My Top 10 Favourite Album Covers - Part 2

Time for round two! If you haven't seen Part 1 of this list yet, be sure to check that out first!

7. Ray Lamontagne - Trouble

The artwork on Ray Lamontagne’s Trouble was done by artist, Jason Holley. Jason Holley has done work for big names such as Rolling Stone Magazine and the New York Times. When I look at this album cover, the first thing I think of is the legend of Robert Johnson and how he sold his soul to the devil to play the blues.  It has that bluesy look to it and the folksy art is very appropriate for a folk musician such as Ray Lamontagne. The theme of the album is very gritty with the inner sleeve of the record reading, “And you, liar, teller of tall tales: you trample all the Lord’s commandments underfoot, you murder, steal, commit adultery and afterward break into tears, beat your breast, take down your guitar and turn the sin into a song. Shrewd devil, you know very well that God pardons singers no matter what they do, because he can simply die for a song…”. This is a quote from Nikos Kaztantzakis’ The Last Temptation of Christ. Upon reading this quote, I can’t help but wonder if this album was written as a confessional. How much did Ray Lamontagne’s past choices influence the creation of this album? Did he have a dance with the devil?

6. Red Hot Chili Peppers - By The Way

This album has a very special place in my heart because it reminds me of my childhood, sitting in the back seat of my fathers truck. Julian Schnabel was responsible for the interesting artwork on this album. He offered to design the album for, Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist, John Frusciante. The woman on the cover was John Frusciante’s girlfriend and Julian Schnabel’s daughter, Stella Schnabel. In the creating of this album artwork, Schnabel was given rough cuts of a few of the songs featured on the record. The resulting artwork was based of the vibes and emotions Schnabel felt while listening to these rough cuts and in my opinion, it is a perfect visual companion to the songs on By The Way.

5. Led Zeppelin - Physical Graffiti

This is a very interesting album to look at and play around with. Led Zeppelin had this cool idea to make their album covers interactive. With Led Leppelin III, the album contained a pin wheel, which when turned, would alter images on the cover of the album. In Through The Out Door contained inner sleeves, which when dampened, would change from black and white to coloured. Finally, Physical Graffiti contained holes in each of the windows, as well as images on the inner sleeves that could be altered to show different people in the building. The famous people in these images include Queen Elizabeth I, Lee Harvey Oswald, Elizabeth Taylor and Neil Armstrong. This album includes my favourite Led Zeppelin song, In My Time Of Dying. It is definitely a good listen!