´óÏó´«Ã½

We've been thinking about top notch record sleeves from Wales this week and we'd like to hear from you what sleeves you'd nominate.

Now I'm not naming names here, but this discussion was apropos of a journey through some old Welsh records kicking around the office and - my god! - there were some shockers. Bad Photoshop, use of the Comic Sans font, cheesy poses and laughable titles. Now obviously we can't post these execrable excuses for art; it simply wouldn't be fair.

Instead we celebrate some of the top sleeves; those which are arresting, fascinating, iconic or beautiful in their simplicity.

One of the sleeves which kept coming up is Manic Street Preachers' Holy Bible from 1994. The stunning image is a painting called Strategy (South Face/Front Face/North Face) by . She gave the band permission to use the work free of charge after Richey Edwards told her the meanings behind every song of their classic work.

The Manics have other honourable mentions for Generation Terrorists and Journal For Plague Lovers.

At the other end of the spectrum when it comes to complexity is Gorky's Zygotic Mynci's 1995 album Bwyd Time. It's as complex and psychedelic as the music that it heralds. It was actually done by who was also their producer. He was once in the Welsh band Fflaps.

One more sleeve using artwork by a bona-fide artist is Catatonia's Way Beyond Blue from 1996. It was part of a series of paintings by Elfyn Lewis used by the band at the time.

How about some cheese? This sleeve from 1965 is just fantastic:

It's Tom Jones's 1965 A-Tom-Ic Jones, his second UK album. It's studio-produced, quickie art that just screams the era: Jones, suited and booted, in front of a Nevada Desert-like nuclear test explosion. It's so bad it's great - Tom Jones, it shrieks, is as powerful as an H-bomb.

Nine years later another Welsh icon, Max Boyce released Live At Treorchy. Wearing a leek, of all things, Boyce grins out of the cover exuding Welshness. His entire career is based on that cheesy Welsh identity and this sleeve distils that down to a classic sleeve - a favourite of car boot sales all over Wales.

Not cheesy in the slightest is south Wales stoner/sludge metal band Taint's The Ruin of Nová Roma from 2005. It's beautiful, but slightly disturbing. Is the girl crying? Romanesque ruins fight for attention with organic, styled flora and fauna. Jimbob from the band says, "I am very much influenced by Czech art nouveau artist . I couldn't avoid this influence when doing this cover and I wanted a balance between the contempory hard vector lines and more organic shapes and colour palate."

One of the most iconic images from Welsh culture can be seen on Super Furry Animals' Fuzzy Logic. Celebrated reformed drug baron and ambassador for the more laconic side of Welshness, Howard Marks, is pictured in glorious high contrast technicolour sporting the range of looks which helped him evade international narcotics police.

Lastly, a bit of a curveball, Luck by The Storys. It's included because of the by NeeCee, one of the contributors to the band's website. "The cover does a great job at summing up what it is like trying to make it in the music business," she says. "Everyone tells you you need more than just talent, you need a lot of 'luck' too. [But] you find that you are up against other acts that try to make their own luck by coming into the game with loaded dice. So for the band to wrap things up with their third and possibly (probably?) final album Luck, with that particular cover, speaks volumes. Not only the best Welsh album cover, but for me, one of the best album covers of all time. It's the business (in more ways than one.)"

Do you agree with any of these? Do you disagree? What are your own suggestions?

Feel free to comment! If you want to have your say, on this or any other ´óÏó´«Ã½ blog, you will need to sign in to your ´óÏó´«Ã½ iD account. If you don't have a ´óÏó´«Ã½ iD account, you can - it'll allow you to contribute to a range of ´óÏó´«Ã½ sites and services using a single login.

Need some assistance? , or get some .