THE BEST CD COVERS OF ALL

TIMEBy Ellie Lester

http://www.planetrock.com/photos/the-greatest-album-art-of-all-time-185306/i/1-pink-floyd-dark-side-of-the-moon-1973/

5) Led Zeppelin - Physical Graffiti (1975)• 96 and 98 St. Mark's Place, New York will forever

be immortalised by the work of graphic artist Peter Corriston on this album cover. The vinyl album cover had various interchangeable inner sleeves that could change the “inhabitants” of the building. It cost a fortune to produce the sleeves but won the band a Grammy award for Best Album Packaging and remains embedded in the public psyche as a truly great album cover.

• The window images feature famous events and people, such as John F Kennedy’s assassin Lee Harvey Oswald, astronaut Neil Armstrong, actress Elizabeth Taylor, Queen Elizabeth I and comedians Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy.

4) Yes - Fragile (1971)• Roger Dean's finest hour sees a tiny alien

world literally cracking up as its population flees in a wooden glider. It's the detail and self-contained storyline that really makes this album cover special, with the narrative of the image continued on 1973's Yessongs. This concept later inspired Jon Anderson’s solo album, Olias of Sunhillow

• Fragile’s accompanying promotional booklet contains two additional Roger Dean paintings. Booklet’s front cover depicts five odd creatures huddled under a root system; the back cover depicts a person climbing up a rock formation. Since Fragile Roger Dean has designed several covers for Yes as well as other bands.

3. Rainbow – Rainbow Rising (1976)• From the hand of fantasy artist

Ken Kelly comes this “does what it says on the tin” album cover - a fist raising a rainbow to the sky. However it's the subtleties of this image that make it so special. Take a closer look at the image to notice the detail hidden in the midst of the fantastical scene.

• Rising is a strange album. It only has six tracks, and while two of them are fairly long (8:30 and 8:16), the whole thing weighs in at only 33:53.

2) King Crimson – In The Court Of The Crimson King (1969)• In the Court of the Crimson King is the

famous debut album by the English progressive rock group King Crimson lead by Robert Fripp.

• Painted by the late Barry Godber, the album cover represents the Schizoid Man referred to on the album, while the inner sleeve shows the Crimson King of the album title. As an album cover it's at once terrifying, beautiful and striking but above all it's absolutely iconic.

• The album was released in 1969 and it reached No. 5 on the British charts. The album is generally viewed as one of the most influential progressive rock albums ever.

1. Pink Floyd - Dark Side Of The Moon (1973)• There could be only one, couldn't there?

Designed by now legendary designers Hipgnosis, the prism image was intended to be simple but bold. The measure of this album cover's iconic status is that despite bearing no words almost everyone knows not only which band it represents but the album as well.

• Roger Waters, Pink Floyd's bassist and singer suggested to designer Storm Thorgerson that perhaps for the cover of Dark Side of the Moon, he might not use a photograph. He embraced the challenge laid down to him, using twin inspirations of Floyd's live light show and a triangle he created this cover and a piece of musical and art history.