15 Classic Rock album BACK covers that are arguably better than the FRONT cover

26 September 2025, 15:00

Album covers are an art, there's no doubt. But what goes on when you flip that vinyl LP over? Sometimes, the back cover is just as eye-catching...

1. The Beatles - Abbey Road: release date 26th September 1969

   

   Ian Macmillan's famous photograph of The Beatles on the zebra crossing outside the EMI studios in St John's Wood one August morning is one of the most iconic images in rock music. Apple Records creative director John Kosh decided - against EMI's wishes - that the picture didn't need any typography clogging up the clarity of the design, so the word "BEATLES" was added to a nearby street sign saying "ABBEY ROAD" and relegated to the back cover. Macmillan's camera caught a girl in a blue summer dress walking by, completing the composition.

   

2. The Doors - Strange Days: release date 25th September 1967

   

   The band's second album had a more subtle design than the group shot that appeared on their first LP - although if you look closely, you can see an image of The Doors as a poster on the wall. Instead, photographer Joel Brodsky captured an atmosphere of "strangeness" with an assorted collection of "circus performers" (the trumpet player being a local cab driver in reality). The alleyway is Sniffen Court in Manhattan and the carnival atmosphere continues on the back as one of the performers tries his luck soliciting a donation from a local resident.

   

3. The Rolling Stone - Through The Past, Darkly (Big Hits Vol. 2): release date 12th September 1969

   

   This Stones compilation appeared shortly before the release of the band's Let It Bleed album and came packaged in a unique octagonal cover. The Biblical quote "For now we see through a glass, darkly, but then face to face" is interpreted by designer John Kosh by having the group press their faces up against a window pane... on the reverse of the LP, the glass has cracked alarmingly. If you're the sort to look for "clues", this was the first Stones album to be released since the death of founding member Brian Jones in July 1969 - the cracks could be interpreted as the first "cracks" in the band's line-up. Maybe.

   

4. Paul McCartney - McCartney: release date 17th April 1970

   

   Macca's first real solo album featured, naturally, photography by his new wife Linda Eastman, with an image that maybe hinted that life for the ex-Beatle at that point was no longer a "bowl of cherries". The back cover was more reassuring, however, with a charming shot of a bearded Paul at his farm in Scotland with new daughter Mary tucked inside his sheepskin coat. This encapsulated the mood of the music, which was a home-made, family affair, and some cassette editions favoured this image as the cover.

   

5. John Lennon - Imagine: release date 8th October 1971

   

   Meanwhile, over in the Lennon camp, it's been revealed that the cover of John's second "real" solo album featured a Polaroid taken by wife Yoko Ono, giving it an ethereal air. The back cover, however, features a more professional shot of the ex-Beatle gazing at the sky, alongside a Yoko quote: "Imagine the clouds dripping. Dig a hole in your garden to put them in."

   

6. David Bowie - The Rise & Fall Ziggy Stardust & The Spiders From Mars

   

   The famous cover photo of Bowie lounging in Heddon Street, just off Regent Street in London, was taken by Brian Ward on a chilly January night. On the reverse, Bowie is pictured in an old-style British telephone box, which subtly links to the storyline of the song Starman: "I had to phone someone so I picked on you." At least the musician had a few moments of warmth in the phone box - he was full of the flu at the time of the shoot.

   

7. The Velvet Underground - The Velvet Underground & Nico: released March 1967

   

   The classic debut album from the pioneering New York band included the iconic Andy Warhol "peelable banana" design as its cover. On the reverse, there was a shot of the band performing at one of the artists's Exploding Plastic Inevitable events. Unfortunately, the photo managed to catch an image of one Eric Emerson projected on the wall behind them, leading the Warhol-affiliated actor to try and sue MGM Records for some cash. The label retaliated by covering up the picture of the star of Heat and Chelsea Girls with a big black sticker on some editions.

   • Read more: Classic Rock album covers that were changed, banned or censored

   

8. KISS - Alive! Release date 10th September 1975

   

   The rather staged front cover of the American glam titans "rocking out" clashes with the charming back cover shot of Kiss fans patiently waiting for their heroes in what's probably the most "mid-70s" photo possible. Down in front!

   

9. Kraftwerk - Computer World: release date 11th May 1981

   

   The German electronic rock pioneers made the leap into the 1980s with this innovative album. The sleeve art was a primitive idea of what a technology-based future could look like (and let's face it, the reality was the ZX Spectrum and iPads), but the back cover showcased some real kit. It depicts the four band members' mannequin doppelgangers at work in Kraftwerk's impressive Kling Klang studio in Dusseldorf. Check out those power connections!

   

10. Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here: release date 12th September 1975

    

    Floyd's ninth studio album had their most intricate packaging yet. If you peeled away the black shrink wrap, you were confronted by the famous shot of two men shaking hands, one of whom is on fire. The back cover is even weirder, reflecting the songs Welcome To The Machine and Have A Cigar, which both concern the price of fame. A faceless, "empty suit" is seen offering up Pink Floyd records in a literal desert, indicating that the group may not be all that comfortable with the huge industry success that greeted their previous album, Dark Side Of The Moon. Have you got it on cassette, mate?

    

11. Electric Light Orchestra - Discovery: release date 1st June 1979

    

    The ELO logo - designed by John Kosh (see above) - had made its debut on the 1976 album A New World Record and had been adapted into a space station for the Platinum-selling Out Of The Blue the following year. For Jeff Lynne's eighth outing under the Electric Light Orchestra moniker, the logo has now become a glowing treasure, with an Aladdin-like figure "discovering" it in some darkened room. Flip the album over, and uh-oh, it looks like our boy has been rumbled. The scenario continues into the inner gatefold sleeve, as the boy is chased across the desert by a group of sword-wielding guards on horseback. The bad guy on the back cover was played by comedian and acotor Brad Garrett, later known for his role in the TV show Everybody Loves Raymond.

    

12. Peter Gabriel - Peter Gabriel II: release date 2nd June 1978

    

    The former Genesis singer's second self-titled solo outing has a startling front cover, designed by the Hipgnosis group and photographed by Throbbing Gristle man Peter Christopherson. However, the reverse of the "scratch" cover is more subtly unsettling and atmospheric, featuring a hunched figure scuttling into the snowy New York cityscape.

    

13. Talking Heads - Little Creatures: release date 10th June 1985

    

    The Reverend Howard Finster was something of a hero to many rock bands with his naive "outsider art" and he'd been asked to create a cover for R.E.M.'s Reckoning album in 1984. Finister did the honours for Talking Heads' sixth studio album the following year, but perhaps more fascinating are the colourful outfits the four members of the group are wearing on the back cover - they could quite easily be in Prince's backing band with that clobber. The formal line-up pose is a nod to the front cover of Talking Heads' 1978 album, More Songs About Building And Food.

    

14. Led Zeppelin - IV: release date 8th November 1971

    

    For such a huge-selling and monumentally important rock album, Led Zeppelin's untitled fourth album certainly has some unassuming artwork The cover features a photo of a picture on a wall, depicting a roof thatcher from the 1890s, while if you flip the record over, you'll see that the picture is hanging on a genuine wall in a half-demolished building, just beside Salisbury Tower in Birmingham. The actual stairway to heaven is not pictured (but there's probably a lift, too).

    

15. Wings - Wings At The Speed Of Sound: release date 26th March 1976

    

    Linda McCartney's cover shot of the album title hung on a cinema-style marquee pales in comparison with the rather grotesque back cover: a Clive Arrowsmith montage of each member of Wings in various different moods. Our conclusion is that Paul and Linda are best at pulling faces and bearded drummer Joe English needs to make more of an effort