Prog Rock Madness: 18 Album Covers to Blow Your Mind

By Douglas Newman
September 3rd, 2008

Prog Rock, in its many incarnations (progressive metal, krautrock, symphonic rock, jazz rock, space rock), is a unique genre of music that is disdained as much as it is loved. Often ridiculed for its bombastic, overwrought complexity, some see the bevy of prog albums released in the early to mid 1970s as one of the inspirations for the birth of the simple, amateur verse-chorus-verse ethos of punk rock. But seriously, let’s get beyond the bullshit blanket stereotypes about prog rock and recognize that the genre boasts some killer albums by world class bands, and perhaps more than any other genre, some absolutely stunning album cover art. The following is a round-up of some of my favorites.

Faust

Faust
Faust (1971)

The band who coined the term Krautrock were innovators of the highest order and the cover of their debut matched the uniqueness of the music contained within. The image included here is the original sleeve for the 1971 release. It was later modified to include just the x-ray photo of the fist on a black background. I personally prefer the collage aesthetic of the original. The Faust logo rendered in a classic typewriter font is a nice touch as well.

Can: Ege Bamyasi

Ege Bamyasi
Can (1972)

Can is probably the most widely known and often cited band identified with Krautrock. Groops like Stereolab (at least their early catalog) and Sonic Youth are clearly followers of Can’s signature motorik beats. The cover design of Ege Bamyasi is odd but charming. It features a giant can of okra. Apparently, Thurston Moore purchased this album for 49-cents at Woolworth’s simply because of the cover, not realizing just how much the music on the wax inside would change his life.

Genesis Selling England By the Pound

Selling England By the Pound
Genesis (1973)

Circa 1973, when Genesis was wildly inventive, led by a costumed eccentric in Peter Gabriel and powered by a pre-schmaltz Phil Collins on drums. The record is very “English,” from the music to the lyrics on down to the pastel painting gracing its cover. Painted by Betty Swanwick, the piece, entitled “The Dream,” did not originally have the lawn mower to the left of the bench. It was added at the band’s request as an allusion to the song “I Know What I Like.”

Pink Floyd: Wish You Were Here
Wish You Were Here
Pink Floyd (1975)

Floyd’s tribute to their lost original singer and creative force, Syd Barrett, Wish You Were Here contains the epic “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” and title track. It also features an iconic cover photograph of two businessmen shaking hands, one of them engulfed in flames. Originally wanting a sleeve devoid of any text, the record label convinced the band to include the now famous illustration of the robotic handshake with a background of the four elements (earth, air, water and fire).

Yes: Fragile

Fragile
Yes (1971)

The cover design by Roger Dean depicts a tiny planet on the front. On the back, the planet has begun to break up and the population is escaping in a wooden space glider – a concept that was to inspire Anderson’s Olias of Sunhillow, as well as the film “Floating Islands.” The depiction of the earth in peril, uninhabitable, in fact, couldn’t be more apropos for today’s environmental crisis. We better start building our wooden space gliders. Noah’s ark ain’t got nothing on me! By the way, Roger Dean is prolific album sleeve designer, particularly for prog bands, having created covers for multiple Yes albums, Uriah Heep, Asia, Budgie, Atomic Rooster, Steve Howe, and Gentle Giant.

Atomic Rooster: Nice 'n Greasy

Nice ‘n’ Greasy
Atomic Rooster (1973)

Atomic Rooster was formed in 1969 by ex-Crazy World of Arthur Brown members, Vincent Crane and Carl Palmer, the latter of whom would go on to much bigger success with the prog rock supergroup, Emerson, Lake & Palmer. Nice ‘n’ Greasy has to be one of the most sexually perverse sleeves in existence, as the three members shoot laser beams from their enormous penises.

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Comments (38)

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COMMENTS (38)

brian said:

This piece breaks my heart, it is so totally awesome.

jimiffondu said:

How could you have missed ‘In the Court of the Crimson King’? Special kudos for Wish You Were Here and Selling England by the Pound…

Top post!

Adam said:

Oh god, not the Mars Volta. That album cover is all that album has going for it.

It’s great though, I guess, if you define prog-rock as

“YEEAAAAAHHH BLAH BLAH CACOPHONY ALTRUISTIC SINTHASOMPHONE SCARAB VESPA CRAWDAD NITROPHENYLENEDIAMINE CATARACT SYZYGY METAPHYSICAL ALBATROSS NOMENCLATURE LATIN WORD LATIN WORD SPANISH SPANISH SPANISH PART ONE TWO THREE YEEEAAAAHHH DURRRRRR *18 minute guitar solo/drum solo/bass solo/keyboard solo/other guitar solo/other drum solo/funny sounds solo MORE GOOFY WORDS FROM A THESAURUS WRITTEN FOR LIT MAJORS BEEP BOP BOOP FIELD RECORDINGS AND THEN TWELVE MORE SOLOS the end”

Schahryar said:

Ya!! Awesome!

Bernard said:

No Rush album !?

Thos Weatherby said:

How about “Weasels Rip My Flesh”.

By fz

Mark said:

“Weasels Ripped My Flesh” is the correct title.
And pretty much any album from Uncle Frank and the Mothers would fit in this list.

adam's mom is a cunt said:

hey adam, i’m so glad you’re here to spew your inspiring opinions. go fuck yourself, the mars volta is prog.

adam's mom said:

hey adam, you’re wrong!

phil said:

No Magma?

frances said:

@ adam

Right. and i suppose de loused was SO much better, and mars volta have been going down hill since then right?
why dont you go read some more pitchfork, listen to some more sonic youth, and then go suck a fat one, because yor SO right you hipster fuck

Kristian said:

to adam: I gotta say, I love the mars volta and i thought your comment was fuckin HILARIOUS(Im still laughin about it). I think they are very talented but your description was so dead-on…bloody brilliant. TMV are a pretty complex band only understood/appreciated by some. To everybody else, it doesn’t matter if you not everybody likes TMV (or any band for that matter), i like their music BECAUSE only certain people like it. Chill

Erik said:

Awesome list, I especially loved the ELP album art by H.R. Giger. Although I’ve never seen that cover, I instantly knew it was his. Giger’s style is all his own. Another album with stunning cover art is Hawkwind’s “Hall of the Mountain Grill.”

Mark said:

@ Jim Iffondu

How could you have missed the “go to page 2 >>” button?

tor schjølberg said:

i think a gentle giant or/and van der graaf generator album artwork should been mentioned. f. eks pawn hearts (vdgg) and octopus (gg).

shawn said:

and most prog does suck. when it’s great it is unbelievable but most is in fact bullshit and has no value for the masses.

Howard said:

“but most is in fact bullshit and has no value for the masses.” ahhh of course because music should be made for the masses, in a watered down fashion so that everyone can sing along.. which is necessary when trying to make as much money as possible as an “artist”. Why would personal expression and style have ANYTHING to do with music??? Come on guys!!! We’ve all had the same lives and experiences, so why the FUCK would anyone want to come out with something that’s somewhat original sounding??? You all know DAMN WELL music should be made to please the potential listener and NOT the artist. STOP ROCKING THE BOAT!!!!

for those of you who dont speak english, or are simply fucking morons, this was sarcastic.

and for the record i dont like ANY of this music, i stumbled this

..ok i lied i like ELP’s Karn Evil 9, 1st movement

Rick Astley said:

We’re no strangers to love
You know the rules and so do I
A full commitment’s what I’m thinking of
You wouldn’t get this from any other guy
I just wanna tell you how I’m feeling
Gotta make you understand
Never gonna give you up
Never gonna let you down
Never gonna run around and desert you
Never gonna make you cry
Never gonna say goodbye
Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you
We’ve know each other for so long
Your heart’s been aching
But you’re too shy to say it
Inside we both know what’s been going on
We know the game and we’re gonna play it
And if you ask me how I’m feeling
Don’t tell me you’re too blind to see
Never gonna give you up
Never gonna let you down
Never gonna run around and desert you
Never gonna make you cry
Never gonna say goodbye
Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you
(Repeat Chorus)
Give you up, give you up
Give you up, give you up
Never gonna give,
Never gonna give, give you up
Never gonna give,
Never gonna give, give you up
(Last four lines repeat)
I just wanna tell you how I’m feeling
Gotta make you understand
(Chorus times three)

Max Greinleib said:

I saw atomic Rooster in concert once in Indianapolis at the now derelect baseball stadium. This was I think 1970 they were no doubt the loudest band of their time.they used some kind of a synthesiser also an innovation.I remember that a huge glass bong was passed around withen sight of the intimidated rental cops, and some crazed stoner crawled inside one of the immense speakers-when the band would hit a chord his hair would blow as if in a hurricane. Im sure his eardrums were destroyed.

quadropus said:

No Rush? Surely Hemispheres or the artwork from Counterparts are good enough to be included on here?

Joe Pike said:

Getting Rick Rolled in the comments section is possibly the dumbest thing I have ever seen online. I quit.

amy said:

I think you’ve been Rick-rolled.

Escoofield said:

Thanks!

Benimus said:

You missed the best of all!!

Lateralus by Tool!!

Toni Caponi said:

Osibisa !

TOni CapOni said:

The Flock Dinosaur Swamps !

Music said:

Wow, thanks

nicobeat said:

COMUS – first utterance. its a great cover

Desserts said:

nice!

aias said:

hahaa.. cool .. my parents have that ELP album i always found it a little creepy.

Starcasm said:

The Faust one is my fav.

Now, back to making fun of people at Starcasm.net

yahooserious said:

No Rush? No Dream Theater? No Kansas? …well ok I’ll forgive that omission.

Danny said:

The Tool album covers are really genius. I love the Lateralus one when you’re flicking through it the word GOD appears in the brain. Some sort of statement?

Davidb said:

Good to see Faust there. Ive got that sleeve.

Firtina Ozbalikci said:

Hello,
I have noticed, that, Ege Bamyasi cover is quite interesting, as Ege is a region in Turkey, and Bamya is the vegetable shown in the picture.
“Ege Bamyasi” means “Okra of Ege”.
So perhaps they took a picture of a can of the okra of Ege, and named their album.

Peter said:

these bands are good but the album art’s not very good in comparison to some stuff out there that actually would blow people’s minds

Kevin MacNutt said:

In the comment that Firtina made about the Can album cover is exactly correct. Actually the cover, if I remember my Can history correctly, is an exact facsimile of the actual can of Turkish okra which was chosen because it actually said Can on the top. The cover is so great because it is a very Warhol inspired concept without any connection with Warhol himself (although I would not doubt Warhol would have owned a Can album in his time).

Aumgn said:

While this might make me quite unpopular here, I have to say, I thought the exact same thing that Adam did upon seeing the Mars Volta albums. I often commented that the only difference between the cacophony of Lou Reed’s “Metal Machine Music” and Mars Volta is Lou Reed spared us from the technoflash guitar noodling and the “look what I can do” drum solos. As for the lyrics, perhaps they should have changed them so something like “We are clever, look how clever we are, didn’t we tell you we were clever, we can speak several languages, multi-syllabic palindromes for the eggheads in the crowd.” That would be a level of honesty I could finally repect them for.

And the lack of Kansas and Rush? Hmmmm…try the page that features Foreigner, Bad Company, Star Castle and Ambrosia. Kansas and Rush belong there, not with prog.

Prog Rock Madness: 18 Album Covers to Blow Your Mind

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