Top Ten Album Covers

I'll head off the first objection right off the bat - these are the top ten album covers of albums I own. And I'm intentionally leaving off ones that are very cool, but simply existing works of art, like The Big F's eponymous release. Actually I don't have 10, yet, but I thought I'd start. I doubt these are actually going to be in order, but #1 is #1, it's my favorite album cover to date.

#1 - Discipline - Unfolded Like Staircase

Added bonus is that it's an awesome album from a band clearly wading in the Van Der Graaf Generator pool.

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#2 - Iron Maiden - Somewhere In Time

And the full art awesomeness:
Hard to pick just one of Derek Riggs', but I think this one is my favorite. And, again, a fantastic album. Very honorable mention to Live After Death, The Number Of The Beast, and Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son from the Maiden catalog which features almost uniformly awesome covers (including some fantastic covers for singles - Aces High, The Phantom of the Opera, etc.).

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#3 - Yes - Relayer

An album cover so cool, so Middle-Earth-ish that I picked it up blind, my first Yes album...my still-favorite Yes album (with the magnificently glorious The Gates of Delirium). And below in all it's full art fold out glory.

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#4 - Opeth - Blackwater Park

Just creepy enough to be their best cover...on their 2nd best album.

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#5 - Megadeth - Youthanasia

Weird, baby. Weird. What always gets me is that you look at it, then after a second you see that there's a whole line of them marching off into the distance.

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#6 - Savatage - Dead Winter Dead

I might change my mind on this one, but I like it a lot. Mountain King and Handful are pretty awesome, too.

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#7 - Blind Guardian - Nightfall In Middle-Earth

Speaking of fantasmic Middle-Earth covers...and again, your basic everyday one-of-the-best-albums ever!

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