Just curious what album covers you guys/girls all hold dear to your heart. I'll kick it off with my top 5 as of now.

Hey, a thread we haven't done before! Bravo, Lennon! A last ditch attempt to sway some votes your way in the Forum Awards?

Definitely agree with Dylan's, and Rubber Soul and Definitely Maybe, but my, that Neil Young one is something, innit? Never seen it before, and to be honest, I've never heard much of his music before either (any suggestions?), but that artwork really struck me. Forgive me if I come across to much like an arty wanker here, but it's very rare I ever get anything from any kind of art without having first read about it. I saw the picture as portraying the effects of the passage of time on a popular musician: as time moves on, his listeners will naturally fade away (the empty seats at the back preempting the people at the front moving on too), and he'll be left on the stage, inconsequential like the flower - a projection of their love and adulation - and doomed to wilt. I also like how the word "away" looks like it's been dragged down the page by the tail of the letter "y" - made me think of how when time does bring about changes, it always seems to take its fair time with it, and creep up on us at the very end of us. Apologies to Neil Young fans if all that was just bollocks.

Gonna add into the hat,

and, obviously



Honourable mention for Be Here Now, as well. It used to drive me up the wall that everything was so small, and you couldn't make out any of the faces, but now I finally get it. Of course you can barely see Liam despite him being at the front, it's Be Here Now! You can barely hear him most of the time under all the guitar overdubs, why not make him difficult to see on the cover as well? And all the weird shit they just pulled out of a BBC props department and crammed into the shot? Great, man! Cause that's Be Here Now, innit? Another guitar overdub? Sure, why not. Fuck it, lets have a 36-piece orchestra and some Bacharach horns, as well! Cram everything you can in the mix / cram everything you can into the shot - basically the same thing. In fact, it's probably the most perfect visualisation of an album ever conceived.

Do wish they shoved Noel closer to the forefront of the shot though - him looking through a telescope at the world, balanced on a set of guitar amps, is one of the most preposterous, over-the-top rock and roll statements of all time. And not only that, but it's a rare showing of cleverness, making reference to the Definitely Maybe cover. If the album had been a bit better, and they'd made a fourth one that really did push the boat out, that shot'd've been the perfect way to tie up their first trilogy of albums.

yeah, I think it's the woman's exaggerated neck that does it. Takes a while to realise there's anything off about the picture, you just have a unsettling feeling about it, which is what Jarvis was going for I guess, seen as the record is all about him dealing with the pressures of fame. 

Mine personally would be the stone roses cover and SOTSOG. both really good albums but not favourites just like the covers

The Beatles: Rubber Soul, Revolver (surprise surprise), Sgt. Pepper
Pink Floyd: Dark side of the moon (have it as both the background on my laptop and tablet), Wish you were here, Pulse (okay, cheating a bit here since this is a live album, but my dad bought this when it came out and I've always liked looking at it, with the red light going round)
Oasis: DM, BHN, DOYS (also the artwork for the DOYS singles!)
Coldplay: I like all of them except X&Y really.
Queen: A Night At The Opera, A Day At The Races

Pure sex.