Here is a selection (in chronological order of original release) of the most elaborate album covers of all time. Unfortunately not all of them have been released on mini LP (not yet anyway).

You could argue that some of these are actually "the most annoying album covers of all time" given that it can sometimes be quite difficult to get the final product (the vinyl or CD discs) out without potentially dropping and thereby scratching them.

	Artist	Album	Features
	The Who	Live at Leeds	1970.05 Brown cardboard (manila folder / bootleg like) cover includes a poster, letters, contracts, postcard, pictures etc.
	Rolling Stones	Sticky Fingers	1971.04 Conceived by Andy Warhol, executed by Craig Braun (who also created School's Out (Alice Cooper), Big Bambu (Cheech and Chong) and the box for the 1972 orchestral version of Tommy (The Who))
	Curved Air	Second Album (UK)	1971.09 A simple but effective die-cut cover, the rainbow on the front cover is made from layered die cut folds.
	Jethro Tull	Thick as a Brick	1972.03 A series of loosely related articles presented as a local rag. The lyrics are well disguished as just another mindless article.
	Emerson, Lake & Palmer	Brain Salad Surgery	1973.11 Welcome to the machine... Designed with little regard for the protection of the disc and maximum gimmick effect.
	Santana	Lotus	1974.05 Open the gatefold, open the left side out and out and out and out, ditto the right side.

 

Honourable mentions

There are many other albums that deserve special mention for different reasons. We have created additional pages for these. They include:

• Die cut album covers and inserts;
• Albums with tons of inserts or thick booklets;
• Albums with complex gatefolds;
• Albums with unusual packaging.

 

 

Recommendations from members (work in progress)

	Artist	Album	Features
Japanese - still to be scanned	Black Sabbath	Master of Reality
Japanese - still to be scanned	Elton John	Honky Chateau
Japanese - still to be scanned	Mott The Hoople	Mott
Japanese - still to be scanned	Bob Marley	Babylon by Bus
Japanese - still to be scanned	Rod Stewart	Every Picture Tells a Story
	The Deviants	Ptooff!
	Kluster	Klopfzeichen
	Kluster Zwei	Osterei
	Grand Funk Railroad	E Pluribus Funk
	Carpenters	Carpenters
	Catapilla	Changes
	Godley & Creme	Consequences
	The Trip	Atlantide
	Bob Marley	Catch A Fire
Not a mini yet	Hawkwind	Space Ritual
Not a mini yet	Hawkwind	In Search of Space
Not a mini yet	Hawkwind	Warrior on the Edge of Time
Not a mini yet	Glastonbury Fayre

 

Next >