Though an album's title and artwork should usually complement one another, it's not often that you see an album title that is pretty much describing the cover itself. Here are thirteen album covers that literally represent the title.
1. Captain Beefheart - Trout Mask Replica (1969)
Of all of the bizarre phrases that Captain Beefheart came up with for this album, I'm glad he chose "trout mask replica" to visualize in a photograph, and not "a squid eating dough in a polyethylene bag."
2. Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin (1969)
Led Zeppelin took its name from the phrase "lead balloon," meaning something that would sink and fail disastrously, and for the cover of the band's eponymous debut, it chose a photo of the Hindenburg, the most literal (and tragic) example of something failing disastrously, like a lead zeppelin.
3. Cat Stevens - Teaser and the Firecat (1971)
Cat Stevens named Teaser and the Firecat after a children's book he had written and illustrated in the early '70s, and adorned the album's cover with the titular characters. Stevens had used a similarly literal, kiddie-comic-style cover for his previous album Tea for the Tillerman as well.
4. Genesis - Nursery Cryme (1971)
I don't know if a "cryme" is any different from a "crime," but based on the number of decapitated heads on the cover of Nursery Cryme, this girl definitely did something wrong.
5. Neil Young - On The Beach (1974)
Yep, that sure is a photo of Neil Young on a beach. If the title's a reference to the novel On The Beach, it probably has a more sinister connotation.
6. Wire - Pink Flag (1977)
The cover of Wire's Pink Flag doesn't include the album's title, likely because the cover is a photograph of a pink flag, so having the words "Pink Flag" next to it probably seemed redundant.
7. Rush - Moving Pictures (1981)
The artwork for Rush's Moving Pictures actually interprets the term "moving pictures" in three different ways: people are literally moving pictures to another place, people are crying because they're emotionally moved by the pictures, and on the album's back cover, a movie crew is filming the entire thing. It's all incredibly stupid, but the music's great anyway.
8. Dio - Holy Diver (1983)
I've never been able to figure out what the song "Holy Diver" is actually about, but Dio gives us some idea on the album's cover: it's about a priest trying to escape from a demon by diving into a body of water. Or something.
9. Dinosaur Jr. - You're Living All Over Me (1987)
The title of You're Living All Over Me apparently comes from something guitarist J Mascis once said while on tour, and just in case there was anyone out there who couldn't relate, the album cover features a helpful illustration of one person living on top of another.
10. Primus - Sailing the Seas of Cheese (1991)
There's no way you could give an album such a bizarrely specific title and then throw on a picture of something else entirely for the cover. AFI would make a similar move for its 1999 album Black Sails in the Sunset.
11. The Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (2002)
No, Yoshimi is not literally battling pink robots on the album cover to Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, but it definitely looks like something's about to go down.
12. Of Montreal - The Sunlandic Twins (2006)
I'm not sure where Sunland is exactly, but it looks like a beautiful place based on David Barnes' album cover for The Sunlandic Twins. I'd probably die if I went there, though.
13. Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam (2007)
The titles of Animal Collective's albums before Strawberry Jam were Feels and Sung Tongs, which aren't really words that can be visualized. The cover of Strawberry Jam, though, is definitely a photo of strawberry jam.
What other album covers literally represent the title? Let us know in the comments section!
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