10 Best Rock Music Album Covers Of The 2020s So Far
3. Senjutsu - Iron Maiden
Iron Maiden found a formula for making great album covers back in 1980 and they've stuck with it ever since.
Every single Maiden cover has featured their mascot Eddie in some way. The friendly neighbourhood skeleton thingy has been placed in plenty of bizarre scenarios over the years, but one of the most memorable can be found on the front of September 2021's Senjutsu.
The word Senjutsu is Japanese for "tactics and strategy", so naturally there's a Japanese theme to Eddie's attire on the cover. He's dressed like a samurai, complete with his very own katana, snarling away with blood stains all over his face.
Illustrator Mark Wilkinson went to great lengths to make Eddie look good here, even ignoring traditional samurai items because he thought they wouldn't fit his frame. The end result is a starkly grim image; an instant classic in a repertoire filled with them.
Some might say that Maiden use their mascot too much, but the fact that Eddie has been with the band since the very beginning has endeared him greatly to their fans. There would be an international incident if he was ever retired.