At a time when music is increasingly being downloaded and uploaded, the art of packaging music is being lost. For the past five decades musicians have displayed their work inside packages that were often as integral as the music itself. This book brings together 250 of the greatest album covers of all time and is arranged chronologically, beginning in 1956. There is a 50-strong judging panel selecting the final 250 entries, those judges having been drawn from the great and the good of the music industry. The panel includes famous designers, musicians, producers and record company executives whose reasons for choosing covers will accompany the illustration of the sleeve. From rock ''n'' roll to pop, R&B to jazz, blues and even folk some of the album covers included are obvious and essential to such a volume, while others will surprise readers and jog memories. The chosen entries might not necessarily be of a best-selling release, but they will be important artistically, stylistically or culturally. This book will undoubtedly be an object of discussion and argument for music fans the world over.