History Main / FaceOnTheCover

* Most of Music/DavidByrne's solo (non-soundtrack) albums have had portraits or mugshots on the cover. Some of them (his self-titled album and ''Grown Backwards'') are completely straight examples. Others are variations on the idea. ''Rei Momo'' is a photo of a human heart, with Byrne's face visible through cut-out portions. ''Feelings'' has a plastic doll modeled after Byrne. ''Look into the Eyeball'' has two completely different Byrne mugshots interlaced. ''Love This Giant'' has Byrne and collaborator Music/StVincent posing in prosthetic chins.

ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin. One of the oldest tricks in advertising is using the face of a celebrity to sell your product. Films, cartoons, comic books, video games and TV series will put the main actors or characters on the posters, ads or DVD covers. Novels and non-fiction books will use the author or a main character. Music albums will just show a photograph of the band or the lead singer, especially after the transition from large LP covers to smaller cassettes, [=CDs=], and digital music and as popular music became more personality-driven.

ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin. One of the oldest tricks in advertising is using the face of a celebrity to sell your product. Films, cartoons, comic books, video games and TV series will put the main actors or characters on the posters, ads or DVD covers. Novels and non-fiction books will use the author or a main character. Music albums will just show a photograph of the band or the lead singer, especially after the transition from large LP covers to smaller cassettes, [=CDs=], and digital music.

ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin. One of the oldest tricks in advertising is using the face of a celebrity to sell your product. Films, cartoons, comic books, video games and TV series will put the main actors or characters on the posters, ads or DVD covers. Novels and non-fiction books will use the author or a main character. Music albums will just show a photograph of the band or the lead singer.

* Music/{{Eminem}}: Shown on the cover from ''Music/TheMarshallMathersLP'', in the far distance.

--> "Vogue" - Music/{{Madonna}} from the album ''Music/ImBreathless''.

[[quoteright:350: [[Music/FrankSinatra https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/this_is_sinatra_by_sinatra_9201.jpg]]]][[caption-width-right:350: Have we emphasized enough what we're selling here?]]

It's the easiest and most uninspiring way to sell your product. Doing something artistic, like making a DesignStudentsOrgasm cover where the actual creators or cast may not be seen at all, may be more clever and intriguing, but also confusing to the potential audience. Why show just a picture of a location, an [[MinimalisticCoverArt abstract color or motive]] or [[SirNotAppearingInThisTrailer something unrelated]] to the lyrics or music if these things will just confuse potential clients? Just put [[WolverinePublicity the face of the creator or main cast on the cover and people will immediately identify it as their latest installment]]. It's ShowDontTell in its most blatant form.

* Music/BoardsofCanada's ''Boc Maxima'' features members Mike and Marcus' faces.

** The outright aversions are ''Tin Machine II'' (a photograph of a kouros replicated four times in a line), the original cover of ''Music/TheBuddhaOfSuburbia'' (which used an edited still from the miniseries it was released as a tie-in with), the original US cover of ''Music/TheManWhoSoldTheWorld'' (a cartoon cowboy walking past a mental institution) and ''Music/BlackstarAlbum'' (just the titular black star). Even then, most of these cases are mitigated to an extent; ''Tin Machine II'' and the UK release of ''Buddha'' both feature Bowie on the back cover, and the UK cover of ''TMWSTW'' and US cover of ''Buddha'', which '''do''' depict Bowie, are considered the canonical ones. Thus, ''★'' holds the distinction of being the only Bowie album to not depict him on the front or back cover in any capacity in any version (though even then his image is still present in the interior gatefold on both CD and LP copies).

** His face can also be seen on ''Music/TheManWhoSoldTheWorld'', ''Music/TheRiseAndFallOfZiggyStardustAndTheSpidersFromMars'', ''Music/StationToStation'', ''Music/LetsDance'', ''Never Let Me Down'', the 2007 reissue of ''The Buddha of Suburbia'' and'' 'Music/{{hours}}...' ''but from a distance. The opposite situation occurs with ''Black Tie White Noise'' where Bowie's face takes up >90% of the cover space.

** The outright aversions are ''Tin Machine II'' (a photograph of a kouros replicated four times in a line), the original cover of ''The Buddha of Suburbia'' (which used a still from the miniseries it scored), the original US cover of ''Music/TheManWhoSoldTheWorld'' (a cartoon cowboy walking past a mental institution) and ''Music/BlackstarAlbum'' (just the titular black star). Even then, most of these cases are mitigated to an extent; ''Tin Machine II'' and the UK release of ''Buddha'' both feature Bowie on the back cover, and the UK cover of ''TMWSTW'' and US cover of ''Buddha'', which '''do''' depict Bowie, are considered the canonical ones. Thus, ''★'' holds the distinction of being the only Bowie album to not depict him on the front or back cover in any capacity in any version (though even then his image is still present in the interior gatefold on both CD and LP copies).

** The outright aversions are ''Tin Machine II'' (four nude male Ancient Greek statues), the original cover of ''The Buddha of Suburbia'' (which used a still from the miniseries it scored), the original US cover of ''Music/TheManWhoSoldTheWorld'' (a cartoon cowboy walking past a mental institution) and ''Music/BlackstarAlbum'' (just the titular black star). Even then, most of these cases are mitigated to an extent; ''Tin Machine II'' and the UK release of ''Buddha'' both feature Bowie on the back cover, and the UK cover of ''TMWSTW'' and US cover of ''Buddha'', which '''do''' depict Bowie, are considered the canonical ones. Thus, ''★'' holds the distinction of being the only Bowie album to not depict him on the front or back cover in any version (though even then his image is still present in the interior gatefold on both CD and LP copies).

** Finally, ''Music/{{Lodger}}'' zigzags the trope - the Wikipedia page for the album shows only his [[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/12/Bowie-lodger.jpg legs]], but the official website shows [[http://www.davidbowie.com/sites/g/files/g2000002506/f/styles/large/public/201302/1979_lodger_us_cvr_fix_800sq.jpg?itok=9GOQevyi Bowie's top half]] while the cassette cover shows [[http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RQMbhHkpG48/UAjfsL-666I/AAAAAAAAJxg/ehGKEX5LZ0c/s1600/European%2Bcassette%2Btape%2Bcover%2BDavid%2BBowie%2BLodger.jpg Bowie in full]]

** The outright aversions are ''Tin Machine II'' (four nude male Ancient Greek statues), the original cover of ''The Buddha of Suburbia'' (which used a still from the miniseries it scored), the original US cover of ''Music/TheManWhoSoldTheWorld'' (a cartoon cowboy walking past a mental institution) and ''Music/BlackstarAlbum'' (just the titular black star).

* Music/{{Heart}}: Their debut LP, ''Dreamboat Annie'', featured Ann and Nancy Wilson sitting back-to-back, apparently topless (the picture was cropped apparently for modesty reasons, but other unreleased photos from the same shoot revealed they were wearing towel wraps). This backfired on them when an unscrupulous record company deliberately circulated false rumours that the sisters were not only [[BiTheWay bi-curious]], they had experimented with ''each other''. Contracts were severed shortly afterwards by the furious and humiliated sisters, and the first single for their new label was ''Barracuda'', a scathing TakeThat at Mushroom Records.

* Music/JohnnyCash: Appears in close-up on the album cover of ''Music/AtFolsomPrison'', shot from a lower angle.

-> ''MarloBrando, Jimmy Dean''

-> ''Creator/GretaGarbo and [[Creator/MarilynMonroe Monroe]]''
-> ''[[Creator/MarleneDietrich Dietrich]] and Joe [=Di=]Maggio''
-> ''Creator/MarlonBrando, [[Creator/JamesDean Jimmy Dean]]''

* Music/NineInchNails: The cover for the "Head Like a Hole" is an inverted black and white closeup of Trent Reznor's face, obscured somewhat by the song's lyrics placed over it.

** The outright aversions are ''Tin Machine II'' (four nude male Ancient Greek statues), the original cover of ''The Buddha of Suburbia'' (which used a still from the miniseries it scored), the original US cover of ''Music/TheManWhoSoldTheWorld'' (a cartoon cowboy walking past a mental institution) and ''Music/{{Blackstar}}'' (just the titular black star).

* ''Magazine/MadMagazine''. You'll always know you're looking at a ''Mad'' magazine issue, because Alfred E. Neuman's face is nearly always visibly present.

** Alfred E. Neuman appears on the front of every issue of ''Magazine/MadMagazine''.

* Music/{{Prince}} appears on almost all of his albums, including ''[[Music/PrinceAlbum Prince]]'' and ''Film/PurpleRain''.