Billboard’s Top 100 Album Covers of All Time

[Low End Derrick]

Music isn’t just about the music. Yes, the sounds are certainly the most essential element, but a lot of other things go into making an album a classic. Almost since the full-length album format began, cover art has been a key piece of the puzzle, adding visual interest (and occasionally a physically interactive component) to a work of art.

From the fold-out gatefolds of the vinyl era to pull-out liner notes in CD jewel cases to the small icon on a digital player, cover art has changed over the years, but it still helps define how we look at a particular album. Some go for the less-is-more approach, while others are stuffed with a kaleidoscope of imagery for fans to pore over and decipher. You might see photographic portraits, paintings, sketches, collages or nearly nothing at all. The artist might appear front and center, or perhaps they take a backseat entirely, letting evocative imagery pull the listener into their world. Some album covers are arguably better known than the music inside, having been parodied in pop culture, lauded with awards, used in advertisements or hung up in art museums. It all began in 1939 when Alex Steinweiss, a graphic designer who worked at Columbia Records, realized that the label could sell more copies of an album if the cover caught the consumer’s attention. It worked, and soon became an indispensable part of the creative process when crafting (and marketing) an album.

We’ve rounded up a list of the 100 greatest album covers of all time, reaching as far back as the 1930s and running through the birth of rock n’ roll, the start of hip-hop and beyond, right up to present day.

The 100 Best Album Covers of All Time

Beyoncé, Bowie, Billie Holiday, The Beatles and more.

www.billboard.com

Spoiler: The List for you Lazy Moddasukkas

1. The Velvet Underground and Nico - The Velvet Underground and Nico
2. The Beatles - Abbey Road
3. Patti Smith - Horses
4. The Notorious B.I.G. - Ready to Die
5. Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin
6. Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon
7. Cyndi Lauper - She's So Unusual
8. Public Enemy - Fear of a Black Planet
9. Elvis Presley - Elvis Presley
10. N.W.A. - Straight Outta Compton
11. The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club
12. Nas - Illmatic
13. Hole - Live Through This
14. Nirvana - Nevermind
15. Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp A Butterfly
16. The Clash - London Calling
17. Santana - Abraxas
18. Judas Priest - British Steel
19. Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures
20. Duran Duran - Rio
21. Miles Davis - bytches Brew
22. Bob Marley & the Wailers - Rastaman Vibration
23. Ramones - Ramones
24. The Rolling Stones - Sticky Fingers
25. David Bowie - Aladdin Sane
26. Funkadelic - One Nation Under a Groove
27. Grace Jones - Island Life
28. A Tribe Called Quest - The Low End Theory
29. Iron Maiden - Killers
30. Janis Joplin - Pearl
31. Bruce Springsteen - Born In The U.S.A.
32. Aretha Franklin - I Never Loved a Man The Way I Loved You
33. Rosalia - El Mal Querer
34. Blondie - Parallel Lines
35. SOPHIE - Oil of Every Pearl's Un-Insides
36. Sex Pistols - Never Mind the Bollocks - Here's The Sex Pistols
37. Kenny Rogers - The Gambler
38. Marvin Gaye - What's Going On
39. Drake - If Youre Reading This Its Too Late
40. Bad Bunny - Un Verano Sin Ti
41. Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
42. SZA - SOS
43. Metallica - Master of Puppets
44. The Slits - Cut
45. Betty Davis - They Say I'm Different
46. The Roots - Things Fall Apart
47. Lana Del Rey - Norman fukking Rockwell
48. Joni Mitchell - Hejira
49. Madonna - True Blue
50. Taylor Swift - 1989
51. BTS - Map of the Soul:7 ~ The Journey ~
52. FKA Twigs - LP1
53. The White Stripes - Elephant
54. Rosanne Cash - King's Record Shop
55. Japanese Breakfast - Jubilee
56. Megadeath - Peace Sells...But Who's Buying?
57. Johnny Cash - American IV: The Man Comes Around
58. Yoko Ono - Season of Glass
59. Young Thug - Jeffrey
60. f(x) - Pink Tape
61. Beyonce - Beyonce
62. No Doubt - Tragic Kingdom
63. Nicki Minaj - The Pinkprint
64. Lady Gaga - The Fame Monster
65. T. Rex - The Slider
66. Fleetwood Mac - Rumours
67. Janet Jackson - Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814
68. Rihanna - Anti
69. Blink-182 - Enema of the State
70. Smash Hits by Rogers and Hart
71. Roxy Music - For Your Pleasure
72. Whitney Houston - Whitney Houston
73. Jay-Z - The Black Album
74. Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
75. Outkast - Stankonia
76. Haruomi Hosono - Philharmony
77. Loretta Lynn - Van Lear Rose
78. Cardi B - Invasion of Privacy
79. J. Cole - 2014 Forest Hills Drive
80. Chance the Rapper - Acid Rap
81. Funkadelic - Maggot Brain
82. Mary J. Blige - My Life
83. Emmylou Harris - Blue Kentucky Girl
84. Prince - Dirty Mind
85. Missy Elliott - Under Construction
86. RM - Indigo
87. Billie Holiday - Lady in Satin
88. Tyler the Creator - Igor
89. Lizzo - Cuz I Love You
90. Carole King - Tapestry
91. Roberta Flack - First Take
92. Fela Kuti - No Agreement
93. Gloria Estefan - Mi Terra
94. Lil' Kim - Hard Core
95. A$AP Rocky - Long.Live.A$AP
96. Kate Bush - The Dreaming
97. Pistol Annies - Interstate Gospel
98. Ariana Grande - Sweetner
99. Beyonce - Lemonade
100. Aretha Franklin - Young, Gifted and Black

 

[Low End Derrick]

How is this album cover

Better than Thriller’s?

 

[High Art]

No Michael Jackson? No Thriller? No Dangerous? Garbage fukking list. Holy shyt. I'm actually a little upset. That and "Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon" should be higher. Hot damn.

How is this album cover


Better than Thriller’s?

Please spoiler that breh.

 

[Optimus Prime]

Electric Ladyland UK Cover

 

[IIVI]

No iconic Janet album.
1 Outkast album
No Organized Konfusion Stress...
No MJ Dangerous
No 36 Chambers
No Liquid Swords ????

The Black Album over The Blueprint?

Come on man.

 

[jdubnyce]

Wait
You're telling me
No, No Limit (ughhh) album cover made the list

 

[levitate]

 

[MajesticLion]

Catch A Fire and Confrontation are easily better album designs than what's listed.


Rolling Stone/Billboard consistently comes out with the most neon-paleface takes ever.

 

[KillerB88]

Ye only having one cover and it's in the 40s is blasphemous enough.

 

[Cheese McNair]

Should’ve had Late Registration or Graduation for Kanye. Not Fantasy.

Born to Die or Honeymoon is Lana’s best cover.

All Eyes on me should’ve been on there

Take Care was Drake’s best cover

Tyler’s best cover is Call Me

 

[The Phoenix]

No Bad? No Thriller? Purple Rain? The Chronic? Doggystyle? All Eyez On Me? I can't take the list seriously.

 

[JayGatsby]

If u go abbey Road

U already know whays holding up traffic

The beatles got that street on lock

 

[Cloutius Maximus]

Surprised Pink Floyd's Animals didn't make the list. I've had that one in the rotation lately. Wish You Were Here is another crazy omission

Smif n Wesson's Dah Shinin is also top 100 imo...

Clones of Dr. Funkenstein

 

[Rice N Beans]

No Rage Against The Machine?

 

[Low End Derrick]

Surprised Pink Floyd's Animals didn't make the list. I've had that one in the rotation lately. Wish You Were Here is another crazy omission


Smif n Wesson's Dah Shinin is also top 100 imo...

Clones of Dr. Funkenstein