound like the exact sort of music I would be into.
You're right though, it should be on here given that I remember the name and cover and I haven't even heard the album.
@@asinglebraincell6584 I would highly recommend it, honestly I feel like XTC are a bit underrated, considering how much influence they had it's surprising to me they're not remembered as well as some other similar bands of the late 70s and 80s such as Talking Heads, Where I live at least, possible they're better remembered elsewhere. I don't think I've ever heard their songs playing on like 80s radio stations though, while I've heard tonnes of random obscure (and sometimes honestly not that good) stuff there.
Meatloaf - Bat out of Hell should be on here, and high. I remember seeing it in my Dad's record collection, I absolutely had to hear it immediately. Theres probably loads of 80s hard rock ones missing, Dio's Holy Diver also fire.
Other big omissions:
RATM
Bad Brains
BJORK, literally any Bjork
Radiohead - Kid A
Just so many it makes my head spin that they picked that normal ass photo of 3 women in a forest....
I get that it's maybe to new for this type of list, but the album art for PetroDragonic Apocalypse is so damn good. It immediately communicates the entire "Dragon as metaphor for climate change" theme that the album is based on even without any words. It's the kind of thing I'd have framed somewhere if I was the type of person to hand art on my walls. It's no Maggot Brain, but I'd put it above most of what else I've seen on this list.
every single kg&lw album could be on here tbh!!
Korn’s self titled album cover is one of the most iconic metal album covers of all time the fact that it wasn’t even thrown a pity point makes me sad
melon dropped the ball with the duran duran critique
no bjork? mastodon? fka twigs? chumbawamba? jamiroquai? travis scott? gorillaz? kanye? black sabbath? muse? even evanescense debut album. come on, there's so many iconic covers that supposed to be mentioned here.
About the NFR cover, it has A LOT of layers of meaning, but it's sorta "had to be there" to get the meaning on the first go (the death of monolith culture, the california fires, the last reach for emotional connection, also the direct reference to norman rockwell the painter the album is called after, etc etc), Indigo's cover is good specifically for RM and the concept of denim and indigo as a symbol for his late twenties, but I understand why it wouldn't attract to most people and be considered as mid (I like it better than Harry's house tbh) under this are my personal entries and me explaining some of them, if you're interested :) ⬇
Personal entries for me: Skool Luv Affair and Dark & Wild by BTS, Jack In The Box by j-hope, Dangerous and HIStory by Michael Jackson, Modern Life Is Rubbish by Blur, Plastic Beach by Gorillaz, Rattle and Hum by U2, Dream Girl and Why So Serious? by SHINEe, Californian Soil by London Grammar, So Long See You Tomorrow by Bombay Bicycle Club, Lo Que Te Conte Mientras Te Hacias La Dormida by La Oreja De Van Gogh, MultiViral by Calle 13, Pa' Otro La'o by Chichi Peralta, check all those covers, they're stunning (also excellent albums)
Gonna explain some of them:
- Proof by BTS (anthology album): this is more than a trade than a fave, because choosing MOTS: The Journey above Proof (the cover is the word PROOF being spelled only using their band logo) or Skool Luv Affair or Dark & Wild (both EXCELLENT albums, hip hop and r&b heavy) is a CRIME.
- Jack In The Box by j-hope: it's a great continuation of his mixtape Hope World color scheme, him floating in seven colorful hands made by kaws (an artist he admires and collects artwork from) while he's wearing a black and white wavy checkers fit suit (which is so unlike his usual baggy/casual wear but at the same time very him) is beautiful, also the album cover and his name missing in the cover helps to its premise of the story of the JITB as a toy and the Pandora's box story too, not only is a beautiful album cover, but it also helps to evoke and represent the music inside it.
- Dangerous by Michael Jackson: it's so intricate, the fact it's a full on painting with easter eggs about his rumors, life and headspace, also using his eyes as the welcome to his "world" where inside of him there's an industrial setting is so cool and interesting.
- HIStory by Michael Jackson: this is CAMP in an interesting way, people assume "camp" always means colorful, but this album cover has such campiness and ridiculous nature to it, the dark and cloudy sky, the infamous statue of him in his Dangerous tour first outfit all in blue, the first time we've ever seen like an actual MJ logo, the fancy serif font, the italic HIS to emphasize the album is mostly autobiographical, this being the next album after the first criminal allegations he got, being at the height of his career, this cover expresses the rise and soon-to-come downfall with the sky, he has been considered a legend and icon until that point, it tells a story without doing much (also it adds up that the HIStory continues part of the double album is darker and a slightly unhinged side of MJ we had ever seen)
- Modern Life Is Rubbish by Blur: this album being a painting about one of the main things (trains) that introduced us to the industrial revolution while the album being about how the "current life" of young people was dim and completely mundane (and also the cover looks exactly how the album sounds)
- Plastic Beach by Gorillaz: The cover being directly related to the theme of climate change, consumerism and the loss of meaning of it, the official one has always been my favorite (the magic hour one), the wavy font right on top of the water, the island being made out of the trash of the world thanks to said consumerism.
- Viva La Vida by Coldplay: the album has been described as what it would sound if you go to war (and the album itself indeed having such subjects of war, beliefs and love), having the name Viva La Vida in spanish (literally Long Live Life translated, name of a Frida Kahlo painting of fruits), the liberty leading the people painting, the brush written Viva La Vida in all white with messy paint drops of the same color. It's the perfect example of using something already made and making it yours, you see the original painting on its on, and both Coldplay and Viva La Vida (song) come right to you.
- Pa Otro La'o: translated "to the other side" in spanish, it resembles a little to Grace Jones Island Life cover, but instead a white background and both him (with a surprised expression) and bongos floating, it's a simple yet very fun album cover.
- Rattle and Hum by U2: love the lighting, the edge's pose, how crafty it looks by the lighting being only provided by a huge spotlight hand held by bono, the clever placement of "u2" and the stylistic choice of " rattle and hum", it's a simple cover but it works really well.
- Dream Girl "the misconceptions of you" by SHINEe: another album hat sounds exactly how it looks, the collage aspect of it, how it plays the "inside of his mind" concept but does the opposite and showcase that in the outside, covering most of one of the member's face, yet you can faintly still see him under all of it.
- Why So Serious "the misconceptions of me" by SHINEe: the second part of the "misconceptions" trilogy, this cover background wise is more simple, but it's a body (yet faceless this time) collage of all the five members, kinda like a stylized frankenstein of the band, the mini members are faceless to convey the title and the most mysterious element of the album.
normal rockwell
@@randomplays1522 i can't believe i didn't notice it before lmaooooo
Fantano is entirely coreect about Norman Fkn Rockwell but in a similar vein is ENTIRELY WRONG about Rio and I'll die on that hill
"The Mysterious Flying Orchestra", Solo Monk album cover, Camel's "Mirage" cover, ABBA's "Super Trouper" cover had great lighting. Daft Punk's last album cover was simple and a good send off.
chill on duran duran!!! it's not your taste which is fine idc but omg patrick nagel is such an incredible artist, i LOVE the bright colors and sharp edges it's so cool!!!
‘80’s-ass font on an ‘80’s album? No way.
Songs for the Deaf should’ve been on here. It’s an incredible example of how less can be more.
So glad the Sophie album cover is on there
The "Smash Hits by Rogers & Hart" at 7:15 is iconic for me. It's the first album cover in history, the first illustration. Despite being generic, it's an important one
Haruomi Hosono mentioned!!!!! Philharmony is certainly one of his best but I -really- think his debut, Hosono House, is more iconic.
I dont think it deserves as high as it is, but patrick nagels work on rio is not only iconic but beautiful. I literally have one of his prints on my wall and everything he does is in this style.