Number 1 - Rancid "...AND OUT COME THE WOLVES"

Chloe's favorite album cover is by Rancid. It is featured on ",,,And Out Come the Wolves" which features a tribute to a band named Minor Threat, who was a hardcore punk band. The photograph is an image of the Minor Threat brother. The individual is a man in punk clothing with a mo hawk hair style with his hands on his knees while sitting on steps (Wikipedia). Rancid decided to call the album "And Out Come the Wolves" due to the fact that they were being sought after by several labels trying to sign them.
The cover art is a tribute to Minor Threat, a landmark hardcore punk band, that originally used the image of Alec MacKaye (brother of the band's lead singer Ian MacKaye) with his head on his knees on steps of the "Dischord House" on their eponymous EP.

Number 2 - The Clash "London Calling"

The Clash album cover for "London Calling" was designed by Ray Lowry as a tribute to Elvis Presley. Elvis first album featured the same type of text as this album but with Elvis on the front cover. The photo was taken by Pennie Smith who thought it was too out of focus to be included as any part of the album. Q magazine, named it the best rock and roll photograph of all time, stating, "it captures the ultimate ronk'n'roll moment - total loss of control" (Wikipedia).  The cover is of the bass guitarist, Simonon, smashing his bass guitar. He would later state it was a great photo but unfortunately that was his favorite Fender bass.

Number 3 - Tool "Lateralus"

The album cover is of the inside of a human body. Inside the cd is an insert that reveals the different layers of the human body. In the final layer, in the brain matter" is the word "God". Artwork was completed by artist Alex Gray (Wikipedia).

Number 4 - The Beatles "Sgt Peppers Lonely Heart Club Band"

The Beatles "Sgt Peppers Lonely Heart Club Band" features a collage of famous, semi-famous, and friends that inspired the Beatles through their life. Starting at the top you can find images on Edgar Allen Poe, Marilyn Monroe, Marlon Brando and even the Beatles themselves from when they originally started out. They included themselves to say good bye to their yesterday persona. In the middle is a bass drum with the title of the album and below that is flowers spelling out the band's name. Per Wikipedia this is one of the most expensive album covers ever made due to the cost of the images of the people behind them.

Number 5 - Led Zepplin "Led Zepplin"

The album cover was chosen by Jimmy Page.  It is a black and white phone of the infamouse "Hindenburg" airship. The album cover received unwanted attention in Copenhagen when a relative of the Zepplin aircraft threaten to sue of the name Zepplin and seeing the logo of the "Hidenburg" going down in flames (Wikipedia). The image does a great job caputuring the music within.

Number 6 - The Smiths "The Queen is Dead"

The cover art work comes from the bands lead singer (Morrissey) fascination with '60s British cinema. The album cover is David Bradley from a promotional shot from a 1969 film of "A Kestrel for a Knave". The film was completed in black and white and so was the promotional shot (Wikipedia).

Number 7 - Smashing Pumpkins "Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness"

The Smashing Pumpkins "Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness" album cover work features a girl protruding from a star in the single. Planets surround the individual from the bottom left to the upper right corner. A star gives the cover brightness, which is featured neared the right bottom corner.  The album featured seven number one hits.

Number 8 - Green Day "Dookie"

The third album released by Green Day was originally going to be named "Liquid Dookie", but was deemed to gross. "Dookie" is in reference to the band members suffering from diarrhea on their bus during the first tours.  The art color is by Richie Bucher who depicts bombs being dropped on people and buildings.  The band chose Richie Bucher because they want an East Bay artist from which they held from (Wikipedia). 

Number 9 - ELP "Brain Salad Surgery"

Emerson, Lake and Palmer fourth album "Brain Salad Surgery" used the artwork from Giger. Giger is mostly known for his artwork that was adapted by the movie "Alien", in which the monster was based off one of his earlier painting.  Per Wikipedia, the bio mechanical artwork for the album features an industrial mechanism with a human skull with the ELP logo featured below it.  Giger created the new ELP logo. Lower part of the skull's face is a circular screen which shows the mouth and lower part of the face in flesh.

Number 10 - Pink Floyd "The Division Bell"

The Division Bell tower album art work was provided by Storm Throgerson (Wikipedia).  Two large metal heads were erected in a field near Ely.   Positioned close together and photographed with Ely Cathedral centered in the distance.  The sculpture can now be found in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (Wikipedia).

Number 11 - Yes "Fragile"

Per Wikipedia, the cover was designed by Roger Dean.  A tiny planet on the front cover with the planet breaking up on the back with people escaping on a wooden space glider type ship.  Inside art included two additional Dean paintings. 

Number 12 - Missy Elliott "The Cookbook"

The cover represent Missy Elliot posing with a vintage microphone of the 1920s. Per Wikipedia, Missy Elliot wanted to take her music back to her ancestors roots by stating that no matter if they were on a railroad track or in the kitchen they were always singing. The cover was done in black and white with the people in the background slightly out of focus, which gives it an older appearance. 

Greg Gigendad Burke – art direction, design

Number 13 - Elton John "Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy"

Ranked number 158 in Rolling Stones all-time greatest albums, Captain Fanstastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy is an unusual art cover design.  The style is done in pop and expresionalism than any other format.

Cover design: Alan Aldridge

Number 14 - Depeche Mode "Violator"

Depeche Mode "Violator" was the group's seventh album. Per Wikipedia, Anton Corbijn was credited with the art cover work.  It is of a simple rose done in burnt red.  The background is black and allows the rose to stand out with white on the rose to show the use of light. 

Number 15 - The Velvet Undergound & Nico

 

The Velvet Underground & Nico album cover features a Warhol print of a banana. Early copies featured a peel away banana peel that revealed a flesh colored banana underneath. When re-released in 1996 as a CD the album still had the album cover of the banana, but inside was the flesh covered banana. The original album is now a collectors item, and per Wikipedia the album made Rolling Stones top 100 albums of all time. 

Number 16 - Police "Synchronicity"

 

     The Police "Synchronicity" album cover may be basic, but it represent the primary colors on the color wheel. Blue representing cool, yellow and red representing the warmer colors. Art direction by Jeffrey Kent Ayeroff and Norman Moore. The album was a change from their previous albums that were heavily influenced by reggae.