Top 10: Ioannis Album Covers

Yesterday, we were shocked and saddened to hear the news of the passing of Ioannis. With a career spanning nearly 50 years, Ioannis was one of the most iconic and in-demand artists in rock and metal history, crafting otherworldly landscapes and fantastical beings as synonymous with their respective albums as the music that made up said albums themselves. To honor this visionary of visual arts, we did our best to boil down his 350+ works to the 10 best. While you might not agree with the choices, or the order, surely you can respect the homage being paid. Furthermore, it should also be added that these albums are being examined purely based on the content of their cover art, not their music. In other words, we’re literally judging albums by their covers! On that note, here are our Top 10 Ioannis Album Covers. Rest in power Ioannis.

10. Obsession – Scarred for Life (1986)

Well if it isn’t every guy’s worst nightmare! You meet a nice gal and decide to take a chance on her. You wine and dine her, then head back to her place, eager for whatever it is the evening has in store. Little do you know the woman you’re expecting to spend the night with isn’t human at all, but rather some femme-bot hybrid with murder on her mind. That, my friends, is enough to leave one Scarred for Life, which just so happens to be the title of the debut album from US power metallers, Obsession. Featuring a young Michael Vescera on vocals, later of Loudness and Yngwie Malmsteen fame, Obsession never ascended to the sane level of superstardom as some of their USPM peers did. However, thanks to Ioannis’ captivating artwork and some catchy American metal bangers, the band remained signed to Enigma for one more outing until their eventual 1989 split.

9. Cannata – Watching the World (1993)

This one is more a personal favorite than anything, so bear with me. For those of you wondering, “What the hell is a Cannata?”, it’s the namesake project of one Mr. Jeff Cannata, who spearheaded cult AOR titans, Arc Angel. And if you don’t know who Arc Angel are, well, looks like you’ve got some homework to do! For Cannata’s sophomore opus, Watching the World, Ioannis was commissioned to design a piece as whimsical and otherworldly as the music at hand, and he didn’t disappoint. When we look closely at this work, we come to the stark realization that WE are the cover! Indeed, Watching the World‘s cover is depicted from the first person perspective, with a pair of hooved mechanical hands playing the piano accompanied by a telescope above, giving us all the opportunity to “watch the world” with Cannata, Ioannis, and whoever else we please.

8. Liege Lord – Burn to My Touch (1987)

When we look at the work of Ioannis, specifically those that make up this list, one begins to form the conclusion that at least half of these works seem to take place in the same universe. Just look at the arrangement and color scheme of Liege Lord’s sophomore album, Burn to My Touch, and Obsession’s Scarred for Life before it. Whereas Scarred for Life depicts the female protagonist as the captor, Burn to My Touch reverses roles, depicting a woman seemingly enslaved and/or entranced by a stout, hooded, and horned being baring resemblance to a certain other character we’ll be greeted to later on in this list. Funny enough, like Obsession, Liege Lord too hailed from the USPM scene, yet whereas Obsession merely flirted with power metal like Armored Saint and Malice, Liege Lord were full blown practitioners of American steel.

7. Wargasm – Why Play Around? (1988)

No matter the case, Ioannis’ work always added to the depth of the album it accompanied. If the music was imaginary and strange, so was the artwork. If the music was subdued and foreboding, so was the artwork. And if the music was violent, well, you guessed it; so was the artwork. Such was the case for oft-forgotten thrashers, Wargasm, and their debut album, Why Play Around?. Does it get more late ’80s major label mosh-thrash than a clown beaten to death by a baseball bat, his dead body left tied to a tree against a graffitied brick wall backdrop? I think not. Rumor has it Marillion’s jester mascot entered the witness protection program after catching a glimpse of this bloody scene!

6. Legend – Fröm The Fjörds (1979)

In hindsight, it’s a tad ironic that the beginning of Ioannis’ epic career coincided with the birth of epic metal proper. Yes, you’d never know it because of its black and white color scheme, but Ioannis’ first piece of cover art hit record store shelves in 1979, albeit limited to 500 copies, in the form of Legend’s sole full length, Fröm The Fjörds. Truth be told, its black and white composition perfectly matches the tone of the music in all its brutish and primitive glory. While acts like Manilla Road and Cirith Ungol would cement epic metal as a proper subgenre in the ’80s, bringing it “in color”, Legend’s pioneering brew was meant to be seen in black and white, and if we look closely enough, what a sight it is to behold! A warrior woman watches as dragonships make their way through a foreboding fjord. Mind you, this is back in 1979, not 1989! Talk about being ahead of their time, both Ioannis and Legend.

5. Art in America – Art in America (1983)

Now that we’re halfway through this list, it’s time I remind you yet again that these albums are listed and ranked off of their visual content, not musical. Musically speaking, Art in America’s self titled debut is a respectable slab of progressive AOR in the vein of Asia, Mr. Mister, and other chart-smashing acts of the day. Visually speaking, it cements Ioannis as an industry force to be reckoned with, and is perhaps the first of his many iconic landscapes. Depicted in a universe where night and day bleed into one another, Art in America‘s cover boasts a dreamy sky, lush green field, and an army of bubble-like orbs descending from the sky…or perhaps rising from a body of water that we can’t see? Regardless, this piece sets the stage for others of note to follow very soon.

4. Warlord – Thy Kingdom Come (1986)

By 1986, thrash-a-mania is in full force, with nearly every band boasting a half a dozen mosh riffs to their name and a pair of tattered high tops scoring a major label deal. In other words, the USPM/epic metal crop of just a couple years later couldn’t be more unfashionable to this new breed who wanted it fast, loud, violent, and unrelenting. This shift in tastes didn’t stop Metal Blade head honcho, Brian Slagel, from trying to revive interest in one band from said scene, Warlord. Aided by a trippy, otherworldly scene courtesy of Ioannis, Thy Kingdom Come compiled the band’s already brief catalog into a repackaged “greatest hits” of sorts, hoping to resuscitate the band’s career. Although the effort failed, it did leave us with yet another masterpiece from the Greek genius himself.

3. Voivod – Nothingface (1989)

Ioannis’ run as art director for MCA’s Mechanic Records subsidiary produced no piece more memorable or iconic than that of Voivod’s fifth album, Nothingface. Created in conjunction with the band’s drummer and illustrator, Away, Nothingface perfectly serves as a visual companion to the music that makes up the album. It’s bleak, dissonant, and post-apocalyptic; not in the combative, flesh-hungry manner of the band’s first two albums, or even the man vs. machine approach that dominated the two albums after that, but in a cold, cruel, and purely ominous manner. It’s no wonder Nothingface proved to be Voivod’s biggest album up until that point, luring in many a young headbanger who stared at its soulless cover art, wondering just what in the hell it was.

2. Fates Warning – The Spectre Within (1985)

Hot take: The cover art for Fates Warning’s Night on Bröcken (1984) does not deserve its bad rap. Its crude, primeval cover perfectly reflects the youthful Americanized Maiden worship that dominates the release. In the same manner, Ioannis’ horned woman who graces the cover of FW’s sophomore album, The Spectre Within, accurately depicts a shift in sound: A band who, in the short span of a year, have elevated their craft as musicians and songwriters. It’s one of those cases in metal history where the album itself sounds EXACTLY like the cover looks, no Molly Hatchet tomfoolery here! Emboldened by an outstretched bird, glowing moon, and more orbs, it’s all of Ioannis’ trademarks wrapped up in one masterpiece, only to be topped by…

1. Fates Warning – Awaken the Guardian (1986)

And here it is: The Mona Lisa of Ioannis’ oeuvre. Behold this masterpiece in all its glory. Any true metalhead already has, likely for the better part of their lifetime, but for the sake of this here list and in dedication of a legend, let’s behold a little more, shall we? At 26 years old, I find myself gazing upon the landscape of Fates Warning’s Awaken the Guardian in sheer amazement the same way I did when I was 16, and I expect the same reaction to be evoked come 36, 46, 56, and beyond. There’s some art that simply can’t be condensed to a brief paragraph or two, and this is one such example. So at this point, I implore you to dust off your copy of Awaken the Guardian, or pull it up on your digital streaming provider, if you’re one of the kids. Crank it up LOUD in Ioannis’ memory, and lose yourself in this timeless dreamscape.