Does cover art of an album or recording influences your purchase?

My daughter who does not collect Vinyl asked for an original Beatles Sgt. Pepper album because it was a marketing first. I was able to find an early edition mono copy for her. It was discussed in her marketing class at FSU. A couple notables for me are the Stones -Some Girls and Skynard’s Street Survivors as both were removed and replaced for different reasons. I’ve always appreciated the 60’s and early 70’s psychedelic art, The Vargas Car’s covers and the interactive ones like Zepp’s - In Through the Out Door. I was fortunate enough some years back to see the Summer of Love anniversary exhibit at the museum in SF’s Golden Gate Park. They had a huge black light poster room and all the equipment and the masters that produced the posters from that era. Cheers , Mike B. 

More so during the pre-internet era than now. 

Being a big prog fan back in the 70’s, prog albums tended to have cover art* that was a big clue as to the musical content of the of the recordings.

And this was especially helpful when so much world class prog started to be imported to the US from non-English speaking countries, and from more obscure bands. 

Recognizing cover art that hinted at progressive music on the disc, helped me find some of the best prog on the planet, from bands that most people know nothing about. 

*And no, I am not referring to the silly cliché notion that prog was loaded with themes of wizards, dragons, elves, etc. 

Nope, but if a song on the radio was good and the cover art was great that could push me into buying the album.

The Moondog album cover was/is pretty epic, as are the Santana album covers.

I was a sucker (?) and went for this new Taschen book, which is in the mail:

Sticky Fingers, most Beatles, Mothers, John Coltrane - The Believer, Led Zeppelin and the first few Hendrix come to mind

One of my all time  favorites, Bruce Springsteen’s Born in the U.S.A…. that iconic image of denim, a ball cap, and the flag. At first glance, it looks patriotic. But paired with the music, it reveals something deeper: working-class struggle, pride, pain, and the complexity of American identity. The art doesn’t explain the songs but it certainly amplified them here. This album still holds the same meaning it did 40 years ago, maybe even more.

+10 , @lalitk .