Album cover purchase?

[odysseus]

Did you ever buy an album purely on the strength of the album cover?

The only time I can remember doing that was for the Scorpions' Worldwide Live album.  I was 15 years old and into all things metal, and the rawk poses struck by the 'Teutonic Terrors', as Kerrang! later referred to them, was enough to get me to part with my hard-earned Spar Shop employee wonga.

Bloody glad I did. I loved it and still do!

[Shaggy]

Ashamed to admit......

[Doctor J]

More than once. The one which sticks out as the earliest was Watchtower - Control and Resistance. I love that artwork and it was on Noise records, where a lot of bands I liked at the time were based, so I reckoned it was worth a punt - at a time and age where disposable income was still a fantasy. 
 

It's still one of my favourite albums of all time.

[odysseus]

1 minute ago, Shaggy said:

Ashamed to admit......

Even if you didn't like the music, it has a certain appeal..... although the lass at the front looks a little too much like Vinnie Vincent for comfort... 😬

[cetera]

The gatefold of KISS "Alive II" had an everlasting effect on me. I'd heard their "Unmasked" album when I was in Australia in 1982 and when I came back to the UK I discovered THIS.... 😲 😲 😲

 

[Lozz196]

Not an album but a single. Never heard GBH before, luckily I loved both the A and B sides. Even more fortunate was fast forwarding some 35 years and playing on the same bill as them.

 

[Rich]

A schoolmate of mine was an obsessed metalhead, always on the lookout for something new as long as it was heavier than lead. He bought this Molly Hatchet album unheard, based entirely on the look of the sleeve, somehow convinced it was going to make Motorhead sound like Peters & Lee. Imagine his disappointment when it turned out to be Southern not-remotely-metal boogie rock. Oh, how the rest of us laughed. A lot.

[rushbo]

A school friend brought this into class in December 1976, and the minute I saw it, I knew I had to have it. I thought it was the most beautiful looking album I had ever seen - even the label of the record had the Queen crest on! My thinking was that even if the album sounded terrible (apart from Bo Rap, which I liked) it was worth having, just for the cover. I begged for it as a Christmas present and when I heard the whole album, I was put on a path I'm still stumbling on as a 57 year old. 

Album covers are important.

[Reggaebass]

I bought this album just because I liked the picture and it turned out it’s a good album too 

[Bassman Sam]

i saw this in a record shop in Glasgow as a spotty youth and had to have it . Started me on my prog rock journey.

 

 

Edited February 24, 2021 by Bassman Sam

[Dad3353]

An unknown quantity at time of purchase (1967...), and much more sobre than others here, it seems. No regrets; I've bought it, and worn it out, several times since...

[Steve Browning]

Edited February 24, 2021 by Steve Browning

[Reggaebass]

I also bought this many years ago , I don’t like the music but it’s a great picture, and I’ve still got it in my vinyl collection 

[Steve Browning]

and for the image on the back.

[fleabag]

We've all puchased on the strength of the cover, and i was suckered in to buy this. 

 

[BassTractor]

As a young lad, I saw music in this cover.
My parents wouldn't buy it for me, but I said: "Trust me."
They didn't trust me, but they bought it anyway.
Their distrust was misplaced.

Edited February 24, 2021 by BassTractor

[BassTractor]

Oh, and this.
Bought off me own money ...

[4000]

13 minutes ago, fleabag said:

We've all puchased on the strength of the cover, and i was suckered in to buy this. 

 

Is that a young Richard Osman on the right? 😉

[BigRedX]

As I said in the live album thread when you only had enough money for an album a month at the most, the design of the cover and any extras (double album/gatefold sleeve/printed inner sleeve etc.) went a long way to deciding what to buy when spending Saturday afternoon browsing at castle Records in Loughborough.

However this was bought entirely because I thought the cover was the most amazing thing I had ever seen. 

Luckily the music didn't disappoint.

 

[BigRedX]

2 hours ago, Shaggy said:

Ashamed to admit......

Did your copy come with the booklet as well?

[Reggaebass]

17 minutes ago, fleabag said:

We've all puchased on the strength of the cover, and i was suckered in to buy this. 

 

I’d say they are using Harmony hairspray 😁

[PaulThePlug]

Not purchased just on the look of the cover,

But Hawkwind have had some fine Gatefold n Foldouts...

Warriors 'Shield' , In Search of Space...

Oh and Zep III Wheel...

Edited February 24, 2021 by PaulThePlug

[Barking Spiders]

Not a purchase but as a pre-teen I nicked a series of these off my older brother before I graduated to Health & Efficiency magazine

[dudewheresmybass]

This. 
looked kinda cool to a 17 year old metal head. 
I never looked back. 🤘🤘

[Shaggy]

43 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

Did your copy come with the booklet as well?

Alas no - most of my LP's were acquired second hand.   I still have this one, and a few others of reasonable interest I've hung onto:   Cream - "Disraeli gears" on the Reaction label (early release),   Penetration - "Moving targets" on luminous glow-in-the-dark vinyl, The Fool - "The Fool", and a load of early punk stuff.