The 1980s were the decade when album covers became statements in their own right.
Advances in graphic design, photography and print coincided with the rise of artists who understood the power of imagery, with many signalling shifts in artistic direction or making bold statements matched by the artwork on the cover.
From post-punk austerity and techno-futurism to pop art pastiche, these covers helped define how the music of the era was seen as well as heard. Here, we rank the very best 1980s album covers, from great to truly iconic.
Best 1980s album covers (from great to greatest)
19. The Smiths: The Queen Is Dead (1986)
The cover of The Smiths’ third studio album is a still of the French actor Alain Delon from the 1964 film, The Unvanquished. The band often featured actors on their album covers, with James Dean and Richard Bradford appearing on the sleeves of Big Mouth Strikes Again and Panic respectively. The arresting image of Delon is taken from the film’s final scene, where his character lies dying on the floor.
We named Strangeways, Here We Come by The Smiths as one of the best farewell albums of all time – released soon after the band had announced their shock split.
18. U2: War (1983)
U2’s first overtly political album, War includes songs such as ‘Sunday Bloody Sunday’ and ‘New Year’s Day’, referencing the Troubles in Northern Ireland and the Polish Solidarity movement respectively. Bono told the NME at the time: ‘War seemed to be the motif for 1982. Everywhere you looked, from the Falklands to the Middle East and South Africa, there was war. By calling the album War we’re giving people a slap in the face.’
Instead of depicting the brutality of war, U2 decided to put the face of a child on the cover – a young boy, Peter Rowen, the brother of Bono’s friend. He also appears on the covers of several other U2 albums and singles. ‘Instead of putting tanks and guns on the cover, we’ve put a child’s face,’ Bono told the NME. ‘War can also be a mental thing, an emotional thing between loves. It doesn’t have to be a physical thing.’
We named War's predecessor among rock's famous second album flops.
17. The Stone Roses: The Stone Roses (1989)
As with most Stone Roses releases, the cover of the band’s self-titled debut album was designed by guitarist John Squire. Its title, Bye Bye Badman, is taken from one of the album’s tracks, the lyrics of which were inspired by the May 1968 Paris riots. Released towards the tail end of the decade in May 1989, the album and its artwork alludes to this leftist student revolt that nearly led to the demise of the French government. This period had a fundamental impact on protest art, with songs, graffiti and slogans created in response. Squire’s painting is very similar to the abstract brush-flicking artworks of Jackson Pollock.
The pattern in the painting is said to be inspired by the band’s trip to the Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland. The colours of the French flag are also visible, another hat-tip to the Paris riots.
Did you know: The lemon slice that forms the ‘o’ in ‘Roses’ is a reference to the use of lemons as a tear gas remedy during the 1968 riots.
We named The Stone Roses' debut as one of the best first albums of all time.
16. Van Halen: 1984 (1984)
Painted by graphic artist Margo Nahas, Van Halen’s 1984 cover depicts a putto (a chubby, winged child figure from classical art – the secular equivalent of a cherub) smoking a cigarette. Nahas featured the child of one of her best friends as the model of the putto, photographed holding a candy cigarette, which she then edited to include the cigarette packet.
The cover was actually censored in the UK at the time of release, with a sticker added to all albums obscuring the cigarette and packet. Baby imagery went on to be used on major rock releases, memorably on Nirvana’s Nevermind album, which depicts a naked swimming baby chasing a dollar bill.
We named Van Halen as one of the messiest band breakups of all time – and one of the worst bands to be in.
15. Tatsuro Yamashita: For You
Eizin Suzuki’s vibrant and nostalgic illustrations for Yamashita’s sixth studio album create the quintessential image of Japanese City Pop. Suzuki also created the equally summery artwork for the 1980 compilation album Come Along, which features a Greyhound bus against a similar bright blue backdrop.
14. Talking Heads: Remain In Light (1980)
In one of the first computer-designed album covers, the artwork for Talking Heads’ Remain In Light was originally planned for the album’s back sleeve – but got promoted to the lead image. The bold and simple design presents four portraits covered by red blocks of colour, and was designed by bassist Tina Weymouth and drummer Chris Frantz with aid of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and design company M&Co. The simple font inverts the As, a unique typographical approach for this album.
We named the Talking Heads film Stop Making Sense as one of the greatest rock movies of all time.
13. The Police: Ghost In The Machine (1981)
Released in 1981, the cover of The Police's fourth studio album resembles a retro red LED calculator display. Each figure reflects the characteristics of the band’s three members with their distinctive hairstyles. The figure of Andy Summers is on the left, with Sting in the middle sporting spiky hair, and Stewart Copeland on the right with a fringe.
12. Kraftwerk: Computer World (1981)
In another technology-inspired artwork, the eighth studio album by German electronic band Kraftwerk references the hit single ‘Computer Love’. The album is themed around burgeoning computer technology developments and their rise within society. Despite the topics at the heart of the album, however, the production was entirely analogue and didn’t involve any computers.
The album sleeve shows a computer (a Hazeltine 1500 smart terminal – a late-1970s device that was popular among early adopters of the microcomputer) displaying the heads of four band members as robotic mannequins.
11. Yellow Magic Orchestra: X∞Multiplies (1980)
In a different approach to mannequin motifs, the futuristic electronic image on Yellow Magic Orchestra’s 1980 album was art directed by Takahisa Kamijyo. Android dummies are seen dressed in black, with the real band members – Haruomi Hosono, Ryuichi Sakamoto and Yukihiro Takahashi – featuring on the back cover.
10. Bauhaus: The Sky's Gone Out (1982)
This cover speaks to the band’s gothic influences, showing what appears to be a looming black hole. The dark image and gloomy sound proliferate through the music of Bauhaus, who often defaulted to black-and-white covers. The artwork was painted by Daniel Ash, guitarist and Bauhaus founding member.
9. Grace Jones: Nightclubbing (1981)
Grace Jones is responsible for some of the most iconic album covers of the 20th and 21st centuries, often captured by her partner, the photographer, illustrator and graphic designer Jean-Paul Goude. The 1981 painted photograph titled Blue-Black in Black on Brown features on the cover of Nightclubbing, with Jones cut to the waist, wearing an Armani wide-shouldered suit, typical of her masculine dressing and androgynous image. With Jones sporting a flat-top haircut, the image plays with angles, topped off with the unlit cigarette in her mouth.
8. Joy Division: Closer (1980)
The second and final studio album of Joy Division was recorded in March 1980 – and released by Factory Records several months later, following the death of lead singer Ian Curtis. The band subsequently reformed as New Order, but this album was released posthumously – a particularly poignant mirroring of the album’s despair as Joy Division mourned their bandmate.
The cover is more poignant still: a striking black-and-white photo of the Appiani family tomb in Genoa’s Monumental Cemetery, depicting the figures of Mary and Jesus. In his autobiography Record Play Pause, drummer Stephen Morris wrote of the cover: ‘The photography seemed either like an eerie prophecy or some bad taste, cash-in joke. Who in their right mind would put a tomb on the front of an album by a band whose singer had just died?’
In fact, the album artwork had been created and approved by the band before Curtis’s death. The record was actually delayed in its release, due to mishaps at Factory Records. It was simply a case of melancholic coincidence.
7. Alice Cooper: Raise Your Fist And Yell (1987)
The American artist Jim Warren is best known for his surrealistic fantasy art, and the cover of Alice Cooper’s Raise Your Fist And Yell is a classic blend of horror and surrealism using traditional oil on canvas. The unsettling image shows a clenched fist with a screaming face. The band name is also displayed in a font that appears to be written in bright red, dripping blood, tapping perfectly into the heavy metal aesthetic.
6. Queen: Hot Space (1982)
Queen’s tenth studio album shows a notable shift in direction from earlier hits, incorporating disco, funk and other styles beyond classic rock. Its cover showcases this new musical direction, loosely based on Andy Warhol’s pop art screen print style. Each band member is depicted in a different colourway, representing their individuality. The concept was believed to be Freddie Mercury’s idea.
5. Metallica: Master of Puppets (1986)
The cemetery field of white crosses tethered to strings is brilliantly eye-catching, with the strings connected to a pair of hands in a blood-red sky, the crosses contrasting dramatically with the bright orange sunset. Designed by Metallica and their manager Peter Mensch, the artwork was painted by American painter Don Brautigam using airbrush and paintbrush to create a dreamlike, hyperreal image.
Drummer Lars Ulrich has described the image’s reference to the album’s idea of people – such as soldiers in Disposable Heroes – being subconsciously manipulated, an overarching theme of the record.
We named Metallica as one of the 11 bands who faced tragedy – and then came storming back.
4. Prince: Sign O' The Times (1987)
While most other Prince albums feature the main man front and centre, his ninth studio album was a step away from this style, with Prince at the very edge of the photograph. It was also Prince’s first solo album following his disbandment of The Revolution – symbolising a new direction for the great American songwriter.
The image was shot by Jeff Katz, Prince’s photographer during the mid-1980s, at a warehouse in Eden Prairie in Minnesota. The props were taken from Prince’s home and studio, with the backdrop borrowed from a stage production of the musical Guys and Dolls.
3. Grace Jones: Island Life (1985)
All Grace Jones’s album covers see her in striking poses, but none more so than the image chosen to adorn the cover of her 1985 compilation album Island Life. An oiled Jones is shown performing a graceful arabesque – but music lovers might be surprised to learn that it is not a single image. Photographer Jean-Paul Goude created the image using his cut-and-paint technique on a series of shots cut together.
2. The Clash: London Calling (1980)
The Clash’s bassist Paul Simonon is shown smashing his Fender Precision Bass against the stage of the Palladium in New York City in 1979 in the cover image of the band’s much-loved third studio album. To call this a 1980s album is a bit of a stretch, released in the UK in December 1979 and in the US in January 1980 – but we feel it’s too good a cover to miss here. Simonon had taken to breaking his guitar after frustrations that the bouncers weren’t allowing audience members to stand up out of their seats.
Photographer Pennie Smith took the photo, but didn’t actually want it to be used on the cover of London Calling, as she believed it to be too out of focus. The rest of the album cover design was a homage to Elvis Presley’s self-titled debut album released in 1956, with the same pink and green lettering.
The artwork has enjoyed life beyond The Clash, with Banksy referencing the image in a London work, showing an office chair being smashed in place of the guitar.
We named The Clash's 'Hitsville UK' as one of the worst songs by rock legends.
1. Bruce Springsteen: Born in the U.S.A. (1984)
It’s an American classic – but the Born in the USA cover wasn’t loved by everyone. In fact, its photographer Annie Leibovitz wasn’t a fan. The artwork shows Bruce Springsteen with the backdrop of an American flag, dressed in an iconic white t-shirt and jeans, with a red baseball cap tucked into his back pocket. The cap had sentimental value to Springsteen, belonging to the recently deceased father of his friend, Larce Larson.
Top image credit: Getty Images
