| 1/19/2004 1:44 PM |
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Howdy all,
What's your favourite album sleeve/artwork/cd stomp/whatever?
My favourites:
1) the self-titled "Metallica" one (or Black whatever it's called, the one with Enter Sandman on it) Deadly glossy finish on it depicting mug-shots and all that. Even though my love for Metallica died with my teenage years, it's cool
2) Quiet like "Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots" by the Flaming Lips too. Read somewhere that was done by a Japanese artist.
3) Also like "New Adventures in Hi-fi" by REM, an album written on the road and symbollically, there's a shot of a landscape on the cover taken from a moving vehicle while the inner sleeve shows the band in a roadside cafe.
4) Also like the back cover of "White Blood Cells" by the White Stripes showing Big Brother Jack holding Cute little Meg's hand as he leads her into a snowy forest. Or something.
5) A cd stomp I like (even though the album's crap) is Be Here Now by Oasis, where the cd is actually the face of a clock. Simple but effective.
Incidently, while I'm here, (on the other side of the coin) everytime I'm in a record store, Iron Maiden's old album covers always give me a giggle.
Any suggestions Folks?
Q2
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Dromed Advanced Member Posts:900  
| 1/19/2004 2:32 PM |
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M83's 'Dead Cities, Red Seas and Lost Ghosts' cover is good - a bit apocalyptic, bit like the album then!
New Order's 'Get Ready' - a very simple photo cover, very stylish
Interpol's - Turn on the Bright Lights' - dark and brooding
Primal Scream's 'Xtrmntr'
Relaxed Muscle's 'Billy Jack/Sexualised' Single cover
Peaches - 'Fatherf**ker' - She's wearing a beard. Nuf said.
as far as oldies go...King Crimson's 'In the Court of the Crimson King' cos it looks like a bad acid buzz and any/all Roxy Music covers
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Binokular Veteran Member Posts:1665
| 1/19/2004 2:35 PM |
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I always liked the little baby/astronaut logo on the front on U2s Zooropa.
I like the CD Jewel case on Schneider TMs Zoomer album for an extremely nerdy (but practical) reason. Its got rounded off corners . "So what?" I hear you say. (warning:Here comes the science bit as they say in shampoo adds). Apparently sharp corners as found on most CD jewel are weak points for fractures so eventually the case cracks. Rounding off the corners spreads the load so the case is less likely to crack when you drop it (happens to me all the time). Why can't all jewel cases be this shape? it can't be much more expensive and it looks prettier too.
Crap albums have the best covers though as this weird and wonderful little site shows: http://www.showandtellmusic.com/pages/home.html
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BinokularVeteran Member Posts:1665
| 1/19/2004 2:53 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Dromed
New Order's 'Get Ready' - a very simple photo cover, very stylish
I like the covers on the older New Order albums/singles that had that little color code which if you deciphered was actually the catalog number. Theres a color wheel at the back of "Power, Corruption and Lies" which enables you to decipher it. Apparently its divided into 26 segments, green is A and you work your way around until you get all the letters or something. A proper explanation can be found at this site: http://www.niagara.edu/neworder/albums/pcal.html |
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flagman Basic Member Posts:150
| 1/19/2004 2:54 PM |
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How's about 'Who's Next' by The Who.
The cover shot is taken on some waste ground with this 2001 A Space Odyssey type concrete monolith sticking out of the ground which the band has just taken a whizz on. And of course inside a nice shot Keith Moon bizarrely dressed in stockings and suspenders, though maybe not so bizarre considering.
And, er, Revolver is pretty cool. I have that on vinyl which, incidentally I think makes most record sleeves look cool.
More recently Oasis' 'Definitely, Maybe' sleeve is a personal favorite. Nice simple picture of them lounging around looking cool.
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| 1/19/2004 3:38 PM |
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What about "Pleased To Meet You" by James, the grey coloured album cover with that dark-haired guy on the front? I read that that guy doesn't actually exist, he's a computer generated image of all the band members' faces fused into one facial shot.
Pretty cool idea methinks.........
Q2
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| 1/19/2004 4:09 PM |
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Another one that just came to mind, I recently bought a compilation album that Hut Records released (David Gray, Embrace, Placebo, Gomex, Verve etc.) and the artwork on that is cheap but cool. It basically takes silouhetted images from album covers from which the songs are taken and superimposes them onto a sort of a brownish oil painting thing (if that makes any sense to you) So silouhettes of David Gray and Placebo and The Verve are essentially collaged onto this sleeve. If I haven't lost you completely, I would imagine ye would find that cool
Q2
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BinokularVeteran Member Posts:1665
| 1/19/2004 4:31 PM |
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Didn't find that hut records cover particularly striking. Good idea, poor execution probably.
I really like the cover of "Unknown Pleasures" by Joy division, that oscilliscope diagram in white on black, no title, very classy. "Closer" on the other hand, I'm not sure if that cover was entirely appropriate.
This thread go me thinking about bad album covers too. Foo fighters first album springs to mind. Probably unintentional, but Kurt Cobain blows his brains out with a shotgun, then Dave Grohl puts a toy gun on the cover of his new bands first album....not entirely sensitive.
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| 1/19/2004 5:49 PM |
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Indeed. Hmm, bad album covers? Oasis again. Heathen Chemistry just had various pictures of the band on the sleeve and a fuzzy picture of them in a French train station on the front. Self-serving, big-headed and as dull as the album itself.
Q2
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BinokularVeteran Member Posts:1665
| 1/20/2004 8:07 AM |
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My favourite album cover ever has to be the Felix da Housecat "Thee Kittenz and Thee Glitz". The album cover looks exactly like the cover of "Hello!" magazine with pictures of Felix, Miss Kittin, Tommie Sunshine, Melistar etc. all looking like they have been inadvertently been snapped by a paparazzi photographer. Not only is it a clever and striking concept for the cover, but it suits the feel of the music perfectly. Lucky for us we live in europe and got this cool version of the album released on City Rockers. In the US it was released on Emperor Norton and that version has a really tacky cover.
While I'm on the subject of all things Electro, Adult.'s cover photography for their records is pretty cool too. Click on the lnk below to see the cover photo for "Resucitation" http://www.ersatzaudio.com/html/disco/pict.html/ez15/adult4.html |
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KarlitoBasic Member Posts:210
| 1/20/2004 11:44 AM |
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Favourites:
Small Faces - Ogdens Nutgone Flake. It's was a nod to tobacco smokers and the original vynl was a circular cover - pure class. INcidentally, the Bell X1 cover to Music in Mouth is along the same lines without the circular cover.
Badly Drawn Boy - Hour of Bewilderbeast/Have You Fed The Fish?. Bothcovers were drawn by Andy Votel and are really class.
Belle And Sebastian - Tigermilk. Simple picture of a topless woman breast-feeding a teddybear tiger.
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The_Thin_ManBasic Member Posts:137
| 1/20/2004 6:13 PM |
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Gotta agree with Karlito on the B&S sleeves. Check out the dear waitress on the cover of their latest offering...very good choice.
My top would been a three way split -
Richard Thompsons I Want To See the Bright Lights Tonight (for all who want to scribble on glass with lipstick)
Dylans Nashville Skyline (the ol' smiling troubador)
The Band's second album (rain, Americana, Richard Manuel et al brooding)..
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| 1/21/2004 1:00 AM |
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aimee mann - "i'm with stupid" is written in fridge-magnet letters on her fridge.
garbage 1 and 2.0 - a pink feathers texture and an orange pvc/lagging jacket texture - not many bands just put textures.
scheer - ugly wounds with stitches in black and white.
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| 1/21/2004 11:38 AM |
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the clash album covers are my favourite like londons calling, Super Black Market Clash, Give 'Em Enough Rope
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BinokularVeteran Member Posts:1665
| 1/21/2004 12:07 PM |
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The Clash cover for Londons Calling was a bit cheeky wasn't it? straight rip off of an Elvis Presley album
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Vent My SpleenAdvanced Member Posts:500
| 1/21/2004 1:14 PM |
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There has alays been the Presley comparison for that one but it was pure chance. The photographer, Pennie Smith, took it at one of their US gigs and nearly got lamped by Paul Simemeon's bass when he cracked it on the stage. So far as I remember, it wasn't even considered as it was slightly out of focus until Joe Strummer saw it and insisted it was to be the cover.
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BinokularVeteran Member Posts:1665
| 1/21/2004 1:23 PM |
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Yeah, the photo may be pure chance but the vertical pink and horizontal green lettering of the title is not. Even the font used is exactly the same.
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vandalaBasic Member Posts:267
| 1/21/2004 6:10 PM |
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More Songs About Buildings And Food (Talking Heads). Composite of hundreds of polaroids.
Actually, pretty much all the Talking Heads album covers. They're always quite conceptual and well-thought-out.
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The_Thin_ManBasic Member Posts:137
| 1/21/2004 8:22 PM |
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The Clash type was identical as a homage,of course. Though some may say they 'ripped off' Junior Murvin and some of their London reggae contemporaries...
Incidentally, if you look closely at the sleeve you'll see that Joe and Topper also 'ripped off' Elvis' hairstyle - damn cut 'n' paste postmodern punks!
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