#59 - In Utero: Nirvana (1993)

Hard to believe, but this won’t be Nirvana’s only album cover here. Stay tuned, m’kay?

This one’s actually pretty simple. It’s basically one of those weird anatomical models little boys would see in a museum and giggle over, plus some wings. Heck, you could probably add wings to anything and make it look a little like the Victory of Samothrace, right?

That image (from In Utero, not the Victory of Samothrace) has inspired a lot of tattoos and merchandise, and even some parodies and crafts as well.

The art director was Robert Fisher, who simply ran with some ideas from Kurt Cobain.

Fisher was responsible for a lot of Nirvana’s stuff, and has no fewer than 126 credits to his, uh, credit. In addition to Nirvana, he’s also done a fair amount of stuff for Beck, Blondie, and No Doubt.

The back cover was basically some crazy shit that Kurt came up with on his own. 

Before and after art direction

The photographer was Charles Peterson, basically the court portraitist of Grunge.

The original title of this album was I Hate Myself and I Want to Die, but the lawyers talked ‘em out of it. Too bad – it’s kinda catchy.

In Utero was the band’s last studio album. The goal was to create the anti Nevermind, going for a much more unpolished, genuine sound (!?!?). It sold 15 million copies.

Do I really need to say anything about these guys? One word then … Grunge.

Kurt, Krist Novoselic, Dave Grohl

The one (?!?!) parody I could find out there:

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#60 - Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols: Sex Pistols (1977)

What’s this doing here then? It almost seems like anti-art.

And that’s really the point, isn’t it? Punk was all about cutting through the crap and getting back to basics.

Kinda like this cover. Fonts and bright colors (actually, a ransom note’s worth of the former). Literal cut and paste. And that’s it! It reminds me so much of all those old punk zines (except, of course, for the colors).

Jamie Reid, an artist and activist very closely associated with the Punk movement, was behind this one.

He did a number of other things for the Pistols, and has 50 credits total.

That title is wonderful as well. Interestingly, there actually was a band called the Bollocks. Now, they were from Malaysia and seemed to have been formed long after Johnny Rotten’s demise … 

Hard to believe, but NMTBHTSP was the Pistols’ only album. It did, however, introduce punk to the world. It also went to #1. The two songs anyone remembers are probably “God Save the Queen” and “Anarchy in the UK.”

I actually don’t know many people who own, or listen to, this album. I’m a huge fan of punk, but – personally – would probably much prefer to just queue up The Clash.

Honestly, I think the Sex Pistols were more about an idea than actual music. That said, they were elected to the Rock ‘n Roll Hall o’ Fame. Fittingly, they refused to show, calling the Museum a “piss stain.” Attaway, boys!

Mr. Rotten, Mr. Cook, Mr. Vicious, Mr. Jones

As you can imagine, this one’s a pretty easy one to parody. I’ll spare you those and close with these commercial ironies:

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#61 - The Cars: The Cars (1981)

What a great cover. And very emblematic of the group as well – cars, cute girls, quirky, fun, stylish … 

Interestingly, the band did not like it. It was, in fact, designed by their record company, and not by drummer David Robinson, who did most of their other covers. Though here is another non-Robinson, and one I rather like:

Credit for art direction goes to one Ron Coro (the one on the left):

He has an incredible 467 credits, including Dylan, Hank Williams Jr., Frank Sinatra, Leonard Bernstein, Moby Grape, and Jim Nabors.

The model, Natalia Medvedeva, was rather interesting in herself. In addition to being a model (NSFW nude below), she was also a poet, writer, politician, and musician herself. She died pretty young, at age 44, of a heart attack.

This was the Cars’ first album, and is loaded with hits –  “Just What I Needed," "My Best Friend's Girl," "Good Times Roll," "You're All I've Got Tonight” …

Critic demigod Robert Palmer described the group very well: “They have taken some important but disparate contemporary trends—punk minimalism, the labyrinthine synthesizer and guitar textures of art rock, the '50s rockabilly revival and the melodious terseness of power pop – and mixed them into a personal and appealing blend.” I was certainly a fan. 

The band, which included 2 former Berklee students, was inducted into the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame just last year. Sadly, front man Ric Ocasek passed away just a couple of weeks ago.

David Robinson (drums), Ric Ocasek (vocals, guitar), 

Greg Hawkes (keyboard), Elliot Easton (guitar)

A coupla other album covers of The Cars I like (vintage Robinsons, I would presume):

Here's the one homage / parody / random-Photoshop-exercise  I could find out there:

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#62 - Let It Bleed: Rolling Stones (1969)

The Stones!  You’ll be seeing more of them here, I can guarantee you that.

This particular cover was by Robert Brownjohn, a graphic artist most famous for typography. He has a handful of other covers, mostly focusing on jazz and type. 

Jagger originally asked artist M. C. Escher to design the cover. Escher declined.

Just in case you were wondering, that’s a film canister, clock dial, pizza, tire, and cake all queued up and ready to play. The back is particularly creative, showing the same view, but after the party was over, I guess.

This one was actually chosen by the Royal Mail for a set of "Classic Album Cover" postage stamps. I couldn’t find any images of such, so I guess they never got around to actually printing any.

The album itself, released in 1969, was firmly set in the band’s blues roots. It’s loaded with hits, including "Gimme Shelter" and "You Can't Always Get What You Want."

Do I really need to say anything about the Stones here? Fred, Barney … (apologies to Steven Wright).

Like I said before, there will be many more Stones covers here. Here are a couple I like that strongly emphasize the sexual aspect of the band.

The band? Oh, here they are, give or take a couple of years:

Parodies? I have a few, but too few to mention:

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