LONDON CALLING - THE CLASH
This is the third album by The Clash. The shot is actually a photograph taken by a photographer (named Pennie Smith) during their US tour in 1979 of the bass guitarist (Paul Simonon) smashing his bass against the stage. As a photograph, it's quite well-taken and succesful as she managed to capture him right before impact and show him in good quality (not looking blurry, as he was in rapid movement).
The pink and green bubble-like letters of the album's title are a homage to Elvis Presley's debut album, which had his name in the same style and colours (as well as also a black-and-white photograph, courtesy of its time).
The cover has been described as the ultimate rock and roll moment - a loss of control (Simonon literally had lost control) and a representation of chaos (an overall feeling which embodied the followers of punk) . This representation of chaos fits well with the album's subject matter, which includes unemployment, racial conflict, responsibilities of adulthood and drug use - all of which are at least in some way chaotic.
THE DON KILLUMINATI: THE 7 DAY THEORY - 2PAC
The final album that the artist Tupac Shakur made before his assassination; it was not released until after his death, although he had already completed it. The cover shows a drawing of him dying on the cross (the white letters read "In no way is this portrait an expression of disrespect for Jesus Christ"), which seemed even more poignant once it ended up being released after he had actually died. But the artist had chosen this cover to both convey his crucifixion by the media and to imply an artistic renaissance, as he had decided to change his artist name from 2Pac to Makaveli. Thus, it’s supposed to mean ‘2Pac’ dies on the cross but is resurrected as ‘Makaveli' (named after the Italian philosopher Niccolò Machiavelli). The theme of resurrection is also frequent throughout the album's lyrics (this whole resurrection business helped add theories to the countless rumours which claimed Tupac had faked his death and would return at some point in the future).
Perhaps the most conventional aspect of the hip-hop genre to this cover is the parental advisory sign, which is placed on a convenient spot (it is rare to see a hip-hop album without a parental advisory sign). The lettering on the cover shows his 'name' much more larger and brighter than the album's title, perhaps to emphasise on the fact that he wanted to become known as Makaveli from then on. The album's grim cover links well with the grim content of the lyrics, which deal with his fears, agonies, angers, and with his paranoia of an upcoming death he rightly predicted.
CRISIS? WHAT CRISIS? - SUPERTRAMP
The image on the front cover of Supertramp’s fourth album mirrors the title (taken from a line in the 1973 film ‘The Day of the Jackal’) as if the man in the photo is saying the title out loud. While there is no obviously chaotic sign of crisis in the background, the dull, grey, messy, dirty and polluted (as implied by the factory chimneys) and overall negative landscape contrasts heavily with the man sat in a ‘sun’ which only shines on him, with a radio, drink and newspaper, all items of relax and comfort. So of course, it greatly represents the album's title is as if the background is the crisis and the man is the ignorant asking of 'what crisis?'.
As one may predict from the relaxed cover, the musical composition of the songs is bright and jolly (the album starts with someone whistling down a street). Referring back to the 'crisis' title, one could imagine the band happily playing through each song as the world crashes around them.
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