Album Art

[TestMangler]

Jethro Tull, Thick as a Brick.

The original and the euro version was actually a complete newspaper. later releases had a crappy printed standard album sleeve.

[Hobosapien]

Then there were the covers that actually enticed us into buying the product. I'm sure we've all done that without really knowing what lay within.

I admit to buying the Pixies' Surfer Rosa album solely on the basis of the cover 'art'. Well I was a teen at the time. They turned out to become one of my favourite groups, particularly their early years.


(NSFW, natural nudity content some may find offensive. ) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surfer_Rosa

Anyone remember seeing anything as or more explicit?

[clearedforlanding]

Like this one? Does not seem 10 years ago since that incident.

[greenlake]

Here's one I bought off the back of just seeing the cover (I just had to have it!):

Hmmmm....inneresting....

Favourite Album Covers
I could wax lyrical but here's mine:

[DimPrawn]

[fullyautomatix]

I liked Gricer more . Come back, all is forgiven. Heck, I might even endure FLC instead of this tedious sockie.

[Pip in a Poke]

The other night I was lying in bed and found myself harking back to the halcyon days of the art of the LP cover.

Weren't there some amazing covers back in the day? I'm sure we can all cite the classic album covers as great examples, Blind Father, The Floyd etc, but I just loved the 10cc covers of the mid 70s. Bloody Tourists was brilliant because the cover actually told a story.

Then there were the covers that actually enticed us into buying the product. I'm sure we've all done that without really knowing what lay within. Here's one I bought off the back of just seeing the cover (I just had to have it!):


I then moved on to ponder what I believe is the demise of this great artform and the reason for it, namely the preponderance of downloadable music and the attendant absence of a physical cover of any description.

Yes, there is still cover art but, let's face it, the average listener probably never sees more than a thumbnail image and consequently the focus on cover art seems to have waned over recent years.

I mean take a recent offering by the Rolling Stones, A Bigger Bang. The cover features the 4 penises stood around looking at what looks like a firework night sparkler fizzling away. Compare and contrast that the the great Warhol designed cover of Sticky Fingers.

Maybe I'm being unduly critical. Perhaps there is still some great album art out there. Can any of you throw some light on any contemporary exemplars of the genre?