Maybe an album cover says nothing about its contents, or maybe it says everything. The saying “You can’t judge a book by its cover” is about as trite as a phrase can be, and it’s also not necessarily true—at least when it comes to music. Oftentimes, a glance at an album’s artwork provides a glimpse of what lies underneath. As Paste’s Lizzie Manno once pointed out, sometimes album covers look exactly how their albums sound. The best album covers of the 2010s accomplish the same aesthetic magic as classics like Joni Mitchell’s Blue and My Bloody Valentine’s Loveless. These photos, sketches and renderings are nearly perfect representations of the music within, not to mention they are striking to behold. Feast your eyes on our favorite album covers of the 2010s, as voted by the Paste staff.
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