SV

Best of each artist · One record per artist

Best cover

Records you recognise from across the room. One cover per artist – and the story behind the picture.

All 25Rock 10Pop 1Soul, funk and R&B 1Jazz 2Hip hop 2Electronic 2Folk, country and song 1Hard rock and metal 6
  1. 1 Black Sabbath Black Sabbath 1970 · Hard rock and metal A figure in black in front of a watermill in the mist. Heavy metal got its first image before the genre even had a name. Timeless classic
  2. 2 Iron Maiden The Number of the Beast 1982 · Hard rock and metal Derek Riggs’s painting: Eddie works the Devil like a puppet, who in turn works a smaller Eddie. Who is pulling the strings? Timeless classic
  3. 3 Metallica Master of Puppets 1986 · Hard rock and metal White crosses in a graveyard, controlled by puppet strings. A simple, unsettling picture of the title’s idea. Timeless classic
  4. 4 Tool Lateralus 2001 · Hard rock and metal Alex Grey’s art on transparent sheets laid on top of each other, showing the body layer by layer. Modern classic
  5. 5 Kiss Destroyer 1976 · Hard rock and metal Ken Kelly’s painting of Kiss leaping over a burning city. Pure comic-book rock. Timeless classic
  6. 6 Slayer Reign in Blood 1986 · Hard rock and metal Larry Carroll’s painting of hell is as brutal as the album – and just as blunt. Timeless classic

25 artists in the list.