B-Side 1991

The Psychedelic Furs were the cover stars on the October/November 1991 issue of US magazine B-Side.

Sounds 1981

The Psychedelic Furs appeared on the cover for the December 12, 1981 issue of Sounds Magazine in Germany.

Concert Ads #35

Another advert for The Psychedelic Furs' UK gig for the World Outside tour appeared in the September 21, 1991 issue of Melody Maker. The ad mentions the World Outside album and the second single that came out at the time "Don't Be A Girl."

Via @nothingelseon on Twitter.

Concert Ads #34

On October 10, 1980 The Psychedelic Furs performed at Duffy's in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Phones were the support group.

Concert Ads #33

A selection of these UK dates for The Psychedelic Furs' World Outside tour appeared in the August 24, 1991 issue of Melody Maker. Tickets for the shows were £7.00, £7.50, and £9.00. The support act was Levitation.

Via @nothingelseon on Twitter.

Top 10 Album Covers

Back in 2019 I published a top 10 ranking of my favorite Psychedelic Furs album covers and recently I thought of redoing this list again. On the first one I did, I ranked the first seven albums, the US covers for The Psychedelic Furs and Forever Now, and the compilation All Of This And Nothing. Now that Made Of Rain is here, it will replace All Of This And Nothing but the two US album covers will still be on the updated list.

Here are my top 10 favorite covers of The Psychedelic Furs' albums!

10. USA artwork for Forever Now

I like this one with the pictures of the band members but to me it's not as memorable as the other album covers. Long story short, Columbia (The Furs' US label) used this artwork for the North American release of Forever Now because they didn't like the original. They designed it without The Psychedelic Furs' permission, and when the band first saw the finished product they hated the look of it. The cover art looks like it's trying to imitate the one for Talk Talk Talk. Fun fact: the US artwork was actually used for Forever Now's release over in Spain.

9. Book Of Days

This artwork represents the return of The Psychedelic Furs, and when I say return, I mean back to how they used to be. They went back to their original roots after Midnight To Midnight, and stopped wearing the black clothes and leather jackets. Also the music on Book Of Days is more heavier and darker than the lighthearted, synthesized pop rock of its predecessor.

8. World Outside

World Outside is the first Psychedelic Furs album that doesn't feature the band members on the cover. The artwork is surrounded by nature, and with the look of it I like to imagine that it's a hot late Summer day, with a hint of a cool breeze blowing through.

7. Made Of Rain

The cover art for Made Of Rain perfectly captures the feel of the songs from the album and to me it looks like a mix of classical and modern art. The artwork was designed by Kevin Grady, a friend of vocalist Richard Butler. According to Richard, he saw the image of that statue on Kevin's Facebook page and really liked it. Richard then contacted Kevin and asked for his permission to use that photo for Made Of Rain's album cover.

6. USA artwork for The Psychedelic Furs

Forever Now wasn't the only album that got its artwork changed. It happened with the first LP and of course, it was designed by Columbia. This cover art is less offensive than the one for Forever Now though, and it managed to keep that Psychedelic Furs feel. The black and green colors go good together with the picture of the band.

5. The Psychedelic Furs (original artwork)

The original artwork for the debut also came in orange and green colors but the "pretty in pink" one is my favorite. I love the mysterious, shadowy look of the album cover and it gives off a beautifully chaotic vibe (see what I did there?).

4. Talk Talk Talk

The album cover for Talk Talk Talk was inspired by the art of Andy Warhol and it is such a classic cover. One of the best of all time. I really like the photo of Richard Butler on it. That's a great photo of him.

3. Forever Now (original artwork)

The original cover art for Forever Now, designed by Barney Bubbles, is just fantastic and I don't understand why Columbia rejected it. I love the green and pink colors, the album and band names written in stars, and the photo that was taken by Graeme Attwood during the video shoot for "Love My Way."

2. Midnight To Midnight

I absolutely adore this album cover for Midnight To Midnight. I know Richard Butler, former guitarist John Ashton, and bassist Tim Butler didn't like wearing those type of punk rock looking outfits and having their hair all gelled up, but I think they looked really great and I have a weak spot for those type of clothes. The Midnight era is my favorite Psychedelic Furs era.

And now, here's my number one favorite album cover...

1. Mirror Moves

The Mirror Moves album cover is just iconic. The photo of Richard Butler (taken by Brian Griffin), the stars, and the purple checkered background are the reasons why this takes the number one spot. And it has that glorious '80s look of it, too. The cover art was a tribute to the work of Barney Bubbles, who unfortunately passed away in 1983.

Whenever The Psychedelic Furs release their next album, I'm looking forward to see what the album title will be and what the cover art will look like. If I have to update this list again in the future, it will be a top 11 ranking. Hope you enjoyed this post and as always, thank you for reading!