The first three Emerson Lake and Palmer albums (self titled, Tarkus and Pictures at an Exhibition) are arguably the first true Rock Mini LPs. They were released on 21st September 1994.

These had been preceded by a much earlier Lotus and a US release of some Rolling Stones albums repackaged for Japan a few short months before these. Neither of these earlier releases was true to the original vinyl although the Stones came close.

The earliest true Minis were two series of MCA Jazz releases from March 1994 (MVCZ-26 to MVCZ-45) including this example: Death and The Flower.

"Finally after 36 years a correct version not only printed beautifully but also opening like a book, as it should." (Roger Dean)

The first reproduction of the original UK booklet style cover (however comes on 2 not 3 CDs). Earlier releases of this (AMCY-2733 and AMCY-6293) were created in the US "accordion" style.

Die cutting of the cover image or inserts is probably the most common technique employed to create gimmick covers. It's probably also in most cases the cheapest.

There are thousands of die cut covers. Here are a few of the more popular and best known releases.

In late 2008 Caroline Records in the USA released a number of albums by the following artists: UFO, Jethro Tull, Quicksilver Messenger, Brian Eno, Roxy Music, The Raspberries, Kate Bush, Blondie, The Band, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Van Der Graaf Generator (full list below).

Unlike the suspect Universal releases these are 100% Japanese. The only difference between these and the Japanese (apart from being as much as 50% cheaper) is a sticker on the bar code of the obi.

As at March 2009 most of these are still available at Amazon.