Top 10 Music Album Covers with Hidden Images or Messages

It's not only a spaceship. It's an acoustic guitar turned upside down. Can't see the guitar? Try harder. Actually, there are also several smaller guitars that look like spaceships. (Click on the image to zoom in.)

They replicated the same visual trick on the cover of their second album.

Yes, there are four strings of the guitar without any bridge. And a part of the headstock can be seen with three visible tuning keys.

Just behind Eddie's right leg, there's a banner reflected in the windows of the Bradbury Towers Hotel International. If you reverse it, you will read the message "THIS IS A VERY BORING PAINTING."

It's in capital letters. The cover was created by artist Derek Riggs. Great sense of humor, Derek!

Ha! I didn't know about this. That's really funny. I love self-referential humor.

1. The interior gatefold depicts a lantern-bearing hermit atop a rocky summit that, when held vertically against a mirror, reveals the face of a beast.

2. There are four glyphs created by each band member - their "personal symbols." For example, drummer John Bonham's glyph contains three interlocking rings representing the mother-father-child triad. But when inverted, it becomes the logo for Ballantine beer! Cheers! And R.I.P. John.

Under the palm trees on the right edge, there's a Shirley Temple doll clad in a sweater emblazoned with the cheery greeting "Welcome The Rolling Stones Good Guys." The "Good Guys" part is on the left sleeve of the doll, while the main message is on the chest and tummy.

Photographer: Michael Cooper.

Several months later, The Stones returned the favor (see below how).

Within the lion drawing, there are actually several hidden images. The head is made up of nine faces, and the chin is a hula skirt, with the dancer's legs evident below, and so on.

This black cover was created by Andy Warhol and has two hidden elements:

1. A skull tattoo with the word "Death" under it can only be seen under a black light or when closely examined at an angle. The tattoo belonged to Joe Spencer, star of the 1967 Warhol film Bike Boy.

2. If you hold the vinyl edition's gatefold cover up to the sun or a strong light, a field of stars emerges.

Because of this, some believe that David Bowie paid tribute to the concept of this album cover on his final album, 2016's Blackstar. I am not sure about it, but I can't deny it either.
(Click on the image - you'll see the skull tattoo.)

The digital display has two visual tricks:

1. It's a computerized caricature of all three band members' hairstyles (Sting is in the middle with his spiky hair).

2. If you hold the image up to a mirror, the figures reveal a devilish message: 666.

Look at the cover from a distance - it's a skull made up of a woman and her reflection.

Thanks for this addition, Ned. The funeral procession theme makes this album cover darker than I thought.

In the flowers and fabric in the foreground, you can see the headshots of the Beatles members - Paul and George are on the left, Ringo and John on the right. The Stones just returned the favor I described in the Sgt. Pepper's comment section above. But did The Rolling Stones mean the Beatles were Satanic Majesties?

Both album covers were created by the same photographer - Michael Cooper.

On the right edge of the zigzag artwork created by Paul McCartney, he wrote "L.I.L.Y." that stands for "Linda, I Love You."
(If you click on the image here, you can see it.)

The serial number 3MTA3, when read backward from right to left, spells out "EAT ME."

Again, the spaceship is also an acoustic guitar turned upside down.

If you look closely at the eye, there is the Dream Theater logo. Dream Theater has been known to hide their logo on their album covers, and this one was the best.

Klaus Voormann, who created the artwork, placed a small image of himself and his name inside George Harrison's hair (on the right side of the album cover, underneath John's mouth).

On the back, there are legs with shoes. The soles of the shoes actually feature Vincent Van Gogh's Starry Night.