The Most Iconic Vinyl Album Covers of All Time

By
Chris L
-
The Beatles' "Abbey Road" album cover

Before the days of Spotify and iPods, albums were released on vinyls and the cover art was even more important. Here are ten of the most iconic vinyl album covers of all time.

Never Mind the Bollocks, The Sex Pistols

It’s so iconic that over forty years later, McDonalds are using the colour scheme for their fiery buffalo chicken wrap. The album and its over are the epitome of the punk movement.

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Velvet Underground & Nico

Andy Warhol’s eye-catching pop-art banana on the cover of Velvet Underground’s most famous album is so iconic that most people refer to the album as “the banana album”.

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Dark Side of the Moon, Pink Floyd

Even people who have never heard of Pink Floyd probably recognize this cover.

Animals, Pink Floyd

The pig floating above Battersea Park is similarly iconic.

Screamadelica, Primal Scream

A funky indie record with an even funkier cover.

Nevermind, Nirvana

The album of the 90s and the most iconic punk record of all time naturally had to make the list.

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Unknown Pleasures, Joy Division

You’re not a real hipster if you don’t own at least one t-shirt with the Unknown Pleasures album cover.

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Abbey Road, The Beatles

Everyday at Abbey Road in London you will see fans trying to emulate this iconic album cover.

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30. The Beatles – Abbey Road (1969) The story of Abbey Road is well known by music fans. The last album The Beatles recorded before the mounting tension finally tore them apart for good, it still ended up being released before the messy, troubled Let it Be became their final swansong. It’s interesting listening to both albums with this in mind for context though. Let it Be was the result of fractious recording sessions and hotly disputed production from Phil Spector – as a result it sounds like no other Beatles album before it, instead pointing the way to the various stylistic tangents that Lennon and McCartney would follow up during the 1970s. Abbey Road on the other hand, sounds like the work of a totally unified band at the top of their game, almost acting like a ‘best of’ collection, or at least a refinement of the genre experiments that made up The White Album. Where on Revolver, Sgt Peppers and The White Album it was fairly clear which songs belonged to which songwriter, on Abbey Road the band sounded like one cohesive unit for the first time in years; ironic given the acrimonious split that followed not long after. McCartney abandons the simple love songs he’d become known for and instead takes on Ringo at his own game with ‘Maxwell’s Silver Hammer’ and outdoes John’s larynx-shredding version of ‘Twist and Shout’ with his unhinged bellowing on ‘Oh! Darling’ (a track which is always high up in the constant battle for my favourite Beatles song). Ringo and John  For the full write-up go to 100albumcountdown.tumblr.com – Link in Bio #thebeatles #abbeyroad #johnlennon #paulmccartney #georgeharrison #ringostarr #georgemartin #1969 #60smusic #top100albums #favouritealbums #musicreview #albumreview #albumoftheday #albumcover #albumartwork #reviews #music #lists #musicgeek

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London Calling, The Clash

Another punk record with an iconic cover. London Calling by The Clash echoes Elvis Presley’s debut cover and is ridiculously rock n’ roll.