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One subject that many people mistakenly assume to be used frequently on album covers is kissing. If you actually browse through the over 90,000 covers in the AlbumArtExchange.com gallery, you will discover that is not the case. There are actually very few album covers that feature clear, tight images of people engaging in a passionate kiss.

The most notable album cover featuring a kissing couple is Double Fantasy by John Lennon and Yoko Ono. The album was released in 1980, shortly before Lennon's death. The album won the 1981 Grammy Award for Album of the Year and is Lennon's best-selling studio album. The photograph on the cover was taken by Japanese photographer Kishin Shinoyama.

Even as late as 1980, a great deal of racial prejudice existed in the United States. The image of an interracial couple kissing was still unusual. Just last year, two album covers featuring interracial couples kissing were released.

    

Of course, there have been many album covers featuring couples kissing released over the last several decades. However, covers using images of graphic close up shots of lips pressed together have been few in number.

Probably one of the most interesting developments has been theuse of same-sex couples kissing on album covers. While a couple of the cover posted above are sexually ambiguous, there have been a few album covers featuring both male and female couples kissing.

     

It has been quite a long time since my last installment of Variations on a Theme. This one is especially timely due to the revival of 3D movies. I'm not really sure if that has anything to do with it, but there have been several recent album covers that use 3D imaging as a special effect.

I don't think the designers expect anyone to put on 3D glasses to view these covers. The red and blue color separation has been used more to create an interesting visual effect. However, the covers do have a 3D look when viewed with the glasses. I tried them all.

The best of the four covers in 3D are Semi Precious Weapons self-titled album and Annie Mac Presents compilation. The other two don't really pop out at you.

Semi Precious Weapons - S/T (2010)

Various Artists - Annie Mac Presents (2009)

The Raveonettes - Lust Lust Lust (2009)

Los Straitjackets - Supersonic Guitars In 3D (2003)

Posted by: cg39652

A very common theme in album art is womens’ legs and high heels. This should come as no surprise since images featuring shapely legs and heels have been a popular subject for artists and photographers for generations. The classic example is the World War II pin up of Betty Grable, but it is certainly not the earliest. Just look through an stock photo collection and you will find dozens of examples of images similar to the one posted on the right.

Over the years, many album covers have featured legs and high heels. One of the earliest notable covers is Cool Struttin’ by Sonny Clark. The 1958 Blue Note release was considered to be quite racy at the time. It was a hip jazz album that could be found in the apartments of many young bachelors (the kind of guys mother warned you about). Throughout the next decade, the skirts got shorter and the heels got higher.

A very popular version of the legs and high heels theme uses a shot of the back of the woman’s legs in either red or black pumps. Typically, the legs are spread in an open stance. The most familiar example of this version can be found on the cover of the soundtrack for the James Bond film For Your Eyes Only.

The examples below span several decades. The style of the shoes may change over the years, but the concept remains the same. Artists such as ZZ Top and .38 Special have used this theme. It is one that will probably never go out of style.

     

     

This theme is often executed using silhouette and illustrations. The three examples below display a very similar design.

     

Other variations have used mannequins, giant pumps, and dramatic poses. It is obvious that this is a theme that has sparked a lot of creativity.

     

Ever since the leak of a photo taken of Adam Lambert during the photo shoot for his forthcoming album (right), people have been speculating about the costume that the artist is wearing. Some people believe that he is made up to be some kind of glam astronaut.

An astronaut isn’t a bad guess. If you take into consideration the numerous albums that have used a space suit theme in the past, the odds a pretty good. Space exploration has been a popular theme on album covers for decades.

Probably the most controversial cover to feature astronauts was the the 1970 album by L.A. blues/rock band Canned Heat called Future Blues. The politically charged cover shows five astronauts planting an American flag on the moon upside down (a distress signal).

Probably the strangest cover with an astronaut theme is for a greatest hits album by pop diva Christina Aguilera. The photo shoot caused a buzz when it was reported that Aquilera was wearing a full space suit and carrying a toy ray gun. The cover ended up being just a shot of her wearing a space helmet.

Other notable covers with an astronaut them include Led Zeppelin’s Early Days, 18 by Moby and Happy Smiles by t.a.T.u. (which many fans assumed to be a joke when the cover was revealed).

        

Below are a few other examples of albums using a variation of the astronaut theme. There are probably over 50 popular album covers that feature a space suit. This is in no way a comprehensive listing. As always, you can click the images to see the large image in the AAX gallery.

       

       

If you have a favorite astronaut-themed album cover that is not mentioned here, add a comment to this article and let me know about it.

Probably one of the most iconic album covers of the early ’90s is for Nivana’s Nevermind. The cover features a photograph of a baby swimming after a dollar bill on a hook. The cover has been the subject of a number of parodies, including one by Weird Al Yankovic (shown at right).

However, the use of swimming pools as a theme for album covers was not new when Nevermind was released. Recording artists have been photographed in and around pools quite frequently. I browsed through the AAX gallery and selected a few covers that caught my eye, including one by Howie Day that is yet to be released.

Posted by: zeefritz		Posted by: zeefritz
Posted by: cjmal		Posted by: Gulickson
Posted by: RJSorensen		Posted by: RussParis
Posted by: Foundation		Posted by: zeefritz

This installment of Variations on a Theme is all about a piece of furniture that seems to pop up on album covers more often than most would guess. I’m referring to the sofa. It doesn’t seem very a very exciting concept to show pop stars and rock icons sitting on the couch. But, I’ve got several examples of album covers that do just that.

Posted by: zeefritz		Posted by: macman4hire
Posted by: dingers		Posted by: Music Hog

     

     

Often, everyday household items can become the inspriation for album cover art. In this installation of Variations on a Theme, we’ll be looking at a few album covers that feature a very common household item, the light bulb.

The light bulb was invented almost 130 years ago, so it shouldn’t be surprising that it has been featured in popular art and advertising images countless of times. Album covers are no exception. I browsed through the AAX gallery and found several examples. The one’s I’ve posted are intended to show a diverse range of genres. The most recent is the cover of The Black Eyed Peas single, I Gotta Feeling.

Here are a few more interesting light bulb album covers:

     

One of the most elaborate use of light bulbs as a theme has to be The Queens of the Stone Age’s Era Vulgaris. The band posted a number of promotional videos online featuring the light bulb cartoon characters that appeared on the album cover.

For someone like me who remembers when cassette tapes were new, it is amusing to see them being featured on so many fairly current album covers as something quaint. I guess it can be compared to album art in the ’50s and ’60s that featured Victrolas.

Here is a batch of albums and singles with cassettes used as the primary graphic element.

Posted by: dingers

Posted by: Foundation

There are quite a few of these. The intended message of a few of them is quite clear (especially the one by Dashboard Confessional) — these things are for old fossils!

      

      

In this installment of Variations on a Theme, we take a look a classic Rock ‘n’ Roll hairstyle, the pompadour. The first recording artist that most people think of in connection with the pompadour is Elvis Presley. However, there have been dozens of others who have worn the style over the last 50 years.

Also known as the “greaser” look, the pompadour was worn by bikers and bad boys in addition to rock ‘n’ rollers. It has even been worn by a few stylish ladies, such as P!nk, Annie Lennox, Janell Monae, and Elly Jackson of La Roux.

The most recent pompadour to appear on an album belongs to Hannah Blilie, drummer of Gossip. Blilie is being confused by some for a man, wearing a classic pompadour on the cover of Music For Men. This particular album cover reminds me of the Morrissey covers from the late 1980s.

Posted by: Music Hog

Posted by: zeefritz

Other notable pompadours shown below belong to Little Richard (who claims to have invented the hairstyle), Johnny Cash, Chris Isaak, Stray Cats, Buster Poindexter, and Elvis.

In the last installment of Variation on a Theme, we looked at album covers that feature dice as a main element. This time, we’ll discuss covers that use another item associated with gambling — the iconic Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign.

Did you know that the this famous landmark is not copyrighted? That is why it is used on so many tourist items for sale in Las Vegas. The manufacturers do not have to pay royalties.

Because of the lack of a copyright, surprising the sign doesn’t appear on more album covers. I was only able to find four examples.

Posted by: sirauron Everclear The Vegas Years

Posted by: Foundation Bowling for Soup The Great Burrito Extortion Case

The next two examples are not included in the AlbumArtExchange gallery. The first is by Merengue star Elvis Crespo who was recently accused of doing something nasty on a flight to Miami. The second is a digital compilation album called Simply Rat Pack.

  

In this recurring feature, we look at albums that use a similar theme. In some cases, the images used are surprisingly similar. Here are a few examples of album covers that feature dice.

Posted by: leothegreat Katy Perry - Waking Up In Vegas 2009

Posted by: macman4hire Bad Company - Straight Shooter 1975

The album covers above are separated by 34 years and yet they are both rolling lucky seven. There are many other examples of album covers that feature dice as a main object.

    

Then, we have “fuzzy” dice — the kind that people hang from their rearview mirrors.

    

Once again, this goes to show that there are very few “original” concepts left when it comes to album cover art. How well those concepts are executed is another matter.

Do you know of a variation on a theme and would like to see it covered here? If so, leave a comment. Remember, guitars, human skulls, and automobiles are the most common objects found on album covers. We’re looking for something a bit more obscure.

Every now and then, we run across an album cover that looks familiar. That shouldn’t be too surprising. There are only so many original concepts and hundreds of album covers being produced every week. Therefore, variations on a theme is a very likely topic for this blog.

 
There are lots of album covers with people on TV screens.

 
How many times have you seen an artist turned into a doll?

 
Ah, the old “Goldfinger” treatment.