Rock On. The most important record covers in rock history

From legendary releases to ultra-rare records, Elvis Presley to Iron Maiden, discover the 750 album covers that made rock history. Fact sheets, insider interviews, and lists from leading collectors of their top 10 records guide us through the indelible markers of musical memory, complete with bonus info on 250 milestone records that became turning points for a band, an artist, or an entire genre.

Album art is indelibly linked to our collective musical memories; when you think of your favorite albums, you picture the covers. Many photographers, illustrators, and art directors have become celebrities from their album artworks — the best examples of which will go down in history as permanent fixtures in popular culture.

Paying tribute to this art form, Rock Covers brings you a compilation of more than 750 remarkable album covers, from legendary to rare record releases. Artists, as varied as Elvis Presley, The Beatles, The Sex Pistols, Pink Floyd, The Cure, Iron Maiden, and Sonic Youth, are gathered together in celebration of the cover art that defined their albums and their cult status. Each cover is accompanied by a fact sheet listing the art director, photographer or illustrator, year, label, and more, while nearly 250 records that marked particular turning points for a band, an artist, or the music genre, are highlighted with short descriptions.

This far-reaching catalogue of visualized rock is contextualized with insider interviews with professionals who shaped the history of rock and by top-10 record lists from ten leading rock collectors.

The authors

Robbie Busch aka “McBoing Boing” is an internationally recognized record collector and DJ. He has worn many artistic hats over the years: consulter and producer for numerous record labels, writer and photographer for magazines including Wax Poetics, Big Brother and XXL, comic book artist/writer and storyboard artist.

Jonathan Kirby is a record collector and music writer. He served as an editor for Brooklyn-based music magazine Wax Poetics, has contributed in-depth articles for Oxford American and The Fader and is currently an A&R at Chicago’s famed archival label the Numero Group, where he also conceived the compilation Purple Snow: Forecasting the Minneapolis Sound.

The editor

Julius Wiedemann studied graphic design and marketing and was an art editor for newspapers and design magazines in Tokyo before joining TASCHEN in 2001. His titles include the Illustration Now! and Record Covers series, as well as the infographics collection and books about advertising and visual culture.

About the series:

TASCHEN is 40! Since we started our work as cultural archaeologists in 1980, TASCHEN has become synonymous with accessible publishing, helping bookworms around the world curate their own library of art, anthropology, and aphrodisia at an unbeatable price. Today we celebrate 40 years of incredible books by staying true to our company credo. The 40 series presents new editions of some of the stars of our program — now more compact, friendly in price, and still realized with the same commitment to impeccable production.

An Era of the Invincible. The making of household heroes and mythological universes

Welcome to the Marvel Age of Comics, a triumphant era of comic and pop culture innovation which redefined the superhero genre. This behind-the-scenes treasure trove of images and exclusive insights reveals the making of such household characters as the Hulk and Spider-Man as well as the legendary architects who brought them to life, from Stan “The Man” Lee to Jack “King” Kirby.

It was an age of mighty heroes, misunderstood monsters, and complex villains. With the publication of Fantastic Four No. 1 in November 1961, comics giant Marvel inaugurated a transformative era in pop culture. Through the next two decades, the iconic Hulk, Spider-Man, Iron Man, and the X-Men leapt, darted, and towered through its pages. Captain America was resurrected from his 1940s deep-freeze and the Avengers became the World’s Greatest Super Heroes. Daredevil, Doctor Strange, and dozens more were added to the pantheon, each with their own rogues’ gallery of malevolent counterparts. Nearly 60 years later, these thrilling characters from the 1960s and ’70s are more popular than ever, fighting the good fight in comics, toy aisles, and blockbuster movies around the world.

In The Marvel Age of Comics 1961–1978, legendary writer and editor Roy Thomas takes you to the heart of this seminal segment in comic history — an age of triumphant character and narrative innovation that reinvented the superhero genre. With more than 500 images and insider insights, the book traces the birth of champions who were both epic in their powers and grounded in a world that readers recognized as close to their own; relatable heroes with the same problems, struggles, and shortcomings as everyone else. By the ’70s, we see how the House of Ideas also elevated horror, sword and sorcery, and martial arts in its stable of titanic demigods, introducing iconic characters like Man-Thing, Conan, and Shang-Chi and proving that their brand of storytelling could succeed and flourish outside of the capes and tights.

Behind it all, we get to know the extraordinary Marvel architects whose names are almost as familiar as the mortals (and immortals!) they brought to life—Stan “The Man” Lee, Jack “King” Kirby, and Steve Ditko, along with a roster of greats like John Romita, John Buscema, Marie Severin, Jim Steranko, and countless others. The result is a behind-the-scenes treasure trove and a jewel for any comic fan’s library, brimming with the innovation and energy of an invincible era for Marvel and its heroes alike.

© 2020 MARVEL

The author:

Since 1965, Roy Thomas has been writing for movies, television, and especially comic books. With notable runs on Avengers, Uncanny X-Men, Conan the Barbarian, The Incredible Hulk, and Star Wars, he served as a Marvel editor from 1965–80 and editor-in-chief from 1972–74. He currently edits the comics-history magazine Alter Ego and writes two online Tarzan strips as well as the occasional comic book. He and his wife Dann live in South Carolina.

About the series:

TASCHEN is 40! Since we started our work as cultural archaeologists in 1980, TASCHEN has become synonymous with accessible publishing, helping bookworms around the world curate their own library of art, anthropology, and aphrodisia at an unbeatable price. Today we celebrate 40 years of incredible books by staying true to our company credo. The 40 series presents new editions of some of the stars of our program — now more compact, friendly in price, and still realized with the same commitment to impeccable production.

Inside the Mind of Jamie Hewlett. The artist’s first major monograph, now in an updated edition

This special edition updates Jamie Hewlett’s first-ever monograph with around 30 brand new pieces. Through stories, characters, strips, and sketches from the Tank Girl era through Gorillaz and up to the present day, we trace Hewlett’s exceptional capacity for invention and celebrate a polymath artist who refuses to rest on his laurels.

From the legendary Tank Girl to live-action animations with Gorillaz, a Chinese contemporary opera to an exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery, artist Jamie Hewlett is one of the most energetic figures of contemporary pop culture.

With influences ranging from hip hop to zombie slasher movies, Hewlett emerged in the mid-1990s as co-creator of the zeitgeist-defining Tank Girl comic. With then-roommate Damon Albarn, he went on to create the groundbreaking cartoon band Gorillaz. The award-winning virtual pop group of animated characters is a truly global phenomenon. Gorillaz have topped charts around the world, toured the globe from San Diego to Syria, and picked up hundreds of millions of streams and record sales along the way.

Since then, Hewlett has continued to collaborate with Albarn on projects including an elaborate staging of the Chinese novel Monkey: Journey to the West by Wu Cheng’en, complete with circus acrobats, Shaolin monks, and Chinese singers. In 2006, he was named Designer of the Year by the Design Museum in London, and in 2009, Hewlett and Albarn won a BAFTA for their animated Monkey sequence for the Beijing Olympic Games. In 2015 The Suggestionists, an exhibition of prints at the Saatchi Gallery in London, demonstrated an exciting new direction in Hewlett’s practice.

This special edition celebrating TASCHEN’s 40th anniversary updates Hewlett’s first major monograph with around 30 brand new pieces. The book illustrates his thrilling creative journey with more than 400 artworks from the Tank Girl era through Gorillaz and up to the present day. Through stories, characters, strips, and sketches, we trace Hewlett’s exceptional capacity for invention and celebrate a polymath artist who refuses to rest on his laurels or to be pigeonholed into a particular practice.

The author:

British artist Jamie Hewlett is a prolific producer of ever-fresh material infused with a punk sensibility. Moving seamlessly between design, art and music, the co-creator of Tank Girl and the virtual band Gorillaz was awarded Designer of the Year by the Design Museum in 2006 and staged his first solo exhibition at London’s Saatchi Gallery in 2015.

The editor:

Julius Wiedemann studied graphic design and marketing and was an art editor for newspapers and design magazines in Tokyo before joining TASCHEN in 2001. His titles include the Illustration Now! and Record Covers series, as well as the infographics collection and books about advertising and visual culture.

About the series:

TASCHEN is 40! Since we started our work as cultural archaeologists in 1980, TASCHEN has become synonymous with accessible publishing, helping bookworms around the world curate their own library of art, anthropology, and aphrodisia at an unbeatable price. Today we celebrate 40 years of incredible books by staying true to our company credo. The 40 series presents new editions of some of the stars of our program — now more compact, friendly in price, and still realized with the same commitment to impeccable production.

The Complete Gaudí. Freedom of form with the “Dante of architecture”

Antoni Gaudí merged Orientalism, natural forms, and new materials into a unique Modernista aesthetic that put Barcelona on the global architecture map. With brand-new photography, plans and drawings by Gaudí himself, as well as an extensive appendix of all his works including furniture and unfinished projects, this book takes us through the Catalonian’s fantastical universe like never before.

The life of Antoni Gaudí (1852–1926) was full of complexity and contradictions. As a young man, he joined the Catalonian nationalist movement and was critical of the church; toward the end of his life, he devoted himself completely to the construction of one single spectacular church, La Sagrada Família. In his youth, he courted a glamorous social life and the demeanour of a dandy. By the time of his death in a tram accident on the streets of Barcelona, his clothes were so shabby that passersby assumed he was a beggar.

Gaudí’s incomparable architecture channels much of this multifaceted intricacy. From the shimmering surface textures and skeletal forms of Casa Batlló to the Hispano-Arabic matrix of Casa Vicens, his work merged the influences of Orientalism, natural forms, new materials, and religious faith into a unique Modernista aesthetic. Today, his buildings enjoy global popularity and acclaim; his magnum opus, the Sagrada Família, is the most-visited monument in Spain and seven of his works are UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

Packed full of expert texts and hundreds of full-colour illustrations, including new photography, this book presents Gaudí’s complete oeuvre. Like a personal tour through Barcelona, we explore his residential, religious, and public projects. We see how the “Dante of architecture” was a builder in the truest sense of the word, crafting extraordinary constructions out of minute and mesmerizing details, transforming fantastical visions into realities on the city streets.

The author:

Rainer Zerbst studied modern languages at the University of Tübingen and in Wales from 1969 to 1975. From 1976 to 1982 he worked as a research assistant in the Department of English at the University of Tübingen. Since completing his doctorate in 1982, Zerbst has been active as a critic in the fields of art, literature, and theatre.

About the series:

TASCHEN is 40! Since we started our work as cultural archaeologists in 1980, TASCHEN has become synonymous with accessible publishing, helping bookworms around the world curate their own library of art, anthropology, and aphrodisia at an unbeatable price. Today we celebrate 40 years of incredible books by staying true to our company credo. The 40 series presents new editions of some of the stars of our program — now more compact, friendly in price, and still realized with the same commitment to impeccable production.

There’s No Place Like Home. Step into the world’s most beautiful private abodes

Enter the world’s finest homes in this dependable global digest featuring talents like Shigeru Ban and Marcio Kogan alongside up-and-comers like Xu Fu-Min, Vo Trong Nghia, Desai Chia, and Shunri Nishizawa. Organized by architect and brimming with crisp photography and plans, the result is a sweeping survey of the contemporary house.

Across small cottages and lavish villas, beach houses and forest refuges, discover the world’s finest crop of new homes. This cutting-edge global digest features such talents as Shigeru Ban and Marcio Kogan alongside up-and-coming names like Aires Mateus, Xu Fu-Min, Vo Trong Nghia, Desai Chia, and Shunri Nishizawa. Here, there are homes in Australia and New Zealand, from China and Vietnam, in the United States and Mexico, and on to less expected places like Ecuador and Costa Rica. The result is a sweeping survey of the contemporary house and a revelation that homes across the globe may have more in common than expected.

Among guava trees and abandoned forts in Western India is a sanctuary designed for and by Kamal Malik of Malik Architecture. The House of Three Streams is a sprawling spectacle with high ceilings, verandas, and pavilions, perched atop a ridge overlooking two ravines. A medley of steel, glass, wood, and stone, the house weaves along the contour of the landscape, almost as an extension of the forest. Encina House by Aranguren & Gallegos, an elegant, sloping structure reminiscent of a gazebo, similarly inhabits its surrounding vista. Ensconced in a pine forest north of Madrid, the lower level is embedded in rock and connected to the upper by a natural stone wall. Shinichi Ogawa’s Seaside House is an immaculate two-story minimalist marvel in Kanagawa that overlooks the Pacific. Its living area spills onto a cantilevered terrace and infinity pool, almost dissolving into the ocean as one seamless entity. In Vietnam, Shunri Nishizawa’s House in Chau Doc exudes tropical sophistication with exposed timber beams, woven bamboo, plants, concrete panels, and inner balconies and terraces. Its corrugated iron panels act as moveable walls and shutters, ushering in views of surrounding rice fields.

These homes — along with more than 50 others — are each remarkably distinct in design. They all, however, toe the line between inside and outside, each one symbiotic with its surroundings.

The author:

Philip Jodidio studied art history and economics at Harvard, and edited Connaissance des Arts for over 20 years. His TASCHEN books include the Architecture Now! series and monographs on Tadao Ando, Santiago Calatrava, Renzo Piano, Jean Nouvel, Shigeru Ban, Richard Meier, and Zaha Hadid.

About the series:

TASCHEN is 40! Since we started our work as cultural archaeologists in 1980, TASCHEN has become synonymous with accessible publishing, helping bookworms around the world curate their own library of art, anthropology, and aphrodisia at an unbeatable price. Today we celebrate 40 years of incredible books by staying true to our company credo. The 40 series presents new editions of some of the stars of our program — now more compact, friendly in price, and still realized with the same commitment to impeccable production.