11. Pink Floyd Wish You Were Here
Inspired by a mixture of Pink Floyd's experiences with mental illness and their disillusionment with the music industry, Wish You Were Here is considered by many to be their finest album. As a friend of the band Thorgerson's artwork for Wish You Were Here succeeds in capturing some of the musical allure and mystery on display in the album. Every aspect of the cover the handshake, the suits, the burning man, the empty film lot in the background all reflect the lyrical themes of Wish You Were Here. And like most of Thorgersons most memorable images, this one didnt rely photo manipulation. The shot was achieved with stuntmen in flame proof suits.
10. Anthrax Stomp 442
Part of the appeal of Thorgersons album covers is how far he was willing to go to capture an image. More often than not this meant tracking down striking location or landmarks. So yes, that is a real giant metal ball composed of crushed muscle cars. You can tell by the naked man standing beside it, dwarfed by the sheer size of the gigantic sphere. What does it mean? Perhaps it is the result of a weird magnetic collision, or perhaps it is supposed to be the mentally controlled plaything of the naked man. All we know is that it makes one awesome cover for a thrash metal album.