The Decade the Sleeve Went Synthetic - The 1980s
The 1980s was the decade when album sleeves went fully synthetic: Xerox, airbrush, early CGI and MTV logic. Here are the ten greatest covers of the era, ranked.
Category
1980s
Cover art shaped by new technology and bigger personalities; bold colour, bold photography, and a decade unafraid of excess.
Stories
Da Inner Sound, Y'all
3 Feet High and Rising by De La Soul - I came to this album backwards. Through De La Soul Is Dead, back to the beginning. I didn't know any of the songs. And then I pressed play. Here's the story behind the cover that changed hip hop.
The Cover Nobody Saw
Appetite For Destruction by Guns N' Roses - The cross and skulls design is the cover everyone knows. But there was another one. Most of the world never saw it.
The Birth of Prince
Lovesexy by Prince - Most call it audacious. I call it confidence. There's a difference.
That's Not His Suit
Thriller by Michael Jackson - The white suit on the cover of the best selling album in history wasn't Michael's. It belonged to the photographer. And the tiger kept wandering off.
Hold It Up To A Mirror
Licensed to Ill by Beastie Boys - I thought it was their private jet. Three lads flying somewhere loud and probably illegal.
Cool. Suave. And, Whose Feet Are Those?
Kick by INXS - Michael Hutchence owned that cover. But whose feet are on the skateboard at the top?