Songs From 2013 With Album Cover Art of a Hot Air Balloon

They're images you've seen a thousand times, but what practice they mean, and how did they end up on the encompass of your favourite ever albums?

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We rounded upward 50 of the most iconic pieces of anthology artwork from indie releases from Joy Division, David Bowie, Amy Winehouse, Nirvana, The Smiths, Strokes, Killers and more and dived into their back stories. Some of the tales of these covers' creation are equally interesting as the albums themselves…

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The Smiths – Meat Is Murder

The Smiths – Meat Is Murder: The original photo of this soldier, Marine Corporal Michael Wynn, was taken in 1967. He had the words "Make war not love" inscribed on his helmet. It was used as the image for Emile de Antonio's doc 'In the Year of the Squealer' in 1968, but The Smiths inverse the wording to "Meat is Murder" for their '85 album. Wynn is reportedly withal alive and living in Australia.

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Amy Winehouse – Dorsum To Black

Amy Winehouse – Back To Blackness: Amy arrived 4 hours late to this shoot, having been partying all night at her friend'southward wedding ceremony. Shot in a black room at photographer Mischa Richter's house in Kendal Rising, which had blackboard paint on the cupboards, this was the last shot of the mean solar day, with early evening light streaming through a bay window to the correct. It was the last time Richter saw Amy.

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Nirvana – Nevermind

Nirvana – Nevermind: Conceived afterward Cobain and Grohl watched a program on water births, the iconic sleeve was eventually shot in a public pond pool with 3-month-old baby Spencer Eldon. When concerns regarding the image showing the baby's penis were raised, Cobain suggested a sticker saying "If y'all're offended by this, you must be a closet paedophile".

5

Radiohead – Kid A

Radiohead – Kid A: "The overarching thought of the mountains was that they were these landscapes of power, the thought of tower blocks and pyramids," says sleeve artist Stanley Donwood. He and Yorke – under the Tchock allonym he uses when making art – were also inspired past a photograph of the war in Kosovo, which ended in 1999.

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The Disharmonism – London Calling

The Clash – London Calling: Photographer Pennie Smith didn't desire this blurry alive shot to exist used for the encompass, but Joe Strummer and the ring's graphic designer Ray Lowry overrode the decision, adding in the distinctive pink and light-green lettering of Elvis Presley's debut album. The remains of the shattered bass are at present on display at Cleveland'southward Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

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Joy Division – Unknown Pleasures

Joy Division – Unknown Pleasures: Renowned artist Peter Saville designed the sleeve, which is based on an paradigm of radio waves taken from the Cambridge Encyclopaedia of Astronomy. The original paradigm, created in 1970, was then reversed so that blackness was the dominant colour, leading to an instantly recognisable print that'due south been replicated on merchandise e'er since.

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Oasis – Definitely Maybe

Haven – Definitely Perchance: One of the almost iconic sleeves of them all (an exact replica of the room was recently mocked upward for a special exhibition), 'Definitely Maybe's artwork was shot in Bonehead's living room with numerous prominent cultural reference points – a scene from The Good. The Bad And The Ugly, a poster of Burt Bacharach – on display.

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Led Zeppelin – 4

Led Zeppelin – IV: Every bit a 'fuck you' to the critics who'd put the success of their offset three albums down to hype, Led Zeppelin decided to release their fourth untitled. Instead of any words, the encompass features a painting vocalist Robert Plant found in an antiques ship in Reading. The record itself displays four symbols, or runes: one for each band member.

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Blondie – Parallel Lines

Blondie – Parallel Lines: This classic sleeve got the band'due south managing director, Peter Leeds, fired. Without telling the ring, he chose the image, which had been rejected by Debbie Harry – "I don't call back it'south a great design, personally," she said – without informing the band, who were hoping it would prove them fading in and out of the monochrome stripes. Leeds was replaced by Shep Gordon.

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Neutral Milk Hotel – In The Aeroplane Over The Sea

Neutral Milk Hotel – In The Aeroplane Over The Sea: Based on a vintage postcard, Mangum asked artist Chris Bilheimer to replace the face of the woman with a murphy. The resulting epitome tiptoes a thin line between cheery nostalgia and something much eerier.

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Bob Dylan – The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan – The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan: Shot in 1963, this one has Dylan and his so-girlfriend Suze Rotolo strolling downwards Jonas Street, NYC. Critic Janet Maslin once wrote that the comprehend "inspired countless young men to hunch their shoulders, wait distant, and let the girl do the clinging," but actually Dylan was only chilly.

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The Velvet Surreptitious – The Velvet Underground

The Velvet Secret – The Velvet Cloak-and-dagger: The front and dorsum cover photos were shot by artist Billy Proper name, who lived in Andy Warhol's debauched NYC studio The Manufacturing plant at the time of the album'south release. He's namechecked by Lou Reed in 'That'south The Story Of My Life'.

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Sonic Youth – Daydream Nation

Sonic Youth – Daydream Nation: A department of the painting 'Kerze' by German artist Gerhard Richter, who was known for his photorealistic works. The original was auctioned by Sotheby'southward in 2008 with a guide cost of £2.5m, merely it sold for £7.1m.

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Jeff Buckley – Grace

Jeff Buckley – Grace: Designer duo Nicky Lindeman and Christopher Austopchuk came up with the cover concept, and much of the focus is on the vocalizer's expert looks. Speaking to 'Interview Mag' in 1994, Buckley rejected the poster-male child tag: "The manner you look doesn't mean shit if you can't sing, or if yous're mean to people".

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Interpol – Turn On The Vivid Lights

Interpol – Turn On The Bright Lights: Inspired by minimal colour palettes and the Bauhaus art movement, artist Sean McCabe eventually ended upwardly using a photograph taken within a London cinema as the assuming epitome on the forepart of Interpol's debut. "They knew their sound and look had a presence to it, and they wanted [the artwork] to take a sense of awe and wonder," he says of the sleeve.

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The Killers – Hot Fuss

The Killers – Hot Fuss: Despite the band's well-documented Vegas roots, the buildings pictured on the front of their 2004 debut were actually located at a construction mill in Shanghai, Communist china. The Chinese characters on top of the buildings read 'construction material evolution'.

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Foo Fighters – Foo Fighters

Foo Fighters – Foo Fighters: The cover photograph of an antique Buck Rogers XZ-38 Disintegrator Pistol was taken past Grohl'due south then-wife Jennifer Youngblood. The epitome acquired controversy considering of the mode that Kurt Cobain had died, just was only intended to tie in with the sci-fi theme of the band's name ('foo fighter' was a wwII term for a UFO).

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The Stones Roses – The Rock Roses

The Stones Roses – The Rock Roses: The cover art is a Jackson Pollock-influenced painting by Roses guitarist John Squire (also a noted creative person), which is said to make reference to the May 1968 riots in Paris. The lemons that are featured on the sleeve refer to the fruit that was used as an antitoxin to tear gas.

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Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Fever To Tell

Aye Yep Yeahs – Fever To Tell: Cody Critcheloe, frontman of electro-punks 'Ssion', created the illustrations of Karen, Nick and Brian. Karen later said she was taken by his "wacked-out artistic sensibility", maxim of the artwork: "It is my belief that Cody is a cult fable in the making. I was helpless to its electric, raspberry amuse".

21

AC/DC – Back In Black

AC/DC – Dorsum In Blackness: The comprehend of the classic 1980 LP was a simple blueprint of plain, stark black in honour of former AC/DC singer Bon Scott, who passed away the same year after drinking himself to death.

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Kraftwerk – The Human Motorcar

Kraftwerk – The Man Machine: A striking accept on Lissitzky and Rodchenko, this Constructivist image feels oppressive, just not direct communist or fascist: as percussionist Karl Bartos has said, it had "a strong paramilitary image, but it is a contradiction considering nosotros wore red shirts and non brownish." To make the artwork even more than perplexing, the title appears in iv unlike languages.

23

PJ Harvey – To Bring You lot My Honey

PJ Harvey – To Bring You My Love: Her beginning two album covers had featured the wok of Polly'south friend and long-term visual collaborator Maria Mochnacz. The 'To Bring My Beloved' shot was taken past fashion lensman Valerie Phillips on the prepare of the 'Down By The Water' video, directed by Mochnacz.

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The Strokes – Is This It

The Strokes – Is This It: The shot, taken by photographer Colin Lane, is of Lane's then-girlfriend and was taken spontaneously after she emerged naked from the shower. "Nosotros did about 10 shots. There was no real inspiration, I was just trying to accept a sexy picture," says Lane of the epitome.

25

Portishead – Dummy

Portishead – Dummy: A yet from the x-infinitesimal brusque film 'To Kill A Dead Man', a spy movie homage starring Barrow every bit a rooftop assassin and Gibbons every bit the distraught married woman of the man he'south contracted to kill.

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Wilco – Yankee Hotel Foxtrot

Wilco – Yankee Hotel Foxtrot: Surfacing then soon after ix/11, 'Yankee Hotel Foxtrot's' cover image of ii towers picked out against a bare background had a particular resonance. They're really the twin Marina City towers, on the due north bank of the Chicago river, and the comprehend was finalised before the catastrophic events.

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Elvis Presley – Elvis Presley

Elvis Presley – Elvis Presley: For 47 years it was believed that this photo – taken on July 31 1955 in Tampa, Florida – had been taken by Popsie Randolph. Information technology was August 2002 when Elvis skilful Joseph A. Tunzi discovered the shot was actually taken past William V "Cherry" Robertson. The embrace fashion has been echoed over the years by anybody from Tom Waits to Chumbawamba.

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Pixies – Doolittle

Pixies – Doolittle: 'Doolitle' was the first album where 4AD's in house designer Vaughan Oliver had access to the lyrics beforehand. Thus the monkey references in the track 'Monkey Gone To Heaven', while the booklet also contains oblique references to the likes of 'I Bleed' and 'Gouge Abroad'. Oliver said in 2013 that it remains his favourite 4AD sleeve.

29

Lou Reed – Rock Northward Roll Brute

Lou Reed – Rock N Curl Brute: The embrace shot is credited to trivial-known photographer DeWayne Dalrymple, who worked during the '60s and '70s with artists including Wilson Pickett and psych-folk band The Trout.

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Franz Ferdinand – Franz Ferdinand

Franz Ferdinand – Franz Ferdinand: In conversation for an exhibition of Domino Records' sleeve fine art in 2007, art manager Matt Cooper recalled: "For such a unproblematic design, this went through a surprising number of permutations. At i stage the back encompass was the front. The angle of tilt on the logo – 13 degrees – volition exist forever ingrained upon my retentivity!"

31

David Bowie – Diamond Dogs

David Bowie – Diamond Dogs: Bowie appears as half-man, half-dog character Halloween Jack, leader of the Diamond Dogs gang. Photographer Terry O'Neill took the pictures, which were so given to Belgian artist Guy Peellaert to return as a painting. RCA execs worried about the dog genitals on evidence, and censored the image. "I thought information technology was very sad," Peellaert said afterward.

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Slint – Spiderland

Slint – Spiderland: The cover shot, which depicts the band standing in an abandoned quarry, was taken by none other than Bonnie Prince Billy (aka Will Oldham). 'Spiderland', however, is the vocaliser'southward merely notable foray into sleeve blueprint.

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The Kinks – The Kinks Are The Village Light-green Preservation Guild

The Kinks – The Kinks Are The Hamlet Green Preservation Society: The cover shot for 'Village Green…' took identify at Kenwood House on Hampstead Heath. Melody Maker photographer Barrie Wentzell took the pictures. 'Village Light-green…' would be the last album to feature the original Kinks line-up, with bassist Pete Quaife leaving in 1969.

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Morrissey – Your Armory

Morrissey – Your Arsenal: Both the front and back encompass images are live shots taken at a 1991 gig at New York's Nassau coliseum. The photographer was visual artist and punk singer Linder Sterling, whom the singer has described as "steadfast and constant in [his] life" since they met in 1976.

35

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Immature – Deja Vu

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young – Deja Vu: Ceremonious war buff Stephen Stills wanted the embrace to wait like a photo from that era (1860s). To achieve that, the ring rented lookalike outfits from a costume store and requested that lensman Tom O'Neal use an old-fashioned wooden box photographic camera for the shoot, which took place in David Crosby's rental house.

36

The Cure – Disintegration

The Cure – Disintegration: Paul Thompson and Andy Vella had designed all of The Cure'southward artwork until this point, just for 'Disintegration' Robert Smith was thinking of using someone new. In response, Thompson and Vella moved from their usual abstruse designs into one that focused on Smith'southward face, which some saw as a conscious ploy to curry favour.

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The Prodigy – Music For The Jilted Generation

The Prodigy – Music For The Jilted Generation: There are two pieces of art on this anthology – the screaming cover, past Stuart Haygarth, and the gatefold, by horror illustrator Les Edwards. Liam Howlett found a plaster caput at Camden Marketplace and asked Haygarth to sculpt information technology equally if information technology were breaking through peel. Many interpreted it to be a visual response to the criminalisation of raves in 1994.

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Pink Floyd – The Dark Side Of The Moon

Pink Floyd – The Night Side Of The Moon: Floyd's label weren't happy almost the prism gatefold sleeve, insisting information technology was as well minimalist. '…Dark Side' ended up beingness their biggest-selling album all the same. Art group Hipgnosis, the team behind the pattern, have said the prism is meant to celebrate the group's famous light show.

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Elton John – Goodbye Yellow Brick Route

Elton John – Goodbye Yellow Brick Road: Illustrator Ian Beck was chosen for the sleeve thanks to his work on singer-songwriter Jonathan Kelly's 'Wait Till They Change The Properties'. Elton's Rocket Record Company were so smitten they originally wanted to apply the aforementioned flick. Elton looks and so long-legged because Beck asked his taller friend Leslie McKinley Howell to pose for framing shots.

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Belle And Sebastian – If You're Feeling Sinister

Belle And Sebastian – If You're Feeling Sinister: Early in their career Belle And Sebastian would refuse to have their film taken, then all their artwork was taken from archive photos and shots of friends, in homage to the classic Smiths sleeves.

41

The Smashing Pumpkins – Adore

The Bang-up Pumpkins – Adore: Corgan'south then girlfriend, Ukrainian-born Yelena Yemchuk, who had been involved with the videos for the singles from 'Mellon Collie…', is credited with the art direction of 'Adore'. Compared to the whimsy of 'Mellon Collie…', the gothic darkness of the primary epitome was a signpost to the bleakness inside.

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The Ramones – Ramones

The Ramones – Ramones: The punk legends originally wanted a cover similar to 'See the Beatles!' for this self-titled album, but later a disastrous shoot which cartoonist John Holmstrom described as like "pulling teeth", opted for stark simplicity: the band lined upward against a brick wall, expertly captured by photographer Roberta Bayley.

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Bloc Party – Silent Alert

Bloc Party – Silent Alarm: The bare wintertime mural was photographed past freelance Ness Sherry and expresses a desolate theme of isolation, loneliness and depression. A negative version of the same photo was used on the afterward release, 'Silent Alarm Remixed'.

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Kate Bush-league – Hounds of Honey

Kate Bush – Hounds of Love: The shot of Kate reclining seductively on the cover takes on a rather creepier tone when you discover it was taken by her ain brother, John Carder Bush.

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The Kinks – Kinks

The Kinks – Kinks: The cover shot was taken by Klaus Schmalenbach, who went on to work with the band on several of their subsequent releases. He afterwards became a record executive at BMG.

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Kaiser Chiefs – Employment

Kaiser Chiefs – Employment: Designed by veteran art director Cally – whose credits include records by Nick Drake, Scott Walker, Tricky and more – the sleeve was designed to resemble the battered box of a 1940'due south lath game. A deluxe edition even came with a wad of Monopoly-style coin

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The Replacements – Let It Be

The Replacements – Permit It Be: The front-cover photo was taken past Dan Corrigan and features The Replacements sitting on the roof of the Stintsons' family home. Left to right, it's Paul Westerberh, Bob Stintson, Chris Mars, Tommy Stintson. The picture show is said to be a homage to the Beatles' last rooftop concert during the 1969 'Let It Be' sessions.

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Elastica – Elastica

Elastica – Elastica: Renowned German language fashion photographer Juergen Teller who was worked with artists including Sinead O'Connor, Bjork, Elton John, took the black-and-white snap for Elastica's debut – a cover that, with its sparse, sparing style, stood autonomously from the elaborate and conceptual sleeves favoured by Blur and Suede.

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The Cure – Boys Don't Cry

The Cure – Boys Don't Cry: The sleeve for 'Three Imaginary Boys' featured a fridge, a vacuum cleaner and a lamp – the latter manifestly representing Smith. The same designer, Polydor fine art director Bill Smith, produced a similarly artful sleeve for 'Boys Don't Cry', albeit 1 that seems to interpret the rail 'Burn in Cairo' quite literally.

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LCD Soundsystem – LCD Soundsystem

LCD Soundsystem – LCD Soundsystem: After years spent performing in punk bands, James Potato'south transition into an unlikely 35-yr-one-time dancefloor king was cemented with LCD Soundsystem's 2005 debut. What better image to show this than a disco brawl? Effortless, precise and perfectly executed, it was typical Murphy.

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Spiritualized – Ladies and Gentlemen

Spiritualized – Ladies and Gentlemen: "Music is medicine for the soul," said Jason Pierce, deciding on minimalist pill-themed artwork for his third album sleeve: "1 tablet 70 min" it reads. Pierce actually cut several minutes from the album in guild to round off the figure and make the typography look neat. Designer Mark Farrow has since said he regrets the gimmicky packaging.

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Source: https://www.nme.com/photos/50-iconic-indie-album-covers-the-fascinating-stories-behind-the-sleeves-1429676

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