Albums, Posters and Cover Art - Battle Royale VII

Miscellany

Flight - Flight EP (2009) vs The Crimson Ghost¹ and Dawn of the Dead (1978)

¹Or Misfits.

(Laughs).

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

Golden Eagle (1991) vs Discovery One²

²Spaceship returned in 1984 sequel 2010.

What's this?

Bust-a-Move Again³ (1995) vs Bone ape

Whoa!

³North American version not only had completely different stages to Japanese original Puzzle Bobble 2, but also bizarrely replaced protagonists Bub and Bob with a pair of disembodied hands.

Dracula - Castlevania II: Simon's Quest (1988) vs Strahd von Zarovich - Advanced Dungeons & Dragons - Ravenloft module⁴ (1983)

⁴Cover art by Clyde Caldwell.

Necromentia - Crossing the Fiery Path⁵ (1993) vs Van Richten's Guide to Vampires (1992)

⁵Panos Sounas apparently thought he was Den Beuvais.

Famous paintings

Sepultura - The Cloud of Unknowing EP (2026) vs The Creation of Adam (detail) - Michelangelo

Suicide Silence - Remember... You Must Die (2023) vs The Face of War - Salvador Dali

Ghost - Prequelle (2018) vs Portrait of Innocent X - Diego Velázquez and Aeneas Taken by Sybil to the Underworld (detail) - Jacob van Swanenburgh

Video games

Dark Adventure aka Devil World (1987) vs Return of the Jedi (1983)

Saboteur (1985) vs Revenge of the Ninja (1985)

Gate of Thunder (1992) vs Risky Business (1983)

Gladiator (1986) vs Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984)

Hippodrome (1989) aka Fighting Fantasy vs The Lost Boys (1987)

1990 overhead shmup New York Warriors combined The Warriors (1979) and Escape from New York (1981), as the following aprtly demonstrates.

Jailbreak (1985) vs Mad Max (1979)

But I'm suggesting a way more obscure theory.

Deadly Hero (1975)

Pretty similar, right?

Loading screen of Bronx Street Cop (1989) decided to copy Jailbreak.

Contra Spirits⁶ (1992) vs Raw Deal (1986)

⁶Known as Contra III: The Alien Wars (North America) and Super Probotector: Alien Rebels in Europe.

More. More. More.

Jim Power in Mutant Planet (1993) - PC Engine-CD

Mercs (1990)

The Destroyer from Jail (1991)

Law Deal?

Funny.

The Lost World: Jurassic World (1997)
During the T-rex rampage in San Diego, we briefly enter a Blockbuster store, where the pose of Schwarzenegger as King Lear is lifted directly from poster.  

Albums

Turrican⁷ (1990) vs Manowar - Kings of Metal (1988)

⁷16-bits and Game Boy only.

Possessing the power of lightning continues in Last Ninja 3 (1991).

C64 (left) and Amiga/Atari ST (right).

Virtual Worlds: The 3D Game Collection (1991), Loopz (1990) vs Pink Floyd - The Dark Side of the Moon (1973)

Can't help but admire 'subtlety'.

Flashback (1992) vs Rainbow - Straight Between the Eyes (1982)

The kicker.

X Multiply⁸ (1989)
While identity of face in Irem's moody side project to R-Type is never explained, we assume mug belongs to the pilot of microscopic ship the X-002.
Oh, those green eyes were no accident btw.

⁸Below title is X ∞ (which actually spins in reality), but the symbol ∞ represents infinity, not multiply.

Just saying.

Multiples

The Devils of D-Day (1978) - Graham Masterton

First edition - art by Paul Stinson

Sphere Books Ltd 1979 edition - art by Les Edwards

Metallica - Jump in the Fire
The upper half was used for the final single from 1983 debut album Kill 'Em All.

Edwards' second cover famously appeared on:

Uriah Heep - Abominog (1982)

This is totally random, but true.

Die Brut (The Brood)
In 2019, German home video distributor Wicked Vision released a limited edition "Mediabook" Blu-ray of David Cronenberg's 1979 horror classic. 

Obscure horror Play Dead is about Hester, a jilted heiress who casts black magic on her Rottweiler to seek revenge on her lover and sister.

Film was shot in 1981, but not released until 1983.

Coincidentially, Stephen King's novel Cujo and Lewis Teague's subsequent film adaptation were published and released in 1981 and 1983 respectively.

When released as Satan's Dog on VHS in 1987 by Video Vision, packaging design unofficially used demon head and just for a fucking laugh - raped the detail of Boris Vallejo's The Bride (1981).

Personal best

Shit is about to get gnarly.

Prime Number (1970) - Harry Harrison

Berkley Books first edition - cover by Paul Lehr

Sphere Books Ltd first edition (1975) - cover by Tony Roberts

Retrograde (1989)

C64 exclusive is a timeless masterpiece.  

A typically superb piece by the late and great Oliver Frey.

Stephen "SIR" Robertson put his own spin on box art.

Pixel ninja didn't disappoint and created one of system's best loading screens.

But geezer had something to hand. 

Sphere Books Ltd second edition (1978) - cover by Peter Elson

Hard sci-fi supremo died in 1998, blissfully unaware.

English noise band Part Chimp used piece (with permission) for the cover of their 2009 album Thriller.

During his tenure at LucasArts (1988-1997), Steve Purcell created some extremely famous covers, including The Secret of Monkey Island, (its sequel LeChuck's Revenge), Maniac Mansion, Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders and Sam & Max Hit the Road.

Oops, almost forgot.

Pipe Dream (1989)

Outside of North America, game was released in Europe as Pipe Mania!! for platforms such as Amiga, Atari ST, Spectrum and C64, between 1989 and 1990.

Pipework oozing chemical sludge has been reduced, but the addition of a highly realistic human face screaming in absolute horror became immediately iconic. 

At the time, everybody assumed Purcell was influenced by:

Pink Floyd - The Wall (1982)
Alan Parker's surreal live-action/animated drama is based on the 1979 album of same name.

Plausible yes, but nearly 40 years later, I finally reveal the truth.

Tygers of Pan Tang - Burning in the Shade (1987)

Oh... my... FUCKING GOD!

Cover was illustrated by Reg Suffolk, and remains his only publicly documented work.

So in summary, unscrupulous bastard simply scanned and decolourised face, claiming all the credit.

Remember, you saw it here first.