Best Album Covers of the '80s

Okay, by "best" I mean my favorites, nobody should confuse me for an art critic

When I was 6 years old and my brother was 12, he was sometimes in charge of watching me for a couple of hours after school before my mom got home from work. Some days we would walk a few blocks down to the Holiday store, which was like a Target, so he could check out the records and posters for sale. I’d stare at the cover art, mesmerized by the unique imagery and confounded by what the images were communicating. I’ve been intrigued by how artists choose to represent themselves and their music visually ever since.

There are a few things to keep in mind when you read my list. First, I’m solely judging the album covers, not the music. I’ve never even listened to some of these LPs, at least not in their entirety. This isn’t about my favorite bands or favorite musical genres, it’s only about the art that captured my attention in some memorable way, signified something fascinating, or was simply powerful. Second, this isn’t a list of the most iconic ‘80s album covers, although some would certainly belong on that roster. Third, this is by no means a complete list of my favorites. Instead of exhausting all the possibilities, I narrowed it down to the 7 that first came to mind, in no particular order.

Without further ado, here’s my take on the best 1980s album covers.

Quiet Riot, Metal Health—1983

I remember this one freaking me out as a kid. Who is this crazy-ass dude and what did he do to get the straitjacket? I was too young to understand metaphor, allegory, and that it was a play on the term “mental health”. But I loved the bangers this album produced, “Cum On Feel the Noize” and “Metal Health (Bang Your Head)”. It’s the first heavy metal album to top the US charts, selling 10 million copies. The cover was created by Stan Watts (that’s also him in the mask), who said he was inspired to do something that was a nod to Alexandre Dumas’ The Man In the Iron Mask.

Cyndi Lauper, She’s So Unusual—1983

One of my best friends Sherry had this cassette tape and while listening to it on her boombox, I remember being fixated on Cyndi’s wild look. The multicolored hair, the fishnet stockings, the awkward pose like she’s just kicked off her high heels to start dancing in public. She was photographed by Annie Leibovitz in Brooklyn’s Coney Island. I imagine the album’s title is a reference to what Cyndi often heard the basic bitches say about her, something I find relatable as a kid who was sometimes called “weird”. What I love so much about this photo is that it encourages owning your uniqueness, your “weird”, a brave act in a culture that mostly overvalues conformity and punishes different.

Michael Jackson, Thriller—1982

This was the first album I ever owned. I begged my mom for it—I was only 7 years old—after my brother bought his copy but wouldn’t let me even touch it. Now that I think about it, I’m amazed I even wanted it because I remember being terrified of the song “Thriller” whenever my brother played it, hiding in my room in a panic. Maybe finally seeing the music video (also terrifying) helped take the edge off, who knows. It was my brother who taught me how to moonwalk, so I should probably call him and thank him for that. Anyway, as I’m sure every single human on Earth over the age of 25 knows, this album was a big fucking deal at the time, becoming the #1 album for 37 weeks and selling 32 million copies by the end of ‘83 (over 70 million total). All I know is this cover was perfection: the soft white suit, black backdrop, and Jheri curl on a pre-vitiligo and pre-cosmetic surgery Michael was one thing, but by adding an adorable kitty cub they nailed it.

Iron Maiden, Piece of Mind—1983

The cover artist, Derek Riggs, was prolific, creating several of Iron Maiden’s album covers as well as Bruce Dickinson’s when he went solo. I just love ‘80s metal graphics and animation, with the horror themes getting all the repressed fundamentalists to clutch their pearls and panic over their imaginary enemy Satan. Heavy metal bands essentially gave all those bullies the middle finger with their visuals, appealing to teens who were sick and tired of being pushed around by their WASPy families.

Prince, Purple Rain—1984

Anyone who’s been reading GenXcellent for a while already knows my Prince stories so I’m not going to get into those here. I’m going to focus on how beautifully symbiotic this photo is: the fog, the purple motorcycle, his sexy pose straddling said vehicle, Apollonia awaiting his sexiness. The masculine energy balanced by the feminine. It’s just *chef’s kiss*

Duran Duran, Rio—1982

I know I said this wasn’t a list of the most iconic ‘80s album covers, but one of the reasons I love this one so much is how iconically ‘80s it is. I remember seeing this style of art everywhere back then. No dental office, law office, or bank was complete without something like this on the wall. According to some sources, this was around the time it became trendy for bands to create album covers that didn’t feature their own faces, so designers Patrick Nagel and Malcolm Garrett decided to feature a gorgeous woman with a mega-watt smile. What’s interesting is that for years fans had tried tracking down who the model was and they finally got their answer.

Ice-T, Power—1988

When I first saw this in a record store, I couldn’t stop staring at it. I’d never seen anything so boldly sexy on an album before, and the bonus on the back bumped up its cool points. I was just getting introduced to gangsta rap at the time (this was probably in ‘89 though) and women at the time were always just backdrop, often flanking the dudes posing as pimps or narrowed down just to their sexiest body parts. Here, Ice-T’s girlfriend at the time Darlene Ortiz is both sexual AND powerful, standing alongside the men, a FAFO woman ready to kick ass in heels. Just like with heavy metal, gangsta rap artists were giving the middle finger to the uptight racists. In the late ‘80s, we started seeing more rap musicians who didn’t want to play it safe, they wanted to make music authentic to their experiences. I’m grateful I got to witness the rise of hip-hop and rap in real time, it was such a rad time to be a teenager.