Just like book covers, album covers have quite a job to do. They have to instantaneously capture the audience’s attention and intrigue them enough for the person to take some sort of action, whether it’s picking it off the shelf or listening to a song or two.

Album covers also need to reflect what kind of music is in the album, which can be quite a tough task. After all, music is a completely auditory experience and coming up with a visual representation of a sound that also tells a story is complicated to say the least. 

That is why the images that end up on album covers are usually so intriguing. And, when you spot one in the wild, you recognize their unique quality right away.

The following list is comprised of such gems found on the Images That Could Be Album Covers subreddit. Scroll down to see them and let us know what band or genre it would suit best.

#1 This Is Not A Coincidence

Image credits: less_fear_24

When you think about an album cover, there are a few that might come to mind. One of the most iconic ones out there, though, has to be Abbey Road by The Beatles. The image of the band crossing the street is widely recognizable and has been parodied by everyone, from Sesame Street to Red Hot Chili Peppers. It was taken by Iain Macmillan, a photographer who was introduced to the band by Yoko Ono. 

After Paul McCartney did some initial sketching for what the image should look like, they did the shoot on August 8th at 11:35AM, believing it was just publicity shots. Macmillan stood on a 10ft ladder in the middle of the street and took 6 pictures. Later on, because of the time crunch, the art director and album cover designer John Kosh decided to just go with the best of six and ended up with a cover that went down in pop culture history.

#2 Planet Closed

Image credits: chasehoffman

#3 Childhood

Image credits: yahyaawsome

What’s interesting about this cover is that it doesn’t have the name of the band or the album written on it. This brilliant decision that was suggested by Kosh was controversial at the time. The people at the record company EMI were very displeased by this idea as they thought they won’t be able to sell any records because of it. 

However, the band approved it, and they still went ahead with Kosh’s vision. “It’s one of the biggest bands in the world, you don’t need to actually say who they are—everyone knows who they are, Kosh mentioned when recalling the situation years later. “But it was a major fire. I got threatening phone calls,” he laughed.

#4 Flying Cat

Image credits: DatBoi3779

#5 [u/Ilovesurrealism]

Image credits: OhTcxic

#6 Please Wait

Image credits: reddit.com

Nirvana’s Nevermind is another album cover that is widely recognizable everywhere. A baby swimming underwater and reaching for a dollar bill is quite a concept that instantly appealed to the photographer Kirk Weddle. At the time, he was marketing himself as an underwater photographer and wanted to give it a shot.

#7 A Photo I Took On A Foggy Night At My College

Image credits: memerminecraft

#8 Caught This At A Great Time A While Back

Image credits: namezarehard

#9 The Sight Of Flowers

Image credits: Acri005

Coincidentally, his friends had just had a baby, so he paid them 200 dollars for a shoot in a pool. According to him, it was all very low budget because the band wasn’t well-known at the time and he orchestrated it all by himself. The set-up took an hour and the shoot—5 minutes. He walked away with 25 snaps, confident that he had the winning shot. When looking at the shots later, though, he realized how exposed the baby was.

#10 No, Next Question

Image credits: Historical-Form9681

#11 Twenty Skies

Image credits: Darabont09

#12 Cross

Image credits: ayylmaotv

Afraid that the visible genitalia of the baby might be unacceptable, Weddle set out to get photos of other babies. He took a few pictures of baby girls in a public pool, but the band wanted to go with the initial suggestion. Apparently, the frontman Kurt Cobain suggested that the only acceptable censorship for the image is a sticker covering the private parts that says “If you're offended by this, you must be a closet pedophile.” So, the image was released as it was.

#13 Title

Image credits: vnNinja21

#14 Shell

Image credits: ayylmaotv

#15 Rage

Image credits: Kohlner

The story of the cover image didn’t end there, though. That is because the baby in the photo, Spencer Elden, grew up and started feeling uncomfortable about it. He tried to reach out to people that were in the band and those involved in the production of the album, but didn’t get a single message back. His involvement was quite overwhelming for him.

#16 Came From True I Guess, But Looks Like It Could Be A Album Cover

Image credits: reddit.com

#17 As I Burn

Image credits: Meme_team12

#18 Reminder

Image credits: Qkumb3r

“[When] I go to a baseball game and think about it: 'Man, everybody at this baseball game has probably seen my little baby penis,' I feel like I got part of my human rights revoked," said Elden when talking to Time magazine about the cover. So, he sued the surviving members of the band, the photographer, as well as Cobain’s estate.

#19 Sun During A Solar Eclipse Behind Some Clouds

Image credits: SCPConfinement

#20 Shining Lights Alt

Image credits: WispyZuccs

#21 Lights

Image credits: not_a_number1

However, his attempt to seek monetary compensation didn’t go well. His case was dismissed multiple times after the defendants argued that he made money off of it his whole life. He did multiple reenactments of the shoot, has “Nevermind” tattooed on his chest, and once mentioned in an interview that he was “glad” they chose him. So why would he be so upset about it now?

#22 Guitar Girl

Image credits: BurakTreaty

#23 Made On Earth By Humans

Image credits: less_fear_24

#24 S

Image credits: Hungry_Quiet_731

All in all, album covers are quite a fascinating thing to explore. They have histories attached to them, as well as the stories that come from the pictures themselves. Intriguing and open to interpretation, they capture our minds and hearts and imprint themselves on history. Who knows, maybe the next big thing is on this list.

#25 Streetlighted

Image credits: less_fear_24

#26 I Don't Know

Image credits: nosijf982

#27 In Loving Memory

Image credits: less_fear_24

#28 A Lie

Image credits: -Horror-Picture-

#29 This Butterfly In A Skull Formed An Eye Pattern

Image credits: CarelessImportance5

#30 Lonely Station

Image credits: Traipeks

#31 Red Room

Image credits: WispyZuccs

#32 Punk Band Type Album Cover

Image credits: Otto-mathias

#33 During A Walk In The Rain, I Stumbled Upon This Sad Sight

Image credits: harrywhelks

#34 I Made This A Couple Of Years Ago

Image credits: paloval

#35 Apathy

Image credits: MNM0412

#36 Broken Light Not Giving Up

Image credits: parisutonhiru

#37 Duck

Image credits: xwing52

#38 Cats Just Want To Watch The World Burn

Image credits: ImACrazyBitch200

#39 A Man And His Dog During The Australian Wildfires

Image credits: KingOfJuiceBoxes

#40 "Men Dead Working End" Found In An Fb Group Source Unknown

Image credits: sph_ynto

#41 Album Cover?

Image credits: reddit.com

#42 The Passenger

Image credits: Dave3121

#43 Someone Said This Has Album Cover Energy So I Decided To Put It Here

Image credits: OatmeneticYT

#44 Just Found This And Thought, This Could Be Nice Cover

Image credits: anon

#45 :(

Image credits: less_fear_24

#46 Sumo Wrestlers In Sunflower Field

Image credits: abitmisleading

#47 Now D*e

Image credits: La_saawce

#48 E X I T

Image credits: TheMightyBattleSquid

#49 This Basketball Court

Image credits: AlteredMentality_

#50 Photo Taken By Me At Santa Monica Beach

Image credits: JohnLogicOfficial

#51 This Was Taken Two Years Ago, Surely It Still Holds Up?

Image credits: reddit.com

#52 Fire Porsche

Image credits: WispyZuccs

#53 Mt. Rainier

Image credits: Ianmeeer

#54 "Palace" By @ijmillz

Image credits: not_a_number1

#55 A Pool Untouched By The Brown Flood Waters

Image credits: werydan1

#56 Men On The Moon

Image credits: itsfredi

#57 UPS Is Determined

Image credits: Sushi402

#58 Catholic Priests At A Seminary Playing A Game Of Basketball, Bergamo, Italy, 1964

Image credits: PolandBallFan42069

#59 Hey V-Sauce Michael Here

Image credits: Appropriate_Jaguar_1

#60 Somethings Holy Happens There

Image credits: merthot2

#61 Most Important Instrument In The Orchestra

Image credits: No-Pool5735

#62 Skybow

Image credits: Safe-Permission1529

#63 Flight Attendant In A Turbine

Image credits: anders066

#64 Lights Rays In An Abandoned Theatre

Image credits: CatandthePigeons

#65 The March

Image credits: Achakita

#66 Welp, This Street Lamp Looks Absolutely Terrifying

Image credits: RandomHobbyist6969

#67 A Recent Flood Where I Live

Image credits: Snipez_2412

#68 Circuit City

Image credits: BloodyBladeKane

#69 Daft Punk In Japan (2000)

Image credits: ayylmaotv

#70 I've Been To Places

Image credits: less_fear_24

#71 Long Exposure Traffic Light

Image credits: Jedijake42

#72 F**k Station

Image credits: Urbien18

#73 Cloud

Image credits: Furygvn

#74 Kids Posing For A Photo In Chicago 1941

Image credits: kuneho-

#75 Distracted Thoughts

Image credits: vashkigalix

#76 We Will Find You

Image credits: Sherman_Firefly_

#77 Was Just Texting My Friends My Location At The Bar And Snapped This

Image credits: autismovaccination

#78 No Signal

Image credits: itsfredi

#79 Inside Of A Penguins Mouth

Image credits: LocalFemboyManaka

#80 A Church In My Hometown

Image credits: ZachWasTakenWasTaken