Sometimes real life makes the best art, as you’ll see in the below list of 50 Rock Album Covers You Can Visit in Real Life.
While some artists may opt for a commissioned painting or a carefully planned photograph of the band in the studio, others have used very real – and often very public — locations to grace the front covers of their albums. Occasionally these places are specifically sought out; other times it’s a matter of chance and a photo is taken that will be remembered for decades.
These decisions are important, as photographer Joel Bernstein knows. His work has appeared on albums like Neil Young‘s After the Gold Rush, Tom Petty‘s Hard Promises, Bob Dylan‘s Bob Dylan at Budokan and Jackson Browne‘s Running on Empty, among many others. “If the cover is the icing on the cake,” he explained in 2016. “And the cake, the substantial part of it is the actual music, and you’re illustrating that, and you’re codifying what are really 10 or 12 disparate songs, in the album age, you’re putting together in a way that’s supposed to unify them, which you’re doing with the title and the image.”
Some of the locations on the list of 50 Rock Album Covers You Can Visit in Real Life places have changed. Buildings have gone up and down or have been modernized since their famous closeups. Some are not technically open to the public; others require a ticketed tour. Either way, be ready to recreate some of these famous LP covers when you pay a visit.
50 Rock Album Covers You Can Visit in Real Life
Recreate your favorite LP artwork in person.
