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Metallica (1991)
Released
The coiled snake and the band name sit just above the surrounding darkness. Look for the snake before you look for the typography, and see what changes when you tilt a printed copy toward a light. This version of heavy metal iconography depends on withholding contrast.
More about Metallica23
Station to Station (1976)
Released
A still from The Man Who Fell to Earth pulls your eye to Bowie’s face and white shirt within a dark, patterned opening. The original sleeve sets that black-and-white image inside a wide pale border with a single red line of type. A later color cover changes the effect.
More about Station to Station24
Sticky Fingers (1971)
Released
The close-cropped jeans make folds and stitching do most of the work. A small color accent in the type on familiar editions leaves the photograph's dark shadows and bright wear to tell you what surface you’re seeing. The tight crop gives the image impact with almost no background.
More about Sticky Fingers25
Exile on Main St. (1972)
Released
The eye moves across many small photographs instead of going to one band member. The gray tones and irregular image edges tie the different faces and acts into the same sleeve. Try picking out one picture and then stepping back to see how it fits into the whole.
More about Exile on Main St.26
Ultraviolence (2014)
Released
Lana Del Rey is framed by an open car door, with the glossy vehicle and soft light on her face pulling the photograph in different directions. The gray tones leave both the edge of the car and the figure readable. It’s a posed portrait that can feel like a still from a story.
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Dirty Mind (1980)
Released
A front-facing portrait sits against horizontal bars. Dark clothes, light skin highlights and repeating lines keep attention moving back to the face. The relationship between figure and background makes the studio setup feel as deliberate as the clothes.
More about Dirty Mind28
Madvillainy (2004)
Released
The metal mask catches more light than the clothing or backdrop. That pulls the eye straight to its outline, before the small color mark registers. Most of what gives the cover its identity still sits in shades of gray.
More about Madvillainy29
Out of Step (1984)
Released
A black sheep breaks away from a pale flock, with the separation made unusually clear by dispensing with color. Look for what the tiny gaps between bodies do. The illustration explains its own visual joke with the space it gives the lone sheep.
More about Out of Step30
Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables (1980)
Released
The photograph shows police cars burning at night. Reflections and smoke unfold in shades of gray, so look at how long it takes to pick out the first vehicle. On the pictured printing, a little color is confined to the lettering, leaving the image itself nearly all light and smoke.
More about Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables31
The Velvet Underground (1969)
Released
The Velvet Underground’s self-titled third album shows its members sharing a sofa. The scene has the feel of a room someone walked into before the group had time to arrange itself. Looking at where the shadows separate the four figures gives the otherwise tight space some depth.
More about The Velvet Underground32
Fleetwood Mac (1975)
Released
Two band members appear in a pale space with very little around them. The sharp dark clothes and small dark marks on the floor do the work that props or scenery would do on a busier sleeve. Look for the 1975 self-titled record rather than the earlier album with the same name.
More about Fleetwood Mac33
Black Messiah (2014)
Released
A crowd reads as a set of overlapping silhouettes until the eye finds the raised hands. Keeping the picture black and white gives those gestures a clear shape against the light. It is an unusually busy photograph that still has a simple point of focus.
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The Times They Are A-Changin' (1964)
Released
A tight black-and-white portrait gives Bob Dylan's face very little space to retreat. Light picks out his forehead, cheek and the texture of his clothes. The composition manages to feel quiet even when the title is set in large type.
More about The Times They Are A-Changin'35
Songs of Love and Hate (1971)
Released
Leonard Cohen’s smile sits far down in the corner beneath huge white type. Read the words first, then notice how much the tilt of the portrait changes their mood. There’s enough black around his face for it to hold its own against lettering that's much larger.
More about Songs of Love and Hate36
The Black Parade (2006)
Released
A single skeleton in uniform carries the idea of a whole parade on an otherwise spare field. The small dark details are readable because so much of the square is available around them. It’s a useful example of a dramatic subject composed with restraint.
More about The Black Parade37
reputation (2017)
Released
Dark newspaper type runs around a cropped portrait, making the pressure of the newsprint part of the image. Notice how much less interruption there is around the eye on one side. The face and the typography compete, and the cover would work very differently if either filled the whole square.
More about reputation38
Back in Black (1980)
Released
The band’s angular lettering and the album title barely lift from the black field on some jackets. It turns a familiar logo into something you have to move a printed sleeve to see clearly. The effect is strongest on a pressing that keeps the contrast low.
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Rid of Me (1993)
Released
PJ Harvey's hair whips sideways against a pale wall. The light makes the movement show up in near-black strands, while her face holds still long enough to meet the camera. Notice which parts of the portrait feel posed and which seem about to move out of the frame.
More about Rid of Me40
Bleach (1989)
Released
The photograph makes a live performance look like a negative. Bright figures and guitar shapes lift out of black, and the light follows the motion more than the faces. Put it next to a studio portrait to see how the same palette can feel considerably less controlled.
More about Bleach41
Closer (1980)
Released
The square photograph gives pale stone and dark shadows most of the work. The figures carved around the tomb are still, but the angle and deep creases pull the eye around them. It uses the empty space around a photograph very differently from Unknown Pleasures.
More about Closer42
The Black Album (2003)
Released
The cap masks the upper face, leaving the head and shoulders recognizable through light catching on the remaining edges. The cover depends on how long you have to look before separating the figure from the surrounding darkness.
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