I was examining a poster in montreal with some recent releases and got to thinking of great album covers. I think my first two have been the same for years... 1. T Rex - Electric Warrior 2. Soundgarden - Louder than Love
However, despite the decline of the medium of CD I firmly believe record companies are once again looking at cool album covers.
Although it is worth asking this of your independent music outlet. I once commented that I thought a certain album was cool...Spaceman Stan of Cambridge, Ontario then explained that yes up front it might be lovely but watch how it becomes lost in the masses. Perhaps another reason for "the man's" ban on "Smell the Glove"
And yes, I acknowledge that I did not go with some of the classics: The Clash - London Calling Otis Redding - Otis Blue The Stones - Beggar's Banquet
Leave me alone...these get the prices all the time.
So here is how the rest of my list goes...
3. Spoon - Gimmie Fiction I love that the album cover...gets me thinking and thus is giving me fiction - get it? Brilliant!
4. The Afghan Whigs - Black Love Classy. Stylish. You can almost smell the atmosphere...although that might be the incense sticks....is that how you spell incense? Who cares...only for hippies anyways.
5. TIE
Jill Scott - Beautifully Human Lovely voice that harkens back to olde-school soul music and thus the album cover does the same thing and in a subtle way she throws herself in the face of top 40 perfection.
Belle and Sebastian - Fold your hands child, you walk like a peasant. I looked at this album over and over again. Love that the girl is reading "I fought in a war", which is a song on the record. Great!
Also worth noting is this indie band whose CD I have called the Machines...Their album "After my misspent youth" has a brilliant album cover - see the link http://www.myspace.com/themachines
Thoughts?
My Trusted MOGs
I really like the new Money Mark album cover:
My Trusted MOGs
That money mark cover is brilliant...reminds me of Wilco's AM for some reason.
My Trusted MOGs
Good Post. I always love it when a band or artist will put as much thought and work into the album cover as they would to every track on the album. If you are a fan of 70's classic rock then the work of partners Gary Burden (Album Design) and Henry Diltz (Photography) should be well known. Eagles, James Taylor, Jackson Browne, Crosby Stills and Nash. All had great album covers. There's a bunch of album covers I can just stare at forever, hard to make a top 5, so I'll just pick 5 in order of when they popped in my head.Look 'em up.
Rush - Moving Pictures: Get it...they are carrying the paintings out of the museum. Huh...Huh. Ah shut up. Jimi Hendrix - Electric Ladyland.(original) Is it excess or 60's free love attitude...you decide. Rheostatics - Double Live. Classic live album shot of the rock and roll guitarist with a nice touch of Canadiana. Yes - Close to the Edge. Minimilism is not one of their strong points, that's why this cover is so cool from a fans point of view. The Constantines - (Debut Indie Album) This is one I just discovered recently and immediatly fell in love with. From their Sub Pop website..."The first pressing of the Constantines' self-titled debut (released on Canadian indie Three Gut Records in 2001) was fittingly packaged so that, upon opening the red cardstock booklet, you'd find a single strike-anywhere match. In an effort to not ruin the beauty and poignancy of a thing with a guided tour of its finer points and implications, suffice it to say that if your relationship with rock and roll is not fundamentally a quest for fire (elemental, transformative, consuming), you've utterly missed the point." Brilliant, so lovingly put together and even numbered like it should be treated as a piece of art. Hats off.
My Trusted MOGs
i know there are a ton of album covers out there that warrent a mention but for some reason all i can think of right now is this...