4 cover stories in our archive
Behind the Covers' archive includes 4 album covers documented under the "mystical" design theme, spanning the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s. These covers sit within the pop, alternative, soul, r&b, funk, jazz, rock tradition and feature work by Kate Bush, Stevie Wonder, Pharoah Sanders, The Rolling Stones. Each entry below includes the cover artwork, the designers and photographers behind it, and a short story about the visual choices that defined the release.
Kate Bush herself conceived and art-directed this haunting cover, lying in silk with two Afghan hounds in a deliberate recreation of classical painting compositions. The ethereal image perfectly captured the album's mystical themes.
Efram Wolff illustrated Stevie Wonder's Innervisions cover as a surreal, earth-toned vision: Wonder appears with his eyes closed, looking upward from a window-like opening over a stylized landscape while a beam rises from his eyes into the sky. The 1973 sleeve is illustrated artwork, not the multiple-exposure portrait photograph previously described by BTC.
The cover for Pharoah Sanders' spiritual jazz masterpiece features mysterious ancient Egyptian imagery that perfectly captured the album's mystical exploration of African heritage and consciousness during the height of the Black Power movement.
The Rolling Stones' psychedelic masterpiece featured the first 3D lenticular cover in rock history, created by fashion photographer Michael Cooper. The elaborate shoot took place in a rented studio with elaborate costumes, flowers, and optical effects that cost a fortune.