Best Ever Album Covers by 
AAL2014 
Here we find the records that offer something great before you even press play on them.
To make this chart, I considered a few things including the photography/imagry and color pallet that appeals to me the most, how well each cover helped convey the story of the music held inside, and simply which covers were too iconic to ignore.
Like my main charts, this one will always be a fun work in progress. Feel free to shoutout some recommendations in the comments!
- Chart updated: 06/26/2024 05:15
- (Created: 12/01/2017 17:10).
- Chart size: 85 albums.
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This chart is currently filtered to only show albums from the 1960s. (Remove this filter)
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[First added to this chart: 11/15/2021]
Year of Release:
1967
Appears in:
Rank Score:
46,198
Rank in 1967:
Rank in 1960s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
487
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Seeing this cover simply puts a smile on my face. Not only is Abbey Road one of my all time favorite albums full stop, the photo is absolutely top notch. In terms of iconography, this cover is hard to beat. The blue sky and green trees couldn’t be more perfect. Match that with the Beatles themselves in pitch perfect stride and you have one of time’s greatest images.
[First added to this chart: 11/15/2021]
Year of Release:
1969
Appears in:
Rank Score:
60,605
Rank in 1969:
Rank in 1960s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
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An album as outlandish and avant-everything as Trout Mask couldn’t have anything but an image so strikingly left-field like this one.
This cover kind of reminds me of the “Heroes” cover. It shares a lot of things I like about the covers on the aforementioned Bowie classic and Madvillainy in which the image is simple but striking and absolutely iconic. [First added to this chart: 11/15/2021]
This cover kind of reminds me of the “Heroes” cover. It shares a lot of things I like about the covers on the aforementioned Bowie classic and Madvillainy in which the image is simple but striking and absolutely iconic. [First added to this chart: 11/15/2021]
Year of Release:
1969
Appears in:
Rank Score:
6,626
Rank in 1969:
Rank in 1960s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
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The Black Saint offers up another cover in which there’s a lot of good things going for it. The photo is excellent and his demeanor is so powerful. Without any context or prior knowledge about the image, it looks like Mingus at the end of a long one- be it a day or a concert or something of the magnitude.
The image is also fitting for what the music offers. In a good way, your mind is exhausted after the beautiful barrage of curated cacophony coursing through your speakers by the end of the record. The winding-down Mingus is inferring to you the aftermath before it even begins. [First added to this chart: 11/15/2021]
The image is also fitting for what the music offers. In a good way, your mind is exhausted after the beautiful barrage of curated cacophony coursing through your speakers by the end of the record. The winding-down Mingus is inferring to you the aftermath before it even begins. [First added to this chart: 11/15/2021]
Year of Release:
1963
Appears in:
Rank Score:
13,456
Rank in 1963:
Rank in 1960s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
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[First added to this chart: 11/15/2021]
Year of Release:
1966
Appears in:
Rank Score:
26,053
Rank in 1966:
Rank in 1960s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
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Too classic. Too perfect for the music it contains and the genre it was birthing.
[First added to this chart: 11/15/2021]
Year of Release:
1969
Appears in:
Rank Score:
29,674
Rank in 1969:
Rank in 1960s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album
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Simple and stark, this photo of a concentrated Coltrane is all you need to let the music and its message do the talking.
[First added to this chart: 11/15/2021]
Year of Release:
1965
Appears in:
Rank Score:
16,245
Rank in 1965:
Rank in 1960s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album
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[First added to this chart: 03/12/2022]
Year of Release:
1967
Appears in:
Rank Score:
42,386
Rank in 1967:
Rank in 1960s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
Buy album
- #Sponsored
[First added to this chart: 12/15/2023]
Year of Release:
1969
Appears in:
Rank Score:
7,825
Rank in 1969:
Rank in 1960s:
Overall Rank:
Average Rating:
Comments:
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[First added to this chart: 11/09/2023]
Total albums: 16. Page 1 of 2
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Best Ever Album Covers composition
| Decade | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
 |
|
|
| 1930s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1940s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1950s | 0 | 0% | |
| 1960s | 16 | 19% | |
| 1970s | 31 | 36% | |
| 1980s | 9 | 11% | |
| 1990s | 8 | 9% | |
| 2000s | 7 | 8% | |
| 2010s | 11 | 13% | |
| 2020s | 3 | 4% |
| Artist | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
 |
|
|
| The Beatles | 2 | 2% | |
| Miles Davis | 2 | 2% | |
| Pink Floyd | 2 | 2% | |
| Black Sabbath | 2 | 2% | |
| Bob Dylan | 2 | 2% | |
| The Rolling Stones | 2 | 2% | |
| Funkadelic | 1 | 1% | |
| Show all | |||
| Country | Albums | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
48 | 56% | |
 |
24 | 28% | |
 |
5 | 6% | |
 |
2 | 2% | |
 |
2 | 2% | |
 |
1 | 1% | |
 |
1 | 1% | |
| Show all | |||
Best Ever Album Covers chart changes
| Biggest climbers |
|---|
| Up 1 from 64th to 63rd 무너지기 [Crumbling] by 공중도둑 [Mid-Air Thief] |
| Biggest fallers |
|---|
| Down 3 from 63rd to 66th Let It Bleed by The Rolling Stones |
| Down 2 from 65th to 67th Court And Spark by Joni Mitchell |
| Down 2 from 66th to 68th Foxtrot by Genesis |
| New entries |
|---|
 Oh My Gawd!!!... Oh My Gawd!!!...The Flaming Lipsby The Flaming Lips |
| Exuma by Exuma |
| Tilt by Scott Walker |
| Leavers |
|---|
 You Won't Get What You Wantby Daughters |
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|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Top 50 Greatest Music Albums |  SimulatedProphet | Overall chart | 2009 | |
| Top 40 Greatest Music Albums | tylerapplezz | Overall chart | 2021 | |
| Top 64 Music Albums of the 1970s |  Mdemauri | 1970s decade chart | 2014 | |
| Top 80 Greatest Music Albums | willandthemix | Overall chart | 2018 | |
| Top 100 British Albums |  21stCenturySchiz | Custom chart | 2018 | |
| Top 76 Greatest Music Albums | MaxStorm98 | Overall chart | 2018 | |
| Top 50 Greatest Music Albums | Gregoriano | Overall chart | 2010 | |
| Top 40 Greatest Music Albums | 112806 | Overall chart | 2023 | |
Best Ever Album Covers similarity to your chart(s)
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A lot of hard work happens in the background to keep BEA running, and it's especially difficult to do this when we can't pay our hosting fees :(
We work very hard to ensure our site is as fast (and FREE!) as possible, and we respect your privacy.
| Best Ever Artists | |
|---|---|
| 1. The Beatles | |
| 2. Radiohead | |
| 3. Pink Floyd | |
| 4. David Bowie | |
| 5. Bob Dylan | |
| 6. Led Zeppelin | |
| 7. The Rolling Stones | |
| 8. Arcade Fire | |
| 9. The Velvet Underground | |
| 10. Nirvana | |
| 11. Kendrick Lamar | |
| 12. Neil Young | |
| 13. The Smiths | |
| 14. Miles Davis | |
| 15. The Beach Boys | |
| 16. Kanye West | |
| 17. R.E.M. | |
| 18. Pixies | |
| 19. Jimi Hendrix | |
| 20. Bruce Springsteen |