The Beatles, commonly referred to as The White Album, is the ninth studio album and only double album by the English rock band the Beatles, released on 22 November 1968. Featuring a plain white sleeve, the cover contains no graphics or text other than the band's name embossed. This was intended as a direct contrast to the vivid cover artwork of the band's previous LP, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967). The Beatles is recognized for its fragmentary style and diverse range of genres, including folk, country rock, British blues, ska, music hall, hard rock, and avant-garde. It has since been viewed by some critics as a postmodern work, and is widely regarded as one of the greatest albums of all time. The album was the band's first LP release on their then-recently founded Apple Records after previous albums were released on Parlophone in the United Kingdom and Capitol Records in the United States.