20 cover stories in our archive
Behind the Covers' archive includes 20 album covers documented under the "psychedelic" design theme, spanning the 1960s, 1970s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s. These covers sit within the rock, electronic, pop, alternative, indie, hip-hop, funk, jazz, soul, blues tradition and feature work by Tame Impala, Panda Bear, OutKast, Elton John and others. 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.
Robert Beatty's abstract image of swirling liquid in vivid colors visualizes the album's theme of overwhelming change — something solid becoming liquid, a form dissolving and reforming as something new. Not chaos, but metamorphosis.
Australian designer Leif Podhajsky created this kaleidoscopic masterpiece by digitally manipulating a simple photograph of trees into a swirling vortex that perfectly captures the album's psychedelic introspection.
Panda Bear's psychedelic masterpiece features a self-designed cover inspired by his move to Lisbon, with swirling patterns and vibrant colors that perfectly capture the album's hypnotic sound collages.
D.L. Warfield's richly detailed illustration fuses the zodiac signs Aquarius and Gemini into a psychedelic cosmic landscape — signaling that OutKast was operating on a different creative plane than virtually any other hip-hop act of the era.
Alan Aldridge's airbrush masterpiece drew inspiration from Hieronymus Bosch's Garden of Earthly Delights. Created with Harry Willock, the psychedelic artwork surrounds Elton John with mythical creatures in vivid detail.
Psychedelic poster artist Victor Moscoso created this mind-bending tribal mask design using his signature vibrating color technique, making it one of the most visually arresting jazz album covers ever produced and helping Herbie Hancock cross over to funk audiences.
A Black woman's face emerging from earth — mouth open in a scream or ecstatic cry — matches the primal intensity of Eddie Hazel's legendary guitar solo, recorded in a single take under the influence of LSD.
The iconic American Beauty cover features a rose surrounded by ambigram lettering that also reads 'American Reality.' Created by the legendary Kelley/Mouse Studios duo, it ranked 63rd on Rolling Stone's best album covers list.
Mati Klarwein's Afro-psychedelic painting depicts two Black faces in profile surrounded by swirling organic forms — flowers, waves, fire, and cosmic phenomena — a visual match for the album that essentially invented jazz fusion.
The explosive red-orange burst radiating from the center creates one of funk's most dynamic covers, perfectly matching the revolutionary energy of Sly Stone's music. The simple yet powerful design became a template for psychedelic soul artwork.
The debut album cover for Os Mutantes was designed and photographed by Olivier Perroy from publishing giant Editora Abril in his São Paulo home. The simple presentation matched the band's raw experimental psychedelic sound that would revolutionize Brazilian rock.
Jimi Hendrix's double album sparked international controversy with its provocative cover featuring 19 nude women photographed by David Montgomery. The image was so scandalous that many countries banned it, forcing alternative covers to be created for different markets.
Underground cartoonist Robert Crumb created this hand-drawn comic book cover for just $600, turning down Columbia's slick photography concept. His whimsical cartoon style became one of rock's most beloved covers.
The first album cover to replicate a vintage tobacco tin, complete with circular gatefold design that opens like the real Ogden's St. Bruno tobacco containers that inspired it. This revolutionary packaging required entirely new manufacturing techniques.
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.
Australian artist Martin Sharp created this psychedelic masterpiece by collaging photographs of the band members with Day-Glo fluorescent paints and wild imagery inspired by his poster work for Jimi Hendrix and Bob Dylan.
Photographer Herb Greene captured Jefferson Airplane in an infrared dreamscape that perfectly matched their psychedelic sound. The otherworldly technique turned the band into ghostly figures floating through a surreal landscape.
Karl Ferris pioneered the use of infrared film for album art, creating an otherworldly image where the band appears in unnatural purple, orange, and green hues through a fisheye lens — as if Hendrix had literally arrived from another dimension.
Photographer Joel Brodsky created this surreal circus of street performers and jugglers in a single New York City shoot, but The Doors themselves are completely absent from their own album cover—a bold choice that made the artwork more mysterious than the band.
Klaus Voormann's revolutionary black-and-white collage combines pen-and-ink drawings with photographs, using the Beatles' flowing hair to create a psychedelic masterpiece that won the first Grammy Award for rock album artwork in 1967.