Vote

Never for the cover, but I have purchased an album based on one song and than found that the rest of the album sucked!

Um, Diana please don't kill me, but I bought Love Scenes for all the wrong reasons. In my defense, I now own all your albums (and videos), so it worked out in the end!

You should have asked: "How did it generally turn out", as I've bought more than one for the cover and found both good and bad, so I picked good—although it could have been bad.

I've always been a great fan of British design firm Hipgnosis and George Hardie. Apparently, most bands working with Hipgnosis were on top of my list. So, yes, each Hipgnosis album cover was a treat for the eyes, and all albums were—most of the time—good, if not great: Pink Floyd, 10cc, Led Zep, Alan Parson, Peter Gabriel, Yes. Some Roxy Music albums we're pretty nice, too.

This is how I discovered Primus. The Primus Pork Soda cover seemed so insane and it turned out to be a really good album.

The album was Mama Lion, and I found it in a used bin, if you opened the cover it showed a very, ummmm, healthy Lynn Carey "mothering" a lion cub. The album was okay, too.

Well, not great, but OK: Angel Eyesby Dave Brubeck. What a beautiful face! (It wasn't Dave, Paul, Joe, or Gene).

Tool: 10,000 Days

White Zombie's Super Sexy Swingin Sounds.

I did, and it turned out to be some dreadful modern, new-age jazz from (of all places) Norway. Shudder!

Miles Davis' Bitches Brew. I was in my mid-twenties and too young to appreciate the gift that was Miles. Now it is a staple in my collection and an essential fusion session to own.

I once bought Pat Metheny Groups' The Way Up. That was a disaster! I listened to it the day I bought it, but since I haven't even thought about doing it again. But nice cover!

I've been enticed a couple of times by a cover. Most notable was the angelic face on Fiona Apple's Tidal CD. Maybe I was thinking a face like that couldn't sound that bad, eh? It was definintely one of my best blind (or deaf) purchases. On the other side, a college buddy borrowed Al Di Meola's Kiss My Axe without asking once, drawn to the gorgeous and mostly naked profile of some young woman. He probably thought it was a rap album and you know how that sometimes can be. A nice album, but not to his taste so the disc magically reappeared later that evening.

I find it quite difficult to buy electronic music. I was flipping through the electronic CDs and found Roland Klinkenberg's Mexico Can Wait. The cover features a scene of deserted highway traveling off into a desert horizon. While this scene depicts my own personal slice of heaven, the music was not on par.

Roxy Music: Country Life. Most excellent cover! Pretty decent album, too.

I almost did this. When I was young I thought Molly Hatchet had the best album covers ever. Viking dudes in helmets with giant axes? Dude, this must be the best band ever. Ever. This all changed when I finally heard some Molly Hatchet on the radio. The twang of southern rock just didn't work for me. Was I supposed to believe that this is how the Vikings rocked? Disappointing! At least I didn't spend any money just to find this out.

I have paifully come to the conclusion that the cover art has nothing to do with the musicians' talent—or lack of.

I bought all The Dwarves' LPs purely for their covers!

Is This It by The Strokes. CD box was always floating around in my totally untidy home as a bait to a curious female. B&W cover photo was surely a warmer conversation starter and even more. Music was also excellent. The old cover doesn't exist any more to save children from harmful materials.

Not just for the cover, but on the assumption that people with similar sensibilities will group together, and if they like the same cover look as I do, maybe it will be music I like too. Here are three: Tino Izzo: Foreign Skies; Anggun: Anggun; David: Gone to Earth.

Yes, I have. I bought Over the Rhine's Films for Radio and it introduced me to a great band! Conversely, I've shunned buying a record because of a nondescript cover and regretted it when I did later pick it up. The record? Queens of the Stone Age's Rated R.

You didn't have a vote option for "it turned out "OK," but I've bought two, In Search of the Lost Chord by the Moody Blues, oh, about 38 years ago, and I still listen, side 1 especially. ('Ride My See-Saw', 'House of Four Doors', 'Legend of a Mind') The other was, well, see the picture of the woman in whipped cream on the home page here. I think I listened to it once. Is A Taste of Honey on that one? Not really my kind of music.

Usually I buy such things for the musical content. I dont really pay much attention to the cover.

I heard about this band before they became big in the '80s. Def Leppard's Hi 'N Dri album. I still crank it up even to this day.

I have had both good and bad experiences when buying an album based on its cover. Since there are no record stores to peruse anymore I don't buy on cover anymore. Also there are now samples of what's on an album on the Internet, so you can get a flavor of what's on the album before you buy.

Many times. Prog rock albums tend to have the highest rate of success with this. Yes, Gong, Uriah Heep, Jon Anderson solo, Jethro Tul,l and many other successes from album covers alone.

In the Court of the Crimson King. Of course, it turned out great!

Yes, in my vinyl days when records had a cover. Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd turned out great, mostly.

Ohio Players: Honey. Wow...

The album I bought was Talking Heads' Remain in Light. One of my all-time favorites.