I love vinyl, man. –Amos Lee (musician)
Call me a romantic. A gooey-hooey romantic. I love vinyl records.
Not just for the music, but also for the cover art. From unique photographs painstakingly shot (years before Photoshop) or quick, candid pictures that captured the essence of the band to the mind-bending artwork that made parents believe rock-n-roll truly was the devil’s music.
My first experience with vinyl came from my cousin, Johnna. If I wasn’t being a brat,
I could sit in her room and flip through her milk crates full of the best albums from the 70s. Surrounded by homemade throw pillows, Tiger Beat posters and a crazy-long soda pop tab chain, I was introduced to the music and the captivating artwork that encased those righteous tunes.
I would sit and study each cover, read the inside jacket and try to glean as much information as I could phantom while listening to music. How did the cover art tie into the music on the record?
Pink Floyd always left me pondering the meaning of life and art. The Eagles’
Hotel California had me searching for ghosts or other oddities accidently caught on film.
And Led Zeppelin, well, they just left me to wonder what was going on with their almost mythological, other worldly covers.
I must confess, one of my all-time favorites is Meatloaf and their Bat Out of Hell cover.
It is so crazy and over the top which is why it is a totally befitting cover for this operatic rock-n-roll album.
Not all albums can be uber cool in their simplicity like AC/DC Back in Black or capture an iconic image of The Beatles like Abbey Road but, they did give us the greatest metal mascot of all time—EDDIE. Iron Maiden’s talisman, designed by Derek Riggs, appeared on all of their album covers.
Talented artists created some of the quintessential album covers that are still shared, talked about and even banned today.
And that is why, I am a romantic. Because I get nostalgic for the lost art of album covers and the vinyl records they held.