5 Best Albums Featuring Disembodied Hands

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The Hold Steady’s latest album uses some familiar imagery for its cover. Turns out I’ve got about a dozen albums in my collection featuring disembodied hands on their covers. So I’ve put together a list of my 5 favorite albums featuring disembodied hands. For totally arbitrary reasons, I’ve left out albums featuring two hands shaking – which is also a surprisingly common theme. Here it is, the five best albums featuring disembodied hands on their covers:

5. The Hold Steady – Heaven is Whenever

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The album that inspired the list almost didn’t make the list. This album is missing some of the raw energy and heartfelt stories that made The Hold Steady’s earlier albums so good. It’s like they’re a little too big for the scene their trying to sell. But I’m still buying. Number 5 in the disembodied hands list.

4. Creech Holler – The Shovel and the Gun

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I’ve mentioned them before. But check out that original artwork. I almost didn’t include it because there’s so much more than just the hand going on here. But I couldn’t leave it out. If you’re not listening to this band, start.

3. Low – Trust

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Low can’t be mentioned without talking about how slow they are. But on this album they start to rock. They’ve since dialed up the tempo a bit. But here, in the middle of their career the band puts together a heady mix of slow, trance-inducing drones with some serious crunch. Great album.

2. The Antlers – Hospice

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Here’s another band I’ve mentioned before. And like the Creech Holler album it has an illustrated cover and I almost didn’t include it because there’s more than just the hands going on here. But it’s basically just the hands. This is an emotional headphone masterpiece. Do yourself a favor and set aside 45 minutes to just listen to this album. Words that come to mind: haunting, personal, symphonic, lush, simple.

1. Spoon -  Kill the Moonlight

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Spoon is easily one of my favorite bands of the last 10 years. With Kill the Moonlight they began perfecting their cool sound. I distinctly remember this album making me think of dirty rainwater puddles reflecting buzzing neon lights. If you only know Spoon’s more recent work, check this older album out, you won’t be sorry.

So, what am I missing? What’s your favorite record featuring a disembodied hand on the cover?