This is a crosspost from my blog, but since it pertains to this site, I decided to post it here as well.

These are my all-time favorite album covers. Most of them are quite iconic and the majority are accompanied by exceptional records as well, which I think often goes hand in hand with a great cover. There might be a few surprises though.

One thing I had never noticed before, which may be a complete fabrication on my part, is the similarity between Jane’s Addiction’s Nothing’s Shocking cover, and Prince’s Purple Rain. An intentional reference, possibly? It’s pretty subjective, but I think you could definitely argue that there are some strong resemblances.

The list is in no particular order, although I would say that my all-time favorite is Hum’s You’d Prefer An Astronaut. Also, I think we can safely say that The Rolling Stones had the most consistently great covers.

The list:

Throbbing Gristle
20 Jazz Funk Greats (1979)

The Cure
Three Imaginary Boys (1979)

Big Star
#1 Record (1972)

Big Star
Third/Sister Lovers (1978)

Suicide
Suicide (1977)

Cyndi Lauper
She’s So Unusual (1983)

The Beatles
“Yesterday” … And Today (1966)

Magazine
Real Life (1978)

Prince
Purple Rain (1984)

Jane’s Addiction
Nothing’s Shocking (1988)

Public Image Ltd.
First Issue (1978)

New Order
Power, Corruption & Lies (1983)

Elvis Costello
My Aim Is True (1977)

Talking Heads
Remain In Light (1980)

Hole
Live Through This (1994)

Nirvana
Nevermind (1991)

Beastie Boys
Check Your Head (1992)

The Beatles
The Beatles (1968)

Joy Division
Closer (1980)

Dinosaur Jr
Green Mind (1991)

XTC
Go 2 (1978)

The Afghan Whigs
Gentlemen (1993)

Mudhoney
Superfuzz Bigmuff (1988)

Deerhoof
Friend Opportunity (2007)

Swans
Filth (1983)

Rage Against The Machine
Evil Empire (1996)

Liz Phair
Exile In Guyville (1993)

Melvins
Electroretard (2001)

Devo
Freedom Of Choice (1980)

The Cure
Boys Don’t Cry (1980)

Laurie Anderson
Big Science (1982)

Sonic Youth
Dirty (1992)

Nine Inch Nails
Pretty Hate Machine (1989)

X
Los Angeles (1980)

The Jesus And Mary Chain
Darklands (1987)

The Jesus And Mary Chain
Psychocandy (1985)

The Beatles
Revolver (1966)

The Beatles
Abbey Road (1969)

Crystal Castles
Crystal Castles (2008)

Deerhunter
Microcastle (2008)

Sonic Youth
Washing Machine (1995)

Sonic Youth
Goo (1990)

PJ Harvey
Rid Of Me (1993)

PJ Harvey
Dry (1992)

Yeah Yeah Yeahs
It’s Blitz! (2009)

Wavves
King Of The Beach (2010)

New Order
Get Ready (2001)

Wire
Pink Flag (1977)

Gang Of Four
Solid Gold (1981)

The Sex Pistols
Never Mind The Bollocks, Here’s The Sex Pistols (1977)

Led Zeppelin
Houses Of The Holy (1973)

The Doors
Strange Days (1967)

Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin (1969)

The Rolling Stones
Exile On Main St (1972)

The Rolling Stones
Sticky Fingers (1971)

Richard Hell & The Voidoids
Blank Generation (1977)

Iggy Pop
The Idiot (1977)

Cream
Disraeli Gears (1967)

Led Zeppelin
Physical Graffiti (1975)

The Rolling Stones
Some Girls (1978)

Tripping Daisy
I Am An Elastic Firecracker (1995)

The Rolling Stones
Beggars Banquet (1968)

Ramones
Ramones (1976)

New York Dolls
New York Dolls (1973)

Sonic Youth
Daydream Nation (1988)

Filter
Short Bus (1995)

Weezer
Weezer (1994)

The Clash
London Callin (1979)

Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley (1956)

The Mothers Of Invention
We’re Only In It For The Money (1968)

The Beatles
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)

The Smiths
The Smiths (1984)

My Bloody Valentine
Loveless (1991)

The Velvet Underground
The Velvet Underground & Nico (1967)

The Stone Roses
The Stone Roses (1989)

Hum
You’d Prefer An Astronaut (1995)

Wavves – King of the Beach (2010)
[Fat Possum]

San Diego beach-punks Wavves’ brand new album, King Of The Beach, has already received rave reviews from Pitchfork; a great first step following last year’s public meltdown and stinging criticism from members of Black Lips and Psychedelic Horseshit.

King Of The Beach dials down the fuzz to focus on surfy Beach Boy harmonies and nostalgic references to the 80s (Nintendo, Super Soakers, baseball cards).

The pot-fueled cover for the album (my favorite cover of the year) was designed by friend-of-the-band Kelly Seagraves. I caught up with her to talk about her inspirations for the cover.

How’d you get hooked up with Wavves? Did you know them?

Yes, I’ve been friends with Billy Hayes (drummer) and Stephen Pope (bassist) for a pretty long time. I did a mural of Stevie Wonder in Billy’s house while he was on tour with Wavves, and the whole band seemed to like it. When they got done recording the album, Billy suggested that me and his girlfriend, Margaret Graves – who collaborated with me on the cover – come up with something. So we started brainstorming.

What inspiration did you have for the cover? Did you have any specific instructions from the band or the label?

I hadn’t met Nathan when Billy asked us to do the cover, so I just asked him, “Well what does this dude like?” Billy gave me a short list. Weed, California, skateboards, cats. When he told me Nathan had a cat named “Snacks”, I knew exactly what I wanted to do. The cover is essentially a portrait of some dude’s cat, but I wanted him to look ancient. Like something you’d see on an Aztec calendar stone. I gave him a black halo, magical weed leaf, and an All-Seeing Eye to ward off evil. Margaret did the blinged out step-pyramid background.

Everything was kind of inspired by 2012 mysticism and drug culture. Snacks is now totally equipped for the apocalypse. Shamanized.

Take me through your process. Do you freehand, or is it all digital? Or a mixture of both.

I freehand everything, paint it, ink it, scan it, then make it look sharp.

Do you have an all-time favorite album cover?

I guess I’d have to say [Michael Jackson's] Thriller. It’s not fancy, but it’s classic, and something about having that image around makes me feel empowered.

When I look at the King Of The Beach cover, I can’t help but think of World 2 on Super Mario 3. Did you ever beat that game?

Holy shit. That was my favorite level. Mario motifs. Yeah, it’s all subconscious now. Mario life.

Do you have any sketches or drafts or other stuff you didn’t get to use for this (or for the Post-Acid cover) that you’d like to share?

A few things. We did stuff specifically for the inside of the album too, so I hope people check that out. Some of the little patterns and flourishes are from older drawings. You can see that stuff at my blog.

Quick! What’s the best episode of Saved By The Bell?

The one where Jessie freaks out on pills. “I’m so excited! I’m so excited! I’m so scared!” Really hits the nail on the head.

Other work from Kelly: