What's the proper name of the Beatles album most commonly called the "White Album"?

That iconic, minimalist white sleeve is so famous that it gave the legendary 1968 double album its enduring nickname. Officially, however, the record is self-titled. The stark cover was a deliberate and dramatic pivot from the psychedelic explosion of their previous work, "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band." Conceived by pop artist Richard Hamilton, the design was intended to be the absolute opposite of its famously colorful predecessor.

The cover wasn't entirely blank, though. The band's name was subtly embossed on the front, and early vinyl pressings were also individually stamped with a unique serial number. This detail was meant to create what Hamilton called "the ironic situation of a numbered edition of something like five million copies," making each album feel like a personal and unique art object.

Because the official title is so straightforward, fans and critics almost immediately adopted "the White Album" as a more descriptive and memorable moniker. The name stuck, becoming the standard way to refer to the sprawling and eclectic collection of songs that captured the band at a creative, yet fractured, peak.

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