Album Art Gallery Part 2: 1970
I've always loved album artworks. I see them as its own art form, separate (though sometimes related) to the music contained within them. So even if many album cover lists exist already in Sputnik, I wanted to start my own series showcasing the ones that caught my attention, wether it is because I think they are beautiful as works of art, interesting in concept or simply because I think they look "cool" regardless of a deeper value. This is part 2 and, as always, recs are welcomed |
| 1 |  | Alice Coltrane
Ptah, The El Daoud |
| 2 |  | Amon Duul II
Yeti
Wolfgang Krischke was a sound man for the band who died shortly before the release of the album. As a tribute to him, a collage of him as the grim reaper appears as the album cover. The effect of the scythe cutting the cover adds for an interesting effect on what's already an interesting tribute |
| 3 |  | Can
Soundtracks |
| 4 |  | Pete Brown and Piblokto!
Thousands on a Raft
I love miniature models, dioramas and all that kind of stuff and this is a great, instantly memorable take on the style |
| 5 |  | Maquina!
Why? |
| 6 |  | Various Artists
Picnic - A Breath of Fresh Air
One of the Hipgnosis album covers that better represent their work: There is a humorous/ironic take on the album's title while at the same time creating an atmosphere of surreal mystery as if something that we, as viewers, are unaware of, was wrong |
| 7 |  | Cactus
Cactus
The innuendo is kinda obvious but I really do like this shot overall. The composition is great |
| 8 |  | The Stooges
Fun House |
| 9 |  | Quatermass
Quatermass
Pterosaurs cut outs placed over buildings on perspective on a black and white setting makes for some great looking composition |
| 10 |  | Sweet Smoke
Just A Poke |
| 11 |  | Syd Barrett
The Madcap Laughs
I like how the angle and overall composition make it feel as if the painted floor and the vase were the true protagonists instead of Barrett who takes a secondary role in the picture. Kinda interesting if one takes into account Barrett's low profile and how it collided with his tumultuous life |
| 12 |  | Syd Barrett
Barrett |
| 13 |  | The Pretty Things
Parachute |
| 14 |  | Cochise (UK)
Cochise
Great effect achieved with subtle nudity |
| 15 |  | Miles Davis
Bitches Brew
Mati Klarwein's work is awesome, his mix of surrealism with psychedelia produces some images truly worth of dedicated contemplation. Both Bitches Brew and Abraxas are great examples of this. Both artworks are complemented with their respective back sleeves to create a bigger picture, but it is in Bitches Brew's case that it manages to transform it into a serious candidate for the best artwork in jazz |
| 16 |  | Santana
Abraxas |
| 17 |  | Harry Nilsson
Nilsson Sings Newman |
| 18 |  | Supertramp
Supertramp |
| 19 |  | Wishbone Ash
Wishbone Ash
Quite literal take on the band's/album's name but it is a great case of a simple idea well executed |
| 20 |  | Argent
Ring of Hands |
| 21 |  | The Web
i spider
It certainly looks silly but I don't know what it is that I love from this one. It really feels like one of those artworks you never forget once you've seen them |
| 22 |  | B.B. King
Indianola Mississippi Seeds |
| 23 |  | Savoy Brown
Raw Sienna |
| 24 |  | McCoy Tyner
Expansions |
| 25 |  | Toe Fat
Toe Fat
Seems like Sputnik won't load the artwork. This one is not only ugly but maybe even a little bit repellent. Despite that it instantly grabs your attention and stays in your head long after you've forgotten about the album's existance, which certainly could be seen as a good thing. It is also a great example of Hipgnosis manual alteration of photography that was a signature aspect of their work and that would be so influential for what we would know decades later as photoshop |
| 26 |  | The Aynsley Dunbar Retaliation
Remains to be Heard |
| 27 |  | Freddie Hubbard
Red Clay
I love how the clouds/smoke manage to create a thick figure that seems to be made out of clay |
| 28 |  | Beverly Glenn-Copeland
Beverly Glenn-Copeland
The use of blue reminds me a lot of Picasso's blue period which is my favorite era of one the great painters of the last century |
| 29 |  | The Velvet Underground
Loaded |
| 30 |  | Vashti Bunyan
Just Another Diamond Day |
| 31 |  | Sir Lord Baltimore
Kingdom Come |
| 32 |  | May Blitz
May Blitz
Hachuring (I think that's how you say it in english) is a technique that I've always liked thanks to how simple yet effective it manages to be. Usually that would be enough for me to like an album cover, but when you add a character as cool as the one on May Blitz' artwork, then the result is some quintessential album art |
| 33 |  | Funkadelic
Free Your Mind...And Your Ass Will Follow |
| 34 |  | Exuma
Exuma
Not much to say about the artwork for the first two Exuma albums. They are simple in design yet instantly iconic with its rough technique that perfectly depicts the crazyness and rawness of the music. Classic ones |
| 35 |  | Exuma
Exuma II |
| 36 |  | Gentle Giant
Gentle Giant |
| 37 |  | Canned Heat
Future Blues |
| 38 |  | Emerson, Lake and Palmer
Emerson, Lake & Palmer
The way the bird starts to unravel behind a human head makes for a great dream-like image |
| 39 |  | Mountain
Climbing!
A simple, literal take on the album title/band name which were already simple to begin with. The result works pretty well in my opinion |
| 40 |  | Derek and the Dominos
Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs |
| 41 |  | Egg
Egg |
| 42 |  | Demon Fuzz
Afreaka! |
| 43 |  | Black Widow
Sacrifice
While Black Widow's style of prog was closer to, let's say Jethro Tull, than it was to black metal bands, the lyrics of their debut album are clearly "satanic" in connotation, something which was certainly more striking back then than it is today. The artwork however reflects pretty well the lyrics, probably more so than the music itself with a depiction of beings (could be demons, monsters or tortured souls) that in their simplicity and amorphousity do look more evil and twisted than your stereotypical demon representation |
| 44 |  | The Band
Stage Fright
The landscape that, at first, might look as nothing more than horizontal lines is a cool example of a great color palette and a showcase on simplicity |
| 45 |  | Magma
Kobaïa |
| 46 |  | Nucleus
Elastic Rock |
| 47 |  | King Crimson
In the Wake of Poseidon
Great use of colors with each face being interesting on its own while at the same time working well in harmony with each other |
| 48 |  | King Crimson
Lizard
Each letter in here is great album art material. As I said on the first part of this series, I dig detailed artworks that make you search for small elements or self contained stories |
| 49 |  | Jimi Hendrix
Band of Gypsys |
| 50 |  | Kevin Ayers
Shooting at the Moon |
| 51 |  | Atomic Rooster
Death Walks Behind You
This monotype by William Blake portrays king Nebuchadnezzar II whose overconfidence and pride led him to a life of "animalistic madness". It really does portray an expression of madness or dementia pretty well for me and its style reminds me of some of Goya's black paintings, though in a less raw way |
| 52 |  | Jean-Jacques Perrey
Moog Indigo
The overlapping of headscarfs creates a great psychedelic pattern. While these may be common for album artworks, one created this way is a more original approach to it |
| 53 |  | T2
It'll All Work Out in Boomland |
| 54 |  | Pink Floyd
Atom Heart Mother
Hipgnosis at their best. A simple cow turned iconic on itw own on a discography that's filled with some of the best artworks ever |
| 55 |  | Van der Graaf Generator
The Least We Can Do Is Wave to... |
| 56 |  | Trapeze
Medusa
I love cubist influenced stuff |
| 57 |  | Sounds Nice
Love at First Sight |
| 58 |  | Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin III
A great collage of different objects (many of them related to aviation) with some holes present here and there that would show other objects or the band members depending on the rotation of a second circular sleeve inside the packaging |
| 59 |  | Jackson Heights
King Progress
Another broken artwork yay |
| 60 |  | The Nice
Five Bridges
Incredible, almost floral effect by Hipgnosis that turns one bridge into many |
| 61 |  | Curtis Mayfield
Curtis
Great angle for the photo and that suit is a great example of what I love from, nowadays hated, 70's fashion |
| 62 |  | Genesis
Trespass
Tresspass' artwork was originally intended to represent the pastoral atmosphere of the album however, painter Paul Whitehead felt that this was no longer the case once Genesis added The Knife, a heavy prog epic, to the tracklist. To fix this, he cut the canvas with an actual knife, hence the seemingly random horizontal black line |
| 63 |  | The Mothers of Invention
Weasels Ripped My Flesh
A great mix of Zappa's style of humour and 50's pop art make for one of the best artwroks in a discography filled with excellent pieces |
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