Physical albums may be the endangered species, but with the recent resurrection of the vinyl sales, the cover art is more important than ever because vinyl is kind of big. With vinyl albums being about five times the size of CDs, we are back to the celebration of cover art!
There are many artists who are actually looking for the familiar, because it is safe, universal and timeless, I mean by this, classic art. There are some who use the real thing, some who recreate or transform it, and even some who don’t get the permission to use the work of art in question and have to use a substitute.
Actually, when I did some research about this, I was far from expecting so many examples, I ended up finding a list of more than 600 albums using classic art for their cover!!! Here is a list of the most remarkable ones:
It’s impressive to see how many times painter Magritte has been used, probably in more than 50 covers! The most famous ones are Jeff Beck Group’s 1969 ‘Beck-Ola’, largely inspired by Magritte's ‘The Listening Room’, Jackson Browne’s 1974 ‘Late for the Sky’, inspired by Magritte's ‘L'Empire des Lumières’, Styx’s 1977 album, ‘The Grand Illusion’, after Magritte's ‘Carte Blanche’, Roger Daltrey’s 1977 ‘One of the Boys’, after Magritte’s ‘La reproduction interdite’. But there are many other artists who found their inspiration in Magritte like Gary Numan for the cover of his 1979 album, ‘The Pleasure Principle’, and John Foxx for his 2001 ‘The Pleasures of Electricity’. Magritte is a true cover art classic.
Escher is also a popular one, as his ‘Reptiles’ was used for the cover of Bowie’s favorite, Mott The Hoople’s debut album in 1969, his ‘Encounter’ was used for the cover of the Youngbloods’ 1970 ‘Two Trips’, and his ‘Sky & Water I’ was used for saxophonist Michael Brecker’s 1992 ‘Now You See It… Now You Don't'.
Ro
d Stewart’s 1976 ‘A Night on the Town’ has a cover art based on Renoir’s ‘Bal du Moulin de la Galette’, I have never listened to Stewart a lot, is he still singing? Here, Stewart is portrayed in the middle of Renoir's, so the painting is kind of spoiled.
The Pogues’ Rum sodomy and the lash’ uses Gericault’s The Raft of the Medusa’, it’s a great album, and the painting a masterpiece, so I have no problem, although the idea insert-yourself-in-a-famous-painting has been done way too many times.
In 2008, Coldplay used Eugène Delacroix’s famous painting ‘Liberty Leading the People’ for their album ‘Viva La Vida’, painting the title in big letters in front of lady liberty,… how dared they?
New Order’s 1963 ‘Power, Corruption & Lies' used the painting ‘A Basket of Roses’ by Henri Fantin-Latour. I suppose I love the contrast between the ultra-classic painting and the synthpop music, such an artistic clash.
Of course there is the more-than-famous Andy Wahrol’s banana for The Velvet Underground & Nico’s 1967 debut album. Such a ready-to-wear band t-shirt.
The cover art for Fleet Foxes’ 2008 debut album is a painting by Pieter Bruegel the Elder. It is a good choice, as it is as timeless (I mean not attached to a specific period) and busy as the album is.
In 1969, Deep Purple self titled album used a black and white illustration from Hieronymus Bosch's painting ‘The Garden of earthly delights’, but that same artist is all over Slayer’s covers: for example his violent ‘Hell On Earth’ is Slayer's artwork for 'Reign in Blood'! Funny how a Late Middle Ages guy can be the man metal when it comes to illustration.
The cover art of 'Brain Drain', the Ramones 1989 album is inspired by Edvard Munch’s ‘The Scream’,… because music is a scream, a primal one, the Ramones stole a good one to everyone else.
Sonic Youth's Daydream has Gerhard Richter's photo-painting Kerze (Candle). Interestingly, Wikipedia says that he was a fan of the band and did not charge for the use of his image…. Since his painting was sold for a record $16.6 million, he didn’t really need it.
And one that surprised me The Clash’s famous picture on the cover of 1979 ‘London Calling’ is in fact a rendition of a painting by German artist Helmut Middendorf, ‘Der Sänger'.
But, as I said, there are more than 600 examples, I could continue forever! As long as the album will exist, classic art will be an endless source of inspiration for cover art.