The Back of Your Head... Is Ridiculous
From Roger Daltrey to Justin Timberlake, we break down the album cover trend
Anyone who grew up in the early 2000s can recall passing endless sleepover nights only watching YouTube videos, like the Mad TV skit “Can I Have Your Number.” In the sketch, the man Darrell (“My name is Darrell. It’s spelled like ‘Darrel’ but pronounced Darrell.”) is so overwhelmed by the beauty of the back of a woman’s head in the movie theatre that he simply cannot control himself. It is a hilarious pop culture moment that spins the laws of attraction around on its head, pun intended.
When another early 2000s pop icon, Justin Timberlake, revealed the album cover for his sixth studio album, Everything I Thought It Was, in January, Darrel’s unmistakable voice popped into my head. But unlike Darrel’s excited energy, my attitude was paired with a confused, genuine questioning of, “Why am I looking at the back of Justin Timberlake’s head?” The image feels like a lighting test, the first shot on a roll before a photographer gets to the actual creative. The scenery that the singer is looking out onto isn’t a view; it’s a fake backdrop, which makes the image even more lackluster and unoriginal. I regret adding to the pile of criticism surrounding Timberlake’s latest endeavor, but for the man who brought “SexyBack” and has one of the biggest budgets in pop, this album cover is quite disappointing as the rest of the campaign imagery is so engaging.
A week before Justin Timberlake’s release, fellow popstar Ariana Grande released her seventh studio album eternal sunshine. The album cover pictures what looks to be one Ariana seeking comfort on the shoulder of another Ariana. While I find myself more enraptured in Grande’s cover than Timberlake’s, we are once again seeing the back of yet another musician’s head. And in 2020, Taylor Swift also showed us the back of her head for the cover of evermore. To quote Darrel… this trend is a bit “ridiculous.” There’s a gray area between the images feeling voyeuristic as if you’re being led somewhere by the musician versus being blocked off from getting to know that same artist. To my chagrin, the trend has been persistent as of late and can also be pinpointed quite frequently throughout music history.
But, if I had to choose, my favorite execution of the back-to-the-camera trend is Roger Daltrey’s 1977 One Of The Boys. Like Grande’s, it takes the fad one step further by tricking the eye and turning what should be a reflection into a multidimensional portal. It’s smart and witty.
Find more backs of heads, necks, and bodies on album covers throughout the years below. If you have any you’d like to add, feel free to share in the comments!
The Art of Cover Art is a free educational and inspirational resource. If you have $5/ month to spare, it would be very helpful in furthering my research. Or, if you think a friend might enjoy this newsletter, the best way to pay it forward is by sharing!
super cool read, noticed this too lately, makes you really think about what an album cover is trying to portray when its a head on portrait of the artist right? def something more personal, so when its the back of their head, ya it just feels less personal and closed off, but in the case of ariana, it feels like she’s actually trying to keep us away because of all the speculation of her private life etc etc
Have you ever seen "Not to be reproduced" by Rene Magritte?