[The Tens] From Nevermind To good kid, m.A.A.d city: Grading 10 Album Covers Featuring Baby Pictures

Album artwork often tells us some kind of story. Some stories are relatively dense while others knit together the album’s narrative. One of the more interesting images used on album covers feature baby pictures. Although not all are from the artist’s past, some images are so strong that we cannot shake them. The innocence is often juxtaposed with something more dangerous and the composition is often a memorable one. Although, on occasion, the baby pictures don’t really tell us anything and are just, sort of, there. With Kendrick Lamar’s good kid, m.A.A.d city being released and it’s artwork being the point of many discussions, we have rounded up some of the more memorable album covers featuring babies and graded their significance.

Nirvana – Nevermind

The iconic album cover of a baby underwater as he appears to be chasing after a dollar on a fish hook isn’t some ridiculously deep concept. Kurt Cobain simply felt that the image of a water birth was cool and had the son of the photographer’s friend participate in the shoot. The dollar on the fish hook? No, the baby wasn’t being fished for. Instead, Cobain thought that it was cool. Crazy how something so iconic can be so meaningless.

Grade B+