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Guns-N-Roses – Appetite For Destruction
(Album ©1987, Geffen Records) Here’s another record that I’ve already written about on this blog. This is one of the all-time great albums, and it really came out of nowhere, shocking the rock music world that was deeply stuck in the hair metal era. At first glance, this appeared to be part of that genre, but…
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Bruce Springsteen – Born in the U.S.A.
(Album ©1984, Columbia Records) The best selling album of 1985, and one of the best-selling albums of all time, BITUSA has sold more than 30 million copies and spawned a record-tying 7 top-10 singles. And this album cover image is as iconic as the music within. The image is a photo taken by Annie Leibovitz that…
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Asia – Asia
(Album ©1982, Geffen Records) This supergroup was made up of members of progressive rock groups Yes, ELP, and King Crimson, so it made sense that they chose a prog rock-like cover, designed by legendary cover artist Roger Dean. Dean designed the Yes logo and did many of Yes’ album covers, among about 100 others. This…
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Journey – E5C4P3
(Album ©1981, Columbia Records) This record was an absolute phenomenon, catapulting Journey from a mid-tier ’70’s band into a chart-topping multi-platinum ’80’s phenomenon. It spawned 4 Billboard Top Ten singles, plus my favorite Journey song (not one of those 4 Top Tens), “Stone In Love.” So suddenly, when I was 12, Journey was a band I…
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Molly Hatchet – Molly Hatchet
(Album ©1978, Epic Records) This 1970’s southern rock band was grouped in with the Skynyrd / Allmans / Marshall Tucker / Outlaws scene, and in fact they followed Skynyrd out of Jacksonville, Florida and onto the charts. Their first three records all went platinum, which was due as much to the company which they kept as…
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The Clash – London Calling
(Album ©1980, Epic Records) I’ve written about this album already on this blog, as it is one of my absolute favorite albums of all time. But today, I’m here to talk specifically about the cover, which also is an all-time great on it’s own. The cover image of this third Clash album is so visceral –…
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Kiss – Rock And Roll Over
(Album ©1976, Casablanca Records) As I’ve recounted previously, Kiss’ fifth album was the first Kiss record I ever saw or heard, in my second grade class when a classmate brought in his older brother’s copy of this record and proceeded to play “I Want You” in class, blowing my (and I’m sure my teacher’s) mind.…
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Led Zeppelin – Physical Graffiti
(Album ©1975, Swan Song Records) My second-favorite Zeppelin record, this cover is a favorite as well. The cover image is a retouched photograph of two tenement buildings on St. Mark’s Place (E. 8th St.) in NYC, and the 2-disc LP was intricately designed. The windows were die-cut and the inner record sleeves were printed with various images…
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Bruce Springsteen – Born to Run
(Album ©1975, Columbia Records) This is my list so it should come as no surprise that I’m including my favorite album of all time. This record was a phenomenon when it was released in 1975, because an artist who few people knew about, who was about to be dropped by his label, turned in an all-time great…
