Iconic Album Covers: Stories Behind the Art

Music by Witch of November.

PJ Pat invites listeners to explore the fascinating stories behind some of music's most iconic album covers. From Nirvana's 'In Utero' to Bruce Springsteen's 'Born in the USA,' discover how artists like Kurt Cobain and Raymond Pettibon created imagery that visually encapsulates their music. 

Additionally, the episode explains the significant artistic elements behind albums from Sonic Youth, Genesis, and Rage Against the Machine, offering a richer appreciation for these unforgettable artworks. Tune in and get ready to learn something new about your favorite albums!

00:00 Welcome to the It's 1 Louder Podcast
00:23 Exploring the YouTube Channel and Shorts
01:26 Introducing Album Covers Explained
02:25 Nirvana's In Utero Album Cover
03:38 Sonic Youth's Goo Album Cover
04:49 Genesis' Invisible Touch Album Cover
05:55 Bruce Springsteen's Born in the USA Album Cover
06:51 Rage Against the Machine's The Battle of Los Angeles Album Cover

Transcript

[00:00:00] Speaker: Welcome to the It's one Louder podcast.

[00:00:14] Speaker: Hey, Roxanne, thank you so much for tuning in. I really appreciate it. I can't tell you how much it means to me for you to check me out on a regular basis, so thank you. You may or may not know this, but I actually have a YouTube channel as well. So a lot of the podcast episodes I put on here, you can actually see my ugly mug on YouTube.

[00:00:33] Speaker: And, and I normally, I, uh, include some imagery or some, uh, pictures of the magazines I read on there. My channel is called Rock with bj Pat. There also is a section where it's just the, it's one louder podcast. You can check out the old. Uh, episodes on there. Also, as part of the channel, I try to release on a regular basis these shorts.

[00:00:56] Speaker: You know, YouTube started mimicking TikTok and Instagram with these shorts. So I released these one minute shorts and I talk about all kinds of stuff. But recently I've been. Releasing, uh, album covers explained. So I show the artwork for the album cover and I kind of go through within a minute as one of the songs from the album is playing in the background.

[00:01:19] Speaker: I describe the meaning behind that artwork and what it represents and how it came about. So if you're interested in that stuff, go check it out, but. I thought it would be interesting to just put the audio clips of that here in this short episode. So you're going to hear Sonic Youth Genesis Rage Against the Machine, Bruce Springsteen and Nirvana's album covers, and hopefully you learn a thing or two.

[00:01:40] Speaker: I certainly did, and I was researching it, so I'll play that momentarily. But by the way, if you do enjoy the music in the background, I'd be humbled if you were to check out my band. It's called Witch on November. And we have an EP out. Um, it's been out for a couple years now, so hopefully you like a song or two, hopefully, I don't know, maybe kind of, maybe thought I'd throw that in there.

[00:02:02] Speaker: Also, if you do wanna support my efforts and you're in lack of rock and roll theme apparel, go check out its one louder.com. That's ITS, the number one louder.com, and you can get yourself a mug, a cap, a t-shirt, a hoodie, whatever suits your fancy. It'd be appreciated. Thank you so much. Alright, let's get right into it.

[00:02:22] Speaker: Here we go. Let's talk about this iconic Nirvana album called In Utero, released back in 1993. This is a remix album from 2013, so it's a black background, but the original album had a pale background. This album artwork was conceptualized by the man himself, Kurt Cobain, also designed by Kurt Cobain. He was obsessed, believe it or not, with medical books and anatomy, and actually went out and purchased this transparent mannequin from a medical supply store and modified it a little bit to include angel wings, reflect that, and angelic imagery.

[00:02:56] Speaker: Now, this album cover reflects a lot of the biological themes. From the songs, he actually throws in a, a bunch of words related to anatomy in his songs, which is kind of cool. Now, today it seems like nothing, but back in 1993, Walmart and Kmart actually censored this album artwork. So they obscured the breasts and the genitalia area of the mannequin, believe it or not, also.

[00:03:21] Speaker: A couple of the words from, uh, the songs as well, like, rape Me. I guess it's not too conducive to kids, but man, what an album. It was a drastic shift, I find in terms of sound from, nevermind. Unbelievable. What else can I say? Go check it out. Let's talk about one of the most recognizable indie rock band album covers of all time.

[00:03:43] Speaker: Right here, Sonic Youth Go Album released in 1990. Here, this is the back. The artist's name is Raymond Peton, and this drawing was actually inspired by a true crime story. It was inspired by a news photo of Maureen Henley and her boyfriend leaving the court after giving their testimony of Maureen's sister who was accused of murder.

[00:04:04] Speaker: Look it up. Now, Raymond was famous for working with Black Flag as one of his brothers, was a founding member of the Black Flag, and he was known for like the black and white stark imagery, accompanied with disturbing and dark, uh, captions. So this one reads, I stole my sister's boyfriend. It was all whirlwind heat and flash.

[00:04:24] Speaker: Within a week, we killed my parents and hit the road. So obviously this screams out. This is not mainstream. This is not for you. This is underground. Music, which reflects sonic uses dark and edgy sound at the time. So if you're into that alternative noise rock, auntie Bieber, auntie Taylor Swift, anti pop rock.

[00:04:46] Speaker: This is for you right here, Sonic use. Goo. Let's talk about this album cover by the Iconic Band Genesis in regards to their album Invisible Touch. Now, obviously this hand represents touch. Literally this was uh, designed by a London-based company that did work for Dire Strait and The Jam. This hand was actually scanned and highlighted in bold colors representing the design aesthetics of the day.

[00:05:10] Speaker: This album was released in the eighties in 1986. What I find really interesting is the background with the geometry here, the square here. To me, it, it reminds me of sound waves or actually, uh, a closeup of a fingerprint. Again, tying into the touch motif or theme I should say. And if you look closely, this whole, this gray thing, it's actually a family.

[00:05:31] Speaker: There's actually four people here, um, which ties into the theme of the album that, uh, talks about communication and relationships. A lot of the songs are about. You know, the interaction between humans and two individuals. So really cool. This kind of ties into everything about this album and also the design and theme of the MTV era of the day.

[00:05:55] Speaker: Alright, let's talk about this iconic photograph on this amazing album by Bruce Springsteen, born in USA. This photograph was taken by Annie Leitz, which is a very famous portrait photographer, and I think she captures, uh, Bruce Springsteen's working class image absolutely perfectly here. SP springing himself said that this was not meant to be a blind, patriotic symbol.

[00:06:17] Speaker: It was meant to reflect the dualities of American life, like for example, pride in your country, but also frustrations on its failures. I think obviously the t-shirt jeans and cap reflect the blue collar American, but the stark lighting and even the way the the person is positioned is definitely a raw and honest feel.

[00:06:36] Speaker: Also, basically critiquing that, Hey, this is not all about. Flag waving good feelings. There's also a, a, a dark reality under it. So, and, and, and all that is reflected in Bruce Springs' music on his album. Just simply amazing. Let's talk about this cover art. Now this image absolutely reflects res and machines revolutionary anti-establishment mindset, and it pretty much says, Hey, you know what?

[00:07:03] Speaker: The revolution isn't coming. It's already here, and it's in the streets. Now this was done by artists named Joey Krebs, also known as the Street Phantom. Joey Krebs is a Los Angeles based street artist, known for its political murals and stencil art, and they couldn't have picked, I think, a better artist for this.

[00:07:22] Speaker: Now, I love the anonymity of the, uh, image. The fact that it is, uh, uh, spray painted graffiti related. It's, it means like revolution, kind of re rebellious, and the fact that it's anonymous. Means that, hey, this revolution is for everybody. This political anti-establishment movement is for everybody. It's not just for one individual or one race.

[00:07:44] Speaker: This is for everybody. What an image and perfectly reflects the band. I.