When an alternate album cover is (in your opinion) better than the original?

The second edition of Elton John "Peachtree Road" contained the lyrics which was a glaring omission from the first and was his only album to not include them.

 

Which edition of Lady Gaga "The Fame Monster" is considered the "first" or were they both released at the same time? I have the one I like less.

 

How about this: Over this:

 

Or this: Over this:

 

The same image - albeit rotated 180° - was later going to serve as the inner gatefold artwork for ELO's Secret Messages, or at least that was until CBS demanded this be reduced down from a planned 2LP set to a single disc just days prior to its already-promoted release date of 11th April 1983, with advertisements remaining in stores all the way up to April 1st, suggesting the change was ordered at the very last minute. A zoomed shot of the Trifid Nebula also turned up in the music video for the title track to this delayed album, which finally turned up in June '83, being used as a background for transition effects between scenes. Curiously, this is an example that could arguably be included in the current discussion, since its original cover was a different concept as well, being heavily influenced the handshake seen on Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here. In comparison, the design eventually chosen, was a visual companion piece to the lyrics of Hello My Old Friend, a song that ironically didn't even make the final cut (pun not intended)! As a side note, at the time of writing, my profile picture is an early variation of this...

 

I prefer the invitation card version.

 

A rare instance where I prefer the more delicate-looking original.

 

Yeah, call me crazy, but the trash bag cover is iconic as far as I'm concerned.

 

Zappa used this cover for The Best Band You Never Heard In Your Life, but didn't get permission from the photographer.



He replaced it with the better Cal Schenkel cover.

 

Never loved either of these but I prefer the group shot..

 

I like the second cover a lot better!

 

Small Faces (1967)

 

I picked this up last Saturday. I hear the mastering on the US release is weak (sounds fine to me) but the cover is amazing.

 

framed it in my computer room, with the RCA logo. I love it too

 

Paul picking his nose. A friend shows it to me years ago, I was hysterical

 

Iron Maiden - The Number of the Beast

A printing error made the sky blue rather than black, it was correct in the 1998 reissues.

 

Woah! It's probably the same photo that is on the inside gatefold, but I'd really like to see the actual cover layout!

 

If it was days before the release date, surely the LP would have been pressed and ready to go to the shops? The artwork would have been approved and printed even earlier. Since no copies of the vinyl or covers have ever leaked, surely it must have been pulled a lot earlier?

 

it was in a record collector magazine, as I recall

 

Not "better" per se, but perhaps wiser.

 

The Corrs; 2000 album IN BLUE debuted in Europe with this cover:


After a month or so, it was released in the US with an altered, and in my opinion, better cover:

 

A famous example: Carpenters first album was issued as OFFERING in 1969:


After their big "Close To You" hit, the first album was reissued as TICKET TO RIDE:


While the first is more valuable and a somewhat sentimental favorite, I have to say that the reissue picture is surely better.

 

The original "Offering" album cover is wonderfully sinister: (Former) Children of the Damned in All New Wigs!

Here's an example of the time honored tradition of getting around the incovenient truth that an artist is black, or that a significant percentage of your intended audience are ignoramuses.



Those Freedom Fries people displayed no such foolishness:

 

CD Cover:



LP cover:

 

I thought the first was the CD and the second was the LP cover.