Category: Antrop
The “AnTrop” label and production center, founded unofficially in 1979 by Andrei Tropillo, facilitated high-quality recordings of key Leningrad rock bands (e.g. Kino, Aquarium) and later issued Western rock classics (Beatles, Led Zeppelin) using clever regulatory gaps to circulate them.
In 2024 Artur Netsvetaev did several interviews with Antrop’s designers Yuri Trifonov and Nikolai Kibalchich, and discovered previously unknown details about the creation of Soviet bootleg covers..
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The Beatles — Past Masters
A very small run of 3,000 copies. Santa’s Past Masters mirrors the original CD Past Masters Vol. 1. Tracks from Vol. 2 had already appeared (mostly) on the label’s Hey…
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The Beatles — Hey Jude
Don McCullin’s photograph was replaced with a compositionally similar image. On different print runs, the initials of Nikolai Kibalchich appear either on the right or on the left, but the…
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The Beatles — Let It Be
It looks like the cover was taken from the CD booklet, enlarged, and left unchanged—the white frame around the photos is gone. The font of the title was swapped out…
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The Beatles — Abbey Road
It’s interesting that Abbey Road, the band’s final album, was actually the last Antrop bootleg released with Tropillo’s involvement in 1993. Since the album was such a hit, a bunch…
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The Rolling Stones — Let It Bleed
The cover of the Russian bootleg was carefully redrawn by Nikolai Kibalchich, and all lettering was translated into Russian.
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The Beatles — Magical Mystery Tour
In 1991, the Soviet bootleg label Antrop released its own version of Magical Mystery Tour. This edition combined the album with Yellow Submarine, though the two records were later separated and sold…
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The Beatles — Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
The Russian Sgt. Pepper’s cover is full of quirky local touches that set it apart from the original. The text on the bass drum was localized while keeping the original style. Designer…
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The Beatles — Revolver
The AnTrop version of the Revolver sleeve was almost entirely rebuilt. The faces were redrawn, photos were either replaced or repositioned, and the cross-hatching is slightly lighter than on the original. John…
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The Beatles — Rubber Soul
Although the album officially hit the market on March 5, 1992, every cover displays the year 1991 — suggesting that the artwork was finalized long before the record’s release.
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The Beatles — Help
There are two known versions of the cover: one with the English title HELP! and another with the Cyrillic “ПОМОГИ” (“Help” in Russian). The image was mirrored, and the band members’ heads…