The album cover is a forgotten art form, but man, it was an important one. Once upon a time, the look of an album covers would be the deciding vote if a person outlaid the money. It carried the brand of the band. It was the first thing that spoke to the music buyer. And as time has gone on, the artists who created some of the iconic covers are never mentioned.

Ask anyone who created the “Master Of Puppets” or “Dr Feelgood” cover and I bet ya, they can’t answer it. But both albums have an iconic status in the history of music. I had to refer to the actual album credits. If anyone answered Don Brautigam, then they really know their cover artists. While the album covers are brilliant, it’s worth noting that Brautigam worked as an artist for 15 years prior to the Metallica job.

• If you’ve seen any Stephen King book covers like “The Stand”, “Cujo”, “Salem’s Lot”, “The Dead Zone”, “Different Seasons”, “Night Shift” and “Firestarter”, that’s Brautigam’s work.
• If you’ve seen any Dean Koontz book covers like “Dragon Tears”, that’s also Brautigam’s work.
• If you’ve seen any Anthrax album covers like “Among the Living”, “State of Euphoria” and “Persistence of Time” that’s also Brautigam’s work.
• If you’ve seen any Metallica album covers like “Master Of Puppets” and the self-titled “Black” album, well, that’s also Brautigam’s work.
• If you’ve seen the cover for “Dr Feelgood” from Motley Crue, that’s also Brautigam’s work.
• If you’ve seen the cover for Testament‘s “The Ritual”, well, you guessed it, that’s Brautigam.
• If you’ve seen the cover for Frehley’s Comet first album. Brautigam.
• If you’ve seen the cover for AC/DC’s “The Razor Edge”, well that’s Brautigam’s work as well.
• If you’ve seen the cover for “The Dark” from Metal Church, that’s Brautigam.
• If you’ve seen the cover for “Rockit” from Chuck Berry, that’s also Brautigam.
• If you’ve seen any James Brown album covers like “The Payback” or “Reality”, that’s Brautigam.