The 25 Best Album Covers of the Decade (2000-2009)

Nice choice for number one! Someone was selling a Mercury Cougar in town and I almost bought it just because of that album (even though I hardly drive, and dislike it fairly intensely!)

TWENTY-FIVE

FREAKIN'

PAGES

Why Paste? Why? Why must you make a 25 pages for a 25 item list? Two pages maybe. I don't even look at the lists that are formated like this. Oh, yes...it's all of them. I stopped at

Eh...Least Favorite of all the decade lists so far...a lot of these just weren't that good...to 25 should have been far better.

I think Panda Bear's Person Pitch had the greatest cover of the decade! You completely missed on that one.

The goat on the Illinois cover is likely a reference to the Cubs curse.

I'm also reasonably sure that's not a "newsman" but rather Al Capone.

How could you leave out Black Sheep Boy by Okkervil River? That's one of the most stunning pieces of ART (let alone album cover) that I've ever come across.
Seriously, this list needs to be re-done with Will Schaff's instantly iconic cover somewhere towards the top. Even the liner art is jaw-dropping on that one.
Do it.
Go.

Good call, Mark. Fixed now.

25 pages with ads popping up every 15 seconds? painful. laaaaaaame.

It might have been nice to include the year of each album cover...

Hey guys,

Love your magazine but it's a pretty poor list for most of these albums regardless of their sonic clout. Marilyn Manson's 'Mechanical Animals' is a fine take on Bowie's glam art of 'Diamond Dogs' that you missed for the list.

Thanks,

Keith Kelleher

Worst list so far. Raditude, really?

You left off Grammy-nominated Cassadaga that uses a decoder to find secret symbols meanings in the album artwork, as well as other precious indie rock gem covers out there.

these were terrible and clearly submitted by a hipster

Nearly all of those covers are horrible! The 1968 Mercury Cougar is the best car Ford ever made. The headlight covers should've been closed for the Neko Case cover, though.

I love the new Lips album art!! Looks like Lady Gaga gave him the inspiration from her outfit at the VMAs. Are the rumors true that the person on the cover is Lady Gaga?? It kind of looks like her, but not as hot as she usually looks... Maybe its not her? Anyone know? The huge nostrils and the hard lines of the face realllly look like our transvestite diva. The Lips are always pushing the envelope! Go Lips!

Just off the top of my head I can't believe sam beam's beautiful painting for The Shepherd's Dog didn't get a nod. When I saw it my first thought was I need to find this on vinyl. It evoked feelings of the past before CDs were the norm and an albums sleeve was so much more important. I think it also deserves points for so suiting the music it sheaths. I mean really, Weezer's Raditude? Lame album and the artwork looks like something you'd find on an unfunny greeting card. I understand that artwork is by nature a subjective thing, but this list feels like it was thrown together at the last minute by someone who didn't have the time to go back and review some of the fantastic covers this decade has produced.

How could you forget this Saul Williams cover? A cat with a M-Fing eye-patch!

who would look at yankee hotel foxtrot and think "DNA under a microscope"? it looked like a building straight away to me.

This is the worst of all the lists. It's almost as if it was chosen completely at random! Only one or maybe two of the albums actually deserve to be included..

#2 was lame. Top album artwork because it's an optical illusion? What, are you guys 10?

I'm sorry, this list is awful. If you're going to say that Storm Thorgerson is good, then included some of his artwork. Deloused, Frances The Mute, Absolution? Come on Paste.

my list is here

http://americansun.wordpress.com/2009/12/01/12-albums-of-the-decade-2000-2009/

No SFA covers? Wow.

I think the car is her chariot, like she's the Boudica of the modern music.

This is a disappointing list for 10 years. Without counting it seemed like a quarter of them were popular 2009 covers.

WHITE WILLIAMS HAS ONE OF THE BEST COVER OF THE DECADE CHECK, ¨SMOKE¨

I'm confused. Is this a list for the best or worst? It says "best," but surely, you can't be serious. Dearest Paste, you are so tasteful and usually dead-on in everything you do. Why, oh why, would you allow this to be posted on your site? The only one that represents good design is Josh Ritter's and it's not really one of the the top 25 of the decade. Maybe this list should be compiled by a panel of design school graduates, rather than someone who just learned to finger paint...

I think that some of those were really great choices, I like Erykah's the best and the Merriweather: Post Pavillion was totally awesome. But I think Michael Jackson's Dangerous album could have made the list. It looked like color and flair were in most of the album covers and his definitely fit that bill.

I think that some of those were really great choices, I like Erykah's the best. But I think Michael Jackson's Dangerous album could have made the list. It looked like color and flair were the theme of most albums and MJ's albums definitely fit the bill.

these are rather naff just popular i could choose better from my collection of cds hands down!!!

Hmph. Guess no one noticed the brilliance of Tally Hall's cover for Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum, drawn by master caricature artist Court Jones. http://www.hiddeninthesand.com/wiki/index.php?title=File:MMMM08.jpg

I personally prefer The Killers' Hot Fuss cover over Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. Covers I think should be mentioned are The White Stripe's White Blood Cells, Jet's Get Born, The Black Eye Peas' Elephunk, Coldplay's A Rush of Blood to the Head and Viva la Vida, Gorillaz's debut album and Muse's Absolution.

sorry but this is top 5, easy...