Art Sleeves

When I was growing up-specifically in my teens and twenties (1960s-1970s) music was a big thing.  Super groups like Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Jethro Tull, et al, were hugely popular.

Record albums flew off the shelves.  Besides the music the cover and interior art of the albums could make or break and album.

With 33 1/3 vinyls the record album covers measured closed to 12” X 12” and both the cover, the back and in many cases the interior (some with small booklets or pamphlets) were just as prized as the music.

This trend continued into the 1980s but slowed down around 1990 when CDs became popular.

Suddenly the giant vinyls were shrunk down to small discs and so too did the cover art on the albums.  The art was still there, but not nearly as predominant.

Album cover art did not disappear; it just adapted to the times.

There was still some great art in the 1980s and there still is up until today.

Some of the industry’s top talent created album covers and DB Burkeman and Rizzoli New York's Art Sleeves Album Covers by Artists contains reproductions of the best of the batch.

Every genre of music is represented.

Album covers consist of photos, montages, drawings, paintings and more.

Full color photos of the albums grace each page and informative and historical text delves into not only the art but also the albums themselves.

Each cover is labeled with the artist, the musician, the name of the album and the year it was released.

It’s not only a visual feast but also a hardbound book about the history of album art, the music and the artists (both visual and musical) that made each album possible.