Since the birth of the LP, cover artwork has been an integral part of how listeners receive it. It can offer a glimpse into how the album will sound (Walk Among Us, OK Computer) or simply invite you into another world that’s rife with detail, allowing listeners to pore over the intricacies as they listen from front to back (Sgt. Pepper’s, Dookie). Pop punk is no different, with the genre providing dozens of iconic, and often juvenile, artworks over the years that match the music. That led us to turn to our readers and ask them to rattle off the best pop-punk album covers of all time. From Neck Deep to blink-182, these are their top picks, ranked accordingly below.
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5. Neck Deep – Life’s Not Out To Get You
The zany artwork for Neck Deep’s second album, Life’s Not Out To Get You, immediately pulls you in. Vocalist Ben Barlow wanted a hand-drawn, “slightly more abstract” aesthetic that was open for interpretation, which drew them to artist Ricardo Cavolo. They told him the title of the album, and he went from there, adding lots of eyeballs and flames. The character in the corner is Jude, who must journey through a wasteland and face monsters along the way — acting as a metaphor for life. “You’re going to have a bunch of shit — you’re going to go through some terrible stuff, and you’re going to have to push through it,” Barlow says.
4. Fall Out Boy – Infinity On High
Fall Out Boy had giant shoes to fill after releasing From Under The Cork Tree in 2005, but they delivered with Infinity On High. Its cover is eccentric but eye-catching, to say the least. Though photographed by Pamela Littky, the concept for the shoot mostly came from Pete Wentz. He envisioned a “dreamlike/nightmarish bedroom scene,” which explains the cover perfectly. Then Littky and set designer Todd Fjelsted brainstormed about everything that could occur in a dream state, culminating in a strange but utterly captivating cover that houses some of the band’s most potent songs.
3. Paramore – Riot!
2007 was quite the year, signaling the arrival of Superbad, the end of The O.C., Kim Kardashian’s sex tape, and beyond. Halfway through the year, Paramore’s Riot! entered the scene and quickly cemented its place within the emo canon. It helped that its cover was instantly captivating, looking like it was torn out of a 10th-grade spiral notebook. Honestly, it had to be to properly preview what was inside — a collection of 11 unforgettable songs that’d launch them into the stratosphere and make them a total powerhouse.
2. Green Day – Dookie
Besides branding them “sellouts” by punk snobs, Green Day’s Dookie opened whole new possibilities. Its influence was intensified by its wickedly busy cover art, which encapsulated the band’s crass humor, defiance, and love of smoking weed. Drawn by East Bay artist Richie Bucher, the rich details mean there’s always something new to discover, even if you’ve owned the album since its release in 1994. Beyond references to the Berkeley punk scene that raised them, there are nods to Black Sabbath, Patti Smith, and Ramones’ Rocket to Russia if you look closely enough.
1. blink-182 – Enema of the State
The artwork for Enema of the State is simply immortal — easily one of the most recognizable covers from the ’90s, right up there with Nevermind and Goo. Starring porn star Janine Lindemulder donning a nurse uniform, the title — which was once Turn Your Head and Cough — plays on the term “enemy of the state” without even appearing on the cover. According to producer Jerry Finn, the band didn’t even know about her profession when they picked her for the artwork, which is pretty hilarious in hindsight. Either way, we wouldn’t expect anything less from blink-182.
