16.) Queen II by Queen
Photographer: Mick Rock
Queen enlisted Rock to capture the photograph for the cover of their second record, eager for some of the glam rock kudos that he had – following work for David Bowie, Lou Reed and Iggy Pop – to rub off on them, after their debut album had failed to take off as they had hoped. They initially thought the shot too pretentious, but Rock persuaded them to go with it – “It made them look like much bigger a deal then they were at the time, but it was a true reflection of their music” – and, of course, Rock was proven 100% correct, with the array of faces becoming truly iconic when used in the video for breakthrough opus Bohemian Rhapsody a year later.
15.) The Velvet Underground and Nico by The Velvet Underground
Designer: Andy Warhol
It helped that the album itself would become a cult classic and hugely influential, but that Andy Warhol banana print could have been the cover of Jedward’s debut album and still been considered an iconic sleeve image. Early copies of the album had the invitation to “Peel slowly and see” enabling the owner to peel back the banana skin to reveal a flesh-coloured banana underneath. Fruity indeed.
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