Some years ago I was clearing out the attic of my family home and I found a treasure trove of fantastic vinyl that my father had accumulated throughout his life. It made me excited to see musical gems from my own past, as well as jewels in the crown from my father’s extensive, eclectic collection of records. Below are a selection of the twenty most unusual, wacky, funny, cool or downright odd record sleeves in the collection. It reminded me how remarkable a vinyl album cover is. To see it in such a large format, announcing itself so boldly. I felt transported to that moment when you would buy a new record and hold that sleeve in your hand, turning it over, studying it in detail, marvelling at the thought process and all of the hands & minds that had brought this cover art to the world. And sadly that tradition is largely fading with the shift to digital formats, but as the masterpieces below illustrate, nothing compares to a striking album cover, no matter how odd or unintentionally strange it might be.