Fan poll: 5 best album covers of all time

They say don’t judge an album by its cover, but for artists and fans alike, sometimes it’s just impossible not to obsess over the packaging. Whether it’s an intimate portrait, abstract illustration, or outrageous concept, album art can influence people to want to delve deeper into the music. After all, these visual statements often tease what the songs will sound like, and sorting through fascinating covers is largely the point of browsing record shops anyway. With this in mind, we asked our readers to tell us the best album covers of all time, and their answers surprised us. They slipped back into the late ’60s, early 2000s, and even skipped over some crucial artwork (can you believe Dookie didn’t make this list?). Find the top fan picks ranked below.

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5. Fall Out Boy – Take This To Your Grave

It was hard to imagine just how gigantic Fall Out Boy would grow when they released their debut album, Take This To Your Grave, in 2003. The LP, which turned 20 a couple of years ago, features melodramatic songwriting, pop hooks, and unclean screams from Pete Wentz — but it also boats an unforgettable album cover. Shot by Ryan Bakerink, the artwork was later modified to look like something out of Blue Note’s catalog. “We didn’t have a lot of time because it was late, so there was no daylight,” he recalled to us in 2013. “We threw up some studio lights and did some quick shots, more so just trying to pose them in an interesting way. I did those shots on a whim.” It certainly set the tone for their other covers to follow.

4. blink-182 – Enema of the State

blink-182’s Enema of the State cover has inspired thousands of Halloween costumes over the years. It features adult film actor Janine Lindemulder as a nurse, preparing to administer an examination. Turns out that part was initially inspired by the album’s working title. “Up until the very last minute, the album was going to be called Turn Your Head and Cough, and that’s why I came up with the idea of the glove,” photographer David Goldman told HuffPost in 2012. “Obviously, an enema is not really a glove type of thing. I thought it was a good visual.” Either way, the concept still works. It’s easily one of the most memorable album covers of the ’90s, right up there with Dookie, Nevermind, and Return to the 36 Chambers.

3. A Day to Remember – Homesick

Just looking at the album artwork of A Day to Remember’s Homesick makes you want to pick it up and listen from front to back. The wildly intricate design, created by U.K.-based illustrator Dan Mumford, is meant to pop off the page, guided by clean linework and vibrant colors. Put simply, there’s not a single detail that’s put to waste. “The band requested that we put lots of secret codes throughout, making the whole piece a puzzle of sorts for people to work out,” Mumford wrote on social media, reflecting on the album’s 10th anniversary. All these years later, it definitely holds up.

2. My Chemical Romance – Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge

In classic My Chemical Romance fashion, there’s a lot of lore behind the cover of Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge. The artwork by Gerard Way is called “The Demolition Lovers” — the same title as the final track on 2002’s I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love — but was inspired by the 1928 René Magritte painting “The Lovers.” But the bloody imagery does a lot more than pay homage, teasing the concept (a man who strikes a deal with the devil to be reunited with his partner), as well as the band’s black-and-red aesthetic for the album cycle. Safe to say, this cover is seared into our memories for good.

1. The Beatles – Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band

By the time the Beatles reached their Sgt. Pepper’s era, they had already accomplished far more than they set out to do. That’s why the album cover was conceived as a way to position them as a new group, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, surrounded by fans and like-minded characters. The groundbreaking collage features a wide-ranging cast (Lenny Bruce, Carl Jung, Edgar Allan Poe, etc.), with the band members specifically curating the inclusions to reflect their own interests and inspirations. The result is just stunning, quickly becoming one of the most instantly recognizable and innovative covers in the last 50 years.