#33 - Daydream Nation: Sonic Youth (1988)

Sonic Youth was one of the more avant-garde of the post-punk bands. Fairly noisy and discordant, they were a group you either loved or hated. That said, I must admit, I was personally always a little in between. ;^)

The heart of the band was a couple, Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore. When they got divorced, the band would break up as well. :^(

Daydream Nation is probably their magnum opus, a double album that Pitchfork cited it as the best of the ‘80s. The two big hits on it are “Teenage Riot” and “Silver Rocket,” though I love “Providence,” a little bit of concrete music (you know, like “Revolution 9”). I’ve got the album on a cassette somewhere.

If you know your modern art, you may have already guessed who did the cover. Yup, it’s none other than Gerhard Richter, quite possibly the greatest living artist. 

He’s known for photo-realism, but with a fascinating dream-like quality. Pretty fitting for the title of the album. He’s also known for his abstracts as well:

Interestingly, he’s got two dozen credits on discogs, mostly for more serious stuff though: 

Sonic Youth have a ton of really cool covers. Here are a few more that are pretty iconic: 

And a few others that I really like:

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#34 - Blood Sugar Sex Magick: Red Hot Chili Peppers (1991)

We did our first RHCP album way back at #100 (and followed that up with one at #88). Honestly, the band really did have some good ones.

This one was done by Henk Schiffmaker, a fairly well-known Dutch tattooist. 

On the tattoo side, he’s done Kurt Cobain, Pearl Jam, Cypress Hill, House of Pain, and the Peppers. In fact, an inside photo dedicated to the band’s tattoos, shows some of Schiffmaker’s work. 

Interestingly, Schiffmaker gets visuals credits at discogs for 10 albums, though 6 of them are for Golden Earring (of "Radar Love" fame).

Schiffmaker actually only gets credit for the drawing. Art direction goes to Gus Van Sant, who you might know better as an indie film director. 

One of the better mugshots out there (and for DWI, no less)

His (movie) credits include My Own Private Idaho and Drugstore Cowboy, as well as the more mainstream Good Will Hunting. 

He also has 14 visuals credits, 8 of which are for the Pepper.s The remaining 6 include Bowie, kd lang, and Gus himself.

Finally, Van Sant did videos for the Peppers, Bowie, Elton John, Chris Isaak, and Tracy Chapman.

The album was the first one RHCP did with Warner Bros. It was recorded in Harry Houdini’s old mansion, where the band sequestered themselves for weeks on end. The sound was less punk & funk, and softer, more melodic. Of it, super critic Robert Christgau said, "They've grown up, they've learned to write.” It’s usually recognized as one of the best albums of the 90s.

I have no idea what's going on here

The only parody I could find was a Star Wars one, but it’s pretty genius:

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#35 - Tommy: The Who (1969)

Not only was it the greatest rock opera ever, The Who’s Tommy also had a pretty cool cover. It actually originally spanned 3 panels – a triptych – which is definitely much more impressive:

It was designed by Mike McInnerney. 

He was art director for an underground mag in London in the ’60s:

Those are covers, by the way.

He was also the guy who introduced Pete Townsend to Meher Baba (his spiritual guru):

Who, unfortunately, looks a little like Chef Boyardee

McInnerney pretty much nails the influences here: “I particularly liked the patterns and rhythms of Op Art and its concerns with perception and illusion and the language of Surrealism.” It also looks a little bit like a blueberry pie.

He’s actually quite talented, and is a pretty serious artist.  

He’s only got 13 credits in discogs.com, 10 of which are for The Who, or something to do with Tommy.  

I vividly remember the album, the very cool inserts, as well as going to see the premiere of the movie (being drive all the way to downtown Pittsburgh no less).  I also remember having the bejeezus scared out of me by Tina Turner:

Though it could just as well been Elton John as the Pinball Wizard for you:

What to say about Tommy, or The Who? I always saw them as being behind only the Beatles and the Stones. (So, why are the Brits so good at rock’n roll?) Rest assured, you’ll be seeing more of the boys here.

Moon, Townsend, Daltrey, Entwhistle

Interestingly, all I get when I Google “the who tommy parody” is stuff like this: 

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#36 - Fragile: Yes (1971)

Yes had a very unique style for their album covers. This particular one, for the album Fragile, is probably the most emblematic.

The covers all centered around exotic fantasy landscapes, with some Art Nouveau touches, and were all done by Roger Dean. 

Fragile was actually the first one he did for the band (though Yes’s third).  Dean has over 200 credits to his name, including Uriah Heap, Asia, and a bunch of acts I never heard of (Budgie? White Willow? Hatfield & the North? Yuka & Chronoship? Bill Cox Nitro Function?) 

S'more great Yes/Dean covers:

Yes was always a fave of mine. I was big into prog rock, and I always really liked their classical influence. A lot of that was due to Rick Wakeman, who had joined the band for this album and was a classically trained pianist.

Alan White, Steve Howe, Wakeman, Chris Squire, Jon Anderson 

Hard to believe, but the band is still around today, albeit after many lineup changes. Even harder to believe, they are now doing cruises.

Howe, new guy, new guy, White, Squire

Fragile is probably their best album, with hits like “Roundabout,” “Long Distance Runaround,” and “Heart of the Sunrise."

Couldn't find any parodies out there, so that second pic of the band will have to do (sorry, guys).

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