Dub Sex vs. Blur
The British bands Blur and Dub Sex both went greyhound for their album covers, Dub Sex in 1988 with Then and Now, Blur in 1994 with Parklife. Blur's album was a breakthrough for the band, establishing them as a major force in the Britpop movement with tracks like "Girls And Boys" and "Parklife."Simon & Garfunkel vs. Kruder & Dorfmeister
For their 1993 album G-Stoned, the Austrian electro duo Kruder & Dorfmeister did an homage to the Richard Avedon photo on Simon & Garfunkel's 1968 album Bookends, which contains the hit "Mrs. Robinson." If you disregard Pete Kruder's moustache, the similarity is spot-on!Earth, Wind & Fire vs. Iron Maiden
If there is one similarity to be found between Earth Wind & Fire and Iron Maiden, it is in the covers of these two albums. On the one side, Earth, Wind & Fire's All 'N All funk-soul album, released in 1977; on the other side, Iron Maiden's Powerslave heavy metal album (featuring the track "Two Minutes To Midnight"), released seven years later. The similarity between the two album covers is striking. However, don't try to find musical influences between the two bands - you'll have better luck finding meaning in a Kevin James movie.The Mountain Goats vs. Coldplay
Coldplay went with a spinning globe for the cover of their first album, Parachutes, in 2000. They weren't the first with this concept: The 1995 album Nine Black Poppies by the California indie-rock group The Mountain Goats also has a globe on the cover. Coldplay's album went to #1 in the UK and got them noticed in America with the song "Yellow."Massive Attack vs. Flying Lotus
Even if the electro act Flying Lotus' music doesn't sound like Massive Attack's distinctive Bristol trip-hop sound, you can still find plenty of similarities between their album covers. Massive Attack's 1998 album, Mezzanine, uses an extreme close-up of a stag beetle; on Flying Lotus' 2008 offering, Los Angeles, it looks like the bug has mated with the creature from Alien.Kiss vs. Lordi
In 1982, Creatures Of The Night celebrated Kiss's comeback. For their 2009 single Beast Loose in Paradise, the Scandinavian band Lordi, whose members also wear masks and makeup on stage, also went with a blue-toned look with glowing eyes.Booker T. vs. Caribou
Plagiarism or strange coincidence? On the left is Memphis multi-instrumentalist Booker T.'s 2009 blues-rock album, Potato Hole; on the right is the 2010 album Swim (featuring the song Odessa) by the Canadian electro artist Caribou (Daniel Snaith). The musical styles are diametrically opposite, but the covers have a lot in common.The Beatles vs. Frank Zappa
In 1968, one year after The Beatles released Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, Frank Zappa released We're Only In It For The Money as a satire of the flower power ethos of that time. Zappa's album cover includes many elements from the original, but with the flowers replaced by vegetables.The Rolling Stones vs. Mötley Crüe
Replacing glimmer with glam and jeans for leather, Mötley Crüe paid tribute to the Rolling Stones' 1971 Sticky Fingers album cover (designed by Andy Warhol) on their 1981 release, Too Fast For Love.Taylor Swift vs. Ihsahn
Has Taylor Swift been listening to black metal? Her 2020 album, Folklore, uses a washed-out grayscale shot of a tranquil forest, not unlike what the Norwegian metal artist Ihsahn used on his Telemark EP five months earlier. These artists clearly occupy a different creative space, but it's interesting to note what the similar images convey. For Swift, it's about comfort and harmony; Ihsahn's vibe is wild and untamed.September 14, 2009, updated July 30, 2020
Thanks to Bertrand - Paris, France
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