The VinylPeek blog
Arctic Monkeys album covers ranked
From the waveform of AM to the smoking friend of Whatever People Say — all 7 Arctic Monkeys album covers ranked.
David Bowie album covers ranked
From the lightning bolt of Aladdin Sane to the black star of Blackstar — all 15 David Bowie album covers ranked.
Fleetwood Mac album covers ranked
From the Rumours duo of Mick and Stevie to the dog of Tusk — all 5 Fleetwood Mac album covers ranked, most iconic to least.
Iron Maiden album covers ranked
From Eddie with the devil to a cyborg in the future — all 8 Iron Maiden album covers ranked, most iconic to least.
Michael Jackson album covers ranked
From Thriller's white suit to the surreal masked face of Dangerous — all 7 Michael Jackson album covers ranked, most iconic to least.
Nirvana album covers ranked
From the baby in the pool to the anatomical angel — all 5 Nirvana album covers ranked, most iconic to least.
Oasis album covers ranked
From the Definitely Maybe living room to the Rolls-Royce in the pool — all 7 Oasis album covers ranked, most iconic to least.
Queen album covers ranked
From the heraldic crest of A Night at the Opera to the giant robot of News of the World — all 16 Queen album covers ranked.
The Beatles album covers ranked
From the Abbey Road crossing to the blank White Album sleeve — all 13 Beatles album covers ranked, from the most iconic to the least.
The Smiths album covers ranked
From Alain Delon to a soldier's stare — all 4 Smiths album covers ranked, most iconic to least.
Every Led Zeppelin album cover, ranked
From the burning Hindenburg to a hermit with a bundle of sticks — all eight Led Zeppelin album covers ranked, from the most iconic to the obscure.
Every Radiohead album cover, ranked
Red mountains, a crying minotaur and a bleached-out motorway — all nine Radiohead album covers ranked, from the most iconic to the forgettable.
Every Pink Floyd album cover, ranked
From a prism on black to a psychedelic kaleidoscope — eleven Pink Floyd sleeves ranked from the most recognisable cover in rock history to the ones you've probably forgotten.
The best album covers of the 1960s
The decade the album sleeve stopped being packaging and became art — Warhol's banana, Blake's crowd, and the covers that invented the form.
The best album covers of the 1970s
The decade sleeve design peaked: gatefolds, airbrushed surrealism and a prism on black. Fifteen covers from the 1970s and what made them work.
The best album covers of the 1980s
Post-punk austerity, hip hop's arrival and the biggest-selling sleeve ever made. Thirteen album covers that defined the 1980s.
The best album covers of the 1990s
Underwater babies, Queensbridge tower blocks and a smiley face that wasn't smiling. Fifteen album covers that defined the 1990s.
The most recognisable hip hop album covers
A baby on white, a childhood photo over Queensbridge, and a logo that outlived its own sleeve. Ten hip hop covers you can name from a sliver.
The most recognisable metal album covers
Crosses in a red sky, a fist from the sea, and a mascot who outlived the band's line-up. Nine metal covers you can name from a fragment.
The most recognisable soul album covers
From Motown's studio portraits to the seventies concept sleeve — nine soul album covers you can name from a fragment, and what changed in between.
What does the Dark Side of the Moon prism mean?
A triangle, a white beam and a spectrum on black. What the Dark Side of the Moon cover represents, who designed it, and why it works so well.
Hidden details in famous album covers you've probably missed
A number plate, a mirrored joke, a peelable banana and a man genuinely on fire. Details hiding in plain sight on sleeves you've seen a thousand times.
Hipgnosis: the design studio behind rock's strangest album covers
The prism, the burning handshake, the children on the causeway. How one London studio designed the most recognisable record sleeves of the 1970s.
The story behind the Nevermind album cover
An underwater baby, a dollar on a fish hook, and one of the most recognisable sleeves ever made. How the Nevermind cover came together.
Why do modern album covers all look the same?
A face, centre-frame, on a neutral background, name in a clean sans serif. How the album sleeve stopped being an object and became a thumbnail.
Games like Heardle: what to play now that it's gone
Heardle was the daily music game millions played over breakfast, and then it vanished. Here's what fills the gap — including one that swaps the audio for album art.
Guess the album cover: how to get good at the album art quiz
Anyone can name a sleeve they can see. Naming one from an eighth of it is a skill. Here's what actually identifies a cover, and how to train it.
The most recognisable album covers ever made
Fifteen sleeves you can identify from a sliver: the prism, the crossing, the zip, the banana. Why these covers survive being cropped to almost nothing.
How well do you know Motown album covers?
Motown sold singles, not albums — which is exactly why its sleeves are such a strange and satisfying test. A short visual history, and a game to try it on.
What happened to Heardle?
Heardle was bought by Spotify in 2022 and shut down in May 2023. Here's the short history, why it ended, and why every music guessing game has the same problem.
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