The Art of the Album: 10 Album Covers that Made Me Say, "Whoa," Part One

Inspired by Muse By Clio's regular feature.

Muse By Clio has a regular feature I always click on: Art of the Album - 10 Great Album Covers. Each weekly column has a guest writer, usually someone directly or indirectly in the ad business. You get treated to albums with cover art that’s influenced a moving/shaking designer, creative director, art director, or copywriter in some way. Even musicians, on occasion, get their turn to contribute.

I find it interesting to see what album covers move other creatives. Since I quit using Spotify (my cell carrier would putz out too often while driving), it’s also a great resource to find music. Not everything’s my taste, but I at least manage to check out one or two albums from each column. And that keeps my mind open while finding a few nuggets of gold in the process.

After reading this feature over the past year, I thought I’d do my own.

Now, I could pick 10 albums from every decade I’ve been alive or from every genre I’m interested in. I could even pick 10 albums from individual artists. But I’ll try and keep this as wide-ranging as I can.

KISS

Alive! (1975)

My oldest sibling brought this album home as a high school sophomore shortly after it came out. I was in grade school. I was like, “WTH?” But I was drawn to it immediately. I loved the in-your-face visual of the band and the idea of a rock show as spectacle.

The cover - shot on stage with their lit logo (what band had THAT back then?), complete with full lighting and puffs of smoke from the pyro, gets each member right: Gene, the burgeoning nightmare of parents everywhere, poised for domination; Peter Criss, drumsticks raised, ready to pound the skins hard enough to match the guitars; Ace Frehley, the space alien lead guitarist caught in cosmic euphoria of a riff; Paul Stanley, the pouty/stud rocker that keeps the party going.

This double live album (de rigueur in the 1970s for any band worth its salt) gives you an accurate experience of a live KISS show over its 16 cuts and four sides — explosions, sirens, and all.

Sure, there are overdubs and selectively culled crowd noise. Who cares? The music is still loud and punchy, and the aura of the band really comes through in the production - which still holds up nearly 50 years later. 

And I would be remiss if I didn’t include this. Inside the gatefold, hand-written notes from each member clue you to their respective personas.  The originals of these were recently auctioned. I hope Gene wasn’t the buyer.

(Image: Mike Ladano/LeBrain)

As the 500-word limit approaches, I’m going to have to cut this post off here. Nine more albums to go. 

Won’t you join me for the rest? 

465 words. Including these. 

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