Metal Massacre

Here is the first of Metal Blade's long running Metal Massacre compilation series. This one featured Metallica, Ratt, Cirith Ungol, Malice and others. As for covers many of the later releases would have drawings of the grim reaperthat varied from decent down to horrible. This cover is basic and perhaps nothing special, but I always spend a few second looking at everytime it crosses my path.

Judas Priest, Sin After Sin

Still early in the career of Judas Priest, Sin After Sin retained much of the raw dramatic power of Sad Wings of Destiny while previewing the more polished sounds of subsequent albums. The latter probably came as much from producer Roger Glover (of Deep Purple fame) as from the band itself.

The cover has the perfect dark, Gothic feel. The stone temple, the eerie sky, even the lettering used for the band's name contribute to the theme.

One thing, however, doesn't quite fit: the white female figure at the base of the temple. It's hard to tell if she's emoting--perhaps feeling sad about sitting alone on the stone (not to mention having no face)--or if she's a swimsuit pinup girl waiting to be exploited.

Whatever it is she is meant for, it presents an unfortunate distraction. The blank figure adds no value to the theme; by whiting out her face and body, the band even reduces the sex value to nearly zero.

Iron Maiden-Twilight Zone

The huge majority of Iron Maiden's album covers have been some of the best metal album covers of all time. That includes singles as well as LPs. Sometimes on the singles artists Derek Riggs would take more chances and try out some different concepts. For Twilight Zone we see Eddie only as a ghost in the mirror. More subtle than covers like Killers and The number of the beast, but just as effective for sure.

Anthrax-Fistful of metal

The cover of Anthrax's debut was short on subtley for sure. They went for on an in your face approach on this one. I find myself staring at it even today, but it's more tacky than anything I guess. At least the band logo is cool.