October 2009 Archives

North American Halloween Prevention Initiative - Do They Know It’s Hallowe’en (2005)

When I read Adam Lambert recent tweet that defends his new album cover as “campy”, I immediately thought of the most recent album cover that I have seen that displays a true sense of gay camp. The cover for the deluxe edtion of Rufus Wainwright’s Millwaukee At Last shows the artist in a bathrobe and putting on a huge diamond earring. Wainwright is also wearing a bit of eyeliner.

The album uses a retro font that adds to the campiness. The concept is simple. The photograph shows Wainwright’s personality and sense of humor. The image of a vain diva playing at a venue in the American Midwest is a joke that anyone can get in an instant.

Recently, photographer Matthew Rolston took a wonderful campy photograph of Adam Lambert for Rolling Stone. Lambert even uses this image as the background of his Twitter homepage. I took that image and applied fonts that are similar to those used on the Rufus Wainwright album. I think the result is an album cover that has much more impact and suits Lambert’s image.

Now, THIS is a campy album cover. I think it works because it is based on the work of a talented photographer and is not overworked. The background is not busy and distracting. It also works with the title of the album. “For Your Entertainment” envokes an image of an artist performing live on stage.

My advice to Adam Lambert is to seek out a talented photographer and art director for your next album cover. Do not try to come up with a cover that screams at the viewer. Your voice already does that.

The title track from Adam Lambert’s forthcoming album For Your Entertainment (right) was released yesterday as the first single. The album is scheduled to be released on November 17 and has caused a great deal of controversy due to the cover that features Lambert in heavy makeup and blue hair.

Lambert has defended the cover on his Twitter account, writing, “Thank you to those who appreciate and understand that the album cover is deliberately campy. It’s an (homage) to the past. It IS ridiculous.”

Personally, I don’t have a problem with Lambert’s glam makeup. The cover is simply overdone. The stars in outer space background, amateurish typography and bright blue hair are all just to the right of being tacky.

Thankfully, the cover for the single is in black and white. The photo was probably taken during the same shoot for the album. Yet, the makeup does not come across as being as artificial as the image on the album cover.

AFI - All Hallow’s EP (1999)

Posted by: Scott

Former American Idol contestant Blake Lewis has just released a remix EP for his single Sad Song. The song is from his second album Heartbreak On Vinyl, which came out earlier this monrth.

The single was released in July and followed by a music video that was posted on the artist’s YouTube channel in September. Both the song and the video have a very European flavor. It always puzzles me when British pop singers try to sound like Americans and vice versa.

The cover art for Lewis’ album, the Sad Song single and remix EP can all be described as busy. The images are very overworked with flourishes, colorful designs and distracting backgrounds. That isn’t always a bad thing. However, there doesn’t seem to be any concept behind these covers. The busy graphics are just there for decoration. The result is far from pleasing to the eye.

If you’re looking for some great Halloween sounds to play for the trick or treaters tomorrow and you don’t have a lot of time to make your own mix, consider downloading some classic horror radio programs featuring Vincent Price and Boris Karloff. These radio shows are more interesting than the typical Halloween sound effects CD and fun for the whole family.

A 23-minute track of Boris Karloff’s Death for Sale is available on Amazon.com for only 99 cents. The program features spooky sound effects and the unmistakable and creepy voice of Boris Karloff. This is a real bargain.

Also, available on Amazon.com is Witchcraft & Magic by Vincent Price. It features 14 tracks for $8.99 or selected tracks can be purchased for 99 cents each. It isn’t quite the deal as the Karloff album, but it is still worth the Price (pun intended).

Legendary rock band U2 has just released a special “super deluxe” limited editon of their 1984 album The Unforgettable Fire (right) containing the remastered album a bonus audio CD, a DVD with live footage, documentary and videos, a 56 page hardback book with liner notes written by the band, and five photographic prints.

The box sex was released the day after U2’s October 25 performance at the Rose Bowl was streamed live on the Internet. The 2 hour and 21 minute show is now available on the band’s official YouTube channel.

From the press materials, box set looks as if it has been done right. The original album art has been reproduced quite nicely and used consistently on all of the packaged materials. This limited edition is also priced quite reasonably (currently on sale for $39.99 at Amazon.com).

Oingo Boingo - Dead Man’s Party (1990)

Posted by: Aquanaut

For those of you who are new to the AlbumArtExchange blog, our Déjà vu category is for album covers that seem eerily familiar — as if you’ve seen in somewhere before. Today, I ran across an album by Athens, Georgia rock band Widespread Panic that reminded me of the cover for a forthcoming album from Orange County, California metal band Throwdown.

Throwdown - Deathless (November 2009)

Widespread Panic - Don’t Tell The Band (2001)

The New Pornographers - Myriad Harbour (2007)

In 1984, Michael Jackson’s single Thriller peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100. The single followed the album of the same name (right) and a groundbreaking music video. It was the seventh single from the album.

The cover art for the Thriller single has been understandably forgot. It features a rather ordinary photograph of Jackson wearing a yellow vest, bow tie and jeweled brooch. Probably the most puzzling thing about the Thriller single was the lack of any connection to the music video, which became a sensation a little over a year before it was released.

A 12” version released in Europe included the long version of the song, while the U.S. single was simply the album verson that almost everyone already owned and the B-side Can’t Get Outta The Rain. This single is definitely an example of a missed opportunity for increased sales and the common music industry tactic of tossing anything out there to make a quick buck.

The fourth single from British electronic duo La Roux’s self-titled debut album (right) is called I’m Not Your Toy. The music video was recently released and the single has been hovering at the bottom the U.K. charts in spite of unfavorable reviews.

The cover for the single is simply not the same quality of design displayed by the album and the previous singles. This is something that is often seen by the time the third or fourth single from an album is released. The art direction of both the cover and the music video are typically inferior — as the record label puts the artist on its B-list and the budget dries up.

Personally, I am ready to see a new hairstyle on Elly Jackson. Perhaps others are getting bored with her orange pompadour, too. Unfortunately, in the music business there is never such a thing as saving the best for last (except that song by Vanessa Williams).

Tuesdays). Below are six new releases that have been preselected from among this week’s top selling albums. They have been chosen for both popularity and for having notable cover art.

Pink Martini - Splendor In The Grass		Devendra Banhart - What Will We Be
Echo & The Bunnymen - The Fountain		R.E.M. - Live at the Olympia in Dublin
Tegan & Sara - Sainthood		The Swell Season - Strict Joy

The Michael Jackson documentary This Is It opens in theaters today. The double CD album of “music that inspired the movie” is currently on sale. The CD is not a soundtrack. It is a collection of studio recordings of many of the songs heard performed live in the film. The collection includes 14 of Jackson’s hit songs, two versions of the previously unreleased single This Is It and four demos.

The album cover is a squared version of the movie poster (right). It features a silhouette of Jackson on a smoke-filled stage on which has been superimposed a colorful “quilt” of images from the artist’s live performances. It is a very strong image and quite approriate as a tribute to the late King of Pop.

There will undoubtedly be a lot of media coverage surrounding the film. There are already reports that it accounts for over 61% of online ticket sales. We are certain to see fans lining up at theaters.

It seems that earlier predictions that Michael Jackson mania would be a short lived fad have proven to be inaccurate. The film is certain to boost sales of the This Is It and Jackson’s most popular albums.

Hot Rocking Girls: Female Rock And Roll 1956 -1958 - Various Artists (2009)

The cover for Adam Lambert’s forthcoming album For Your Entertainment was revealed online today. I saw it first at Robbie Daw’s Chart Rigger blog. Daw’s headline reads “All Adam Lambert’s Album Cover Is Missing Is Pink Glitter And A Rainbow Brite Doll” — I can’t help but agree. I really am surprised that he looks so feminine. It is almost as if he is channeling Human League’s Phil Oakey (right).

I know that Lambert is a fan of 1980s glam, but I don’t know if this album cover really fits his image. We’ll have to wait and see how his fans react to this cover. It certainly isn’t safe and boring.

For Your Entertainment is scheduled to be released on November 23.

According to our AAX poll, the best album cover for the week of October 20, 2009 is In This Light and On This Evening by Editors. I Told You I Was Freaky by Flight Of The Conchords was a distant second and Sonic Boom by KISS and Liebe Ist Für Alle Da by Rammstein tied for third.

Pop culture blog PopEater revealed the cover of Rihanna’s forthcoming album Rated R today. According to a poll accompanying the article, 54% of those who have so far voted hate it. I have to count myself among them.

A few days ago, I posted an image that appeared on Amazon.com as the cover art for Rated R (right). That image has now been replaced with the photo from Rihanna’s Russian Roulette single. I am somewhat disappointed that the simple graphic was not used for the cover.

PopEater interviewed German fashion photographer Ellen von Unwerth, who briefly described working with Rihanna.

The ‘Rated R’ cover was shot by famed photographer Ellen von Unwerth, who says that “Rihanna was looking to create something a bit new for the look of the album.”

Von Unwerth goes on to say that Rihanna is “so beautiful, sweet and tough at the same time — and a pleasure to shoot,” adding that she’s “fantastic to work with — very giving, very creative, very involved in every aspect of the shoot, and ready to push the boundaries.

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The problem with this cover is that it does not look “new” or push any boundries. It reminds me of something Diana Ross would have done in 1985. All Rihanna needs is a string of pearls and a tiger skin rug.

Ellen von Unwerth is known for her photographs that simulate erotica of the 1950s. The Rihanna cover looks as if she has jumped ahead a few decades and into an era that most of us view with a hint of embarrassment. I cansee why a majority of those polled do not like this album cover.

Even the cool metallic “R” logo has been reduced to a blurry, ’80s-looking symbol in the top right corner. Rated R is scheduled for release on November 23. So, there’s still time to change this cover. Let’s hope the folks at Def Jam are listening.

UPDATE: AAX blog reader Lindy just sent in the following graphic with message:

Let me be the first to do the obvious Photoshop for this album cover. I am certain that it won’t be the last one we will see like this. What was that photographer thinking?

I don’t know very much about dance music duo Groovewatchers other than they have been putting out singles since 2005 and their new music video just debuted on YouTube a few days ago. Sexy Girl first caught my attention a few months ago when I spotted the cover art for the EP on iTunes.

I downloaded one track from the EP and discovered that Sexy Girl is a fairly typical electronic dance tune. It is not particularly exceptional. It is one of those songs that just keeps repeating the same line over and over again. I guess this just proves that sex still sells a product. Buying that song was a lot like pulling off the highway after seeeing one of those cheesy strip club billboards. I suppose I should be embarrassed.

Dave Pike - Jazz for the Jet Set (1965)

According to Chart Rigger, the single Fight For This Love by Cheryl Cole debuted at number one on the British chart and is the fastest selling single of 2009. The single is from Cole’s forthcoming album 3 Words (right), which is scheduled for release on November 17.

Cole is a former singer with British girl group Girls Aloud. 3 Words will be her solo debut album. The music video for Fight For This Love is a standard pop video, showcasing the young singer as a performer with star qualities.

The covers for both the single and the album are done in the same style. A black and white portrait of the artist has been painted with heavy brush strokes in each and the typography is an exaggerated script that is somewhat difficult to read. On the album, the script has been applied to Cole’s shoulder and resembles a tattoo.

If you grew up in a metropolitan area in the late 1970s, you probably remember the cult film phenomenon called The Rocky Horror Picture Show. The film began showing at midnight at a theater in New York City on April Fool’s Day in 1977 and by Halloween of that year, people were lined up wearing costumes at venues all over the United States.

The film is an adaption of the British musical production The Rocky Horror Show. The original cast recording (right) was released in 1974 and was already considered to be a camp classic by the time the film was released. I recall that the first time I heard Tim Curry sing Sweet Transvestite it was on the Dr. Demento show. I am not sure what year that was. But, I think it was prior to ‘76.

The soundtrack for the film was released in 1975 and by the time the film became popular three years later, it was a difficult item to find at your local record store. Kids who had the LP to play for friends suddenly became quite popular. In late 1977, listening to The Rocky Horror Picture Show soundtrack with a group of fellow teenagers was about as subversive as many could imagine. The Rocky Horror Picture Show soundtrack was one of those records that were always at risk of being confiscated by a disapproving adult.

The album cover featured the images of several cast members, including Tim Curry in drag makeup as Dr. Frankenfurter. I recall an uncomfortable moment when a mother of a friend pointed to the LP and asked “Who is that lady?”

Rocky Horror has now become a Halloween tradition for young and old alike. Many of you who are reading this are likely to have plans to attend a Halloween showing and even more will have parties at home that include watching the DVD and doing the Time Warp.

A few days ago, I ran across a story on a blog about a professional wrestling promoter named Paul Heyman who believes that the cover for Rihanna’s single Russian Roulette may have been inspired by a cover for album he produced back in 1998. I was surprised when I saw that the story grew legs and was repeated by dozens of other blogs and online magazines.

Today, a blog called People Magazine Daily (not affiliated with People magazine) went so far as to accuse Rihanna’s record label of unauthorized use:

Rihanna’s photograph was an unauthorized use.

So when do you think she and her company will have to pay the Pied Piper?

So, I think it is time for the AlbumArtExchange’s most vocal album art expert to weigh in on the issue. This “scandal” needs a voice of reason.

Those of you who follow the AlbumArtExchange blog know that there are probably thousands of examples of these kinds of coincidences involving album covers. At first glance, it appears that these two covers have a great deal in common. The pose is similar and both figures are wrapped in barbed wire. If you’ve never seen a photograph of a person wrapped in barbed wire, you may come to the hasty conclusion that the later cover must have been inspired by the first. In truth, the artistic theme of a person wrapped in barbed wire has a long and kinky history.

Posted by: zeefritz

Posted by: zeefritz

Those of us who have studied art and photography recognize being wrapped in barbed wire as a fairly common theme that stems from the world of S&M and bondage. There are paintings and photographs showing women (and sometimes men) wrapped in barbed wire going back decades. Often these images are focused on a woman’s breasts, as with the Rihanna cover. I have found several examples online (below) that are very similar in concept to the Rihanna cover.

The fact that Rihanna is wearing a mask and a corset indicates that her cover was inspired by the S&M fetish, rather than professional wrestling. Where Paul Heyman got his inspiration is another question. I don’t think fans of professional wrestling realize just how much kinky stuff is displayed in this field of entertainment — sweaty, muscular men wrapped in barbed wire, hmm.

The larger issue that should be discussed is whether or not either cover is really appropriate for items that are displayed in public to a general audience that includes children. Being wrapped in barbed wire is a form of torture. Yet, both images unrealistically depict the person wrapped in barbed wire as being free of any obvious pain. Some may argue that such an image is more degrading to women.

Graphic designers and art directors typically have college degrees in the field of Art. They study paintings and photographs that often explore controversial subject matter. The problem with using those types of themes on an album cover is that the proper context is often warped or absent. What does it mean to a 12-year-old child to see his or her pop idol or a wrestling star wrapped in barbed wire? What is really being sold by both of these covers? Sex and violence appears to be the answer.

Kimya Dawson and Friends - Alphabutt (2009)

Come Back Clean is the latest single from The Crystal Method’s album Divided by Night (right). The song features Emily Harris as the vocalist and the music video appeared online a few days ago.

Neither the cover nor the music video for Come Back Now compares to the first single from Divided by Night, Drown In The Now. Perhaps the duo ran out of money and had to cut corners.

The video for Drown In The Now featured some impressive animation and the big round moon of woofers shown on the album cover. Come Back Now looks like the result of switching art directors in the middle of a project. I’m not sure what the story is here.

On June 9, 1984, Time After Time, the second single from Cyndi Lauper’s debut album She’s So Unusual (right) took over the number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100. It remained at the top of the chart for two weeks, replaced by The Reflex by Duran Duran.

Unlike Girls Just Want To Have Fun, the first single from She’s So Unusual, Lauper actually co-wrote Time After Time. Her collaborator was Rob Hyman of the rock group The Hooters.

Time After Time was a also a hit music video at the time. It features a long lead in, with Lauper watching an old movie on television and snuggling a ceramic dog. It also features Lauper’s friend and wrestling icon Captain Lou Albano who recently passed away.

The cover for the single created many comparisions between Lauper and Madonna, whose debut album came out the previous year. Lauper does look more like Madonna on the Time After Time cover than in any other photo that I have seen.

Capgun Coup - Maudlin (November 2009)

It is hard for me to believe that is has been 40 years since I first set foot in the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland. My twin brother and I were nine years old and one of the things we brought home from Disneyland that day became one of our most prized possessions — especially at Halloween.

After exiting the mansion, we spotted a booth that was selling souvenirs. The first thing that caught my I was an LP called The Story and Song of The Haunted Mansion. The record included a story about two boys caught in the Haunted Mansion during a thunderstorm (I did not know that one of the boys is played by Ron Howard). It also included the main theme song heard during the ride through the attraction.

To commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Haunted Mansion’s opening in 1969, Disney has released this album on an enhanced CD that includes high resolution images of the paintings used for the cover of the 1969 LP.

If you’re looking for a great way to entertain kids this Halloween, this CD would certainly do the trick. If you’re a grown up, it is a wonderful piece of nostalgia.

Imagine wearing a tribute to a classic album cover on your feet. That is the idea with Converse’s new Chuck Taylor high top sneakers that bear the words from The Clash’s London Calling. Fashion website Highsnobiety has the details and photos.

For Spring 2010 Converse continues their music collaboration series and presents a capsule footwear collection with The Clash. They present a series of Chuck Taylor Hi’s in the collection, including white leather versions, as well as black and khaki canvas versions. All sneakers come with interesting details on the sole and the upper, in the form of special tags, prints and more.

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In case you are not familiar with London Calling, it is recognized as one of the top rock albums of all time by many experts, including Rolling Stone magazine.

The image below is currently being displayed on Amazon.com as the album art for Rihanna’s forthcoming album Rated R. The question is whether this is the actual cover or simply a placeholder that is being used until the final album cover is revealed. This image was not in place the last time I checked.

This particular album cover has been the subject of countless rumors, including an image that popped up online a couple of months ago (right) that was assumed to be the final cover by many bloggers.

Many fans are certain to be disappointed if the final cover does not feature a stunning image of Rihanna. Rated R is scheduled to be released on November 23.

I just saw the cover for the forthcoming George Lopez comedy album and it is yet another déjà vu candidate. The cover features the stand up comic and actor crouching on the hood of a red hot rod. Hum, where have I seen that recently?

It is almost exactly like the cover of new Neko Case album, Middle Cyclone. In fact, I’m willing to bet that this is no coincidence. Middle Cyclone was released in March and it is far from being an obscure album.

Neko Case - Middle Cyclone (2009)

George Lopez - Tall, Dark & Chicano (December 2009)

Paddy Roberts - Songs for Gay Dogs (1963)

Online art, fashion, photography and entertainment media magazine Dazed Digital is conducting an album cover competition. The winner’s album art will be used as the cover for a compilation CD from U.K. record label Full Time Hobby called Hobbyism.

We’re looking for original work from aspiring photographers, illustrators, typographers and artists - it’s up to you what you create and how you go about it, but it will need to be able to fit on a standard CD and don’t forget this is for Full Time Hobby’s Hobbyism compilation!!

All artwork must be designed in high-resolution, 300dpi and final artwork may need to be modified due to any necessary production constraints.

http://www.dazeddigital.com/Projects/firetrap/

The soundtrack for Zombieland was recently released on iTunes. According to the reviews, many people are upset that what is being sold as the movie soundtrack is actually the score by composer David Sardy. It does not include the rock songs heard in the film, such as Van Halen and Metallica.

I downloaded the soundtrack (er, score) and it is actually quite good. It will be an excellent addition to my Halloween music collection. You may have noticed that there is an embarrassing typo in the cover art that is being used on iTunes. If not, I’ll give you a moment to find it.

Got it? The “d” has been omitted from the word “soundtrack”! Obviously, this was a hasty graphic design job. It is simply the artwork from the movie poster with some extra typography added. I always wonder how these typos make it into the wild. I worked as a corporate marketing department editor for many years and these goofs are really quite rare.

Twitter user RichardBiedul sent out a tweet tonight with an amazing photograph of a light show recreation of the album cover for Pink Floyd’s classic The Dark Side of the Moon. Sky Arts created the display on London’s Primrose Hill to promote a screening of Pulse: Dark Side Of The Moon Live.

I think they did a great job of matching the album cover. I wonder how they did it. There are several news stories about this, but none give technical details.

Weezer just sent out a tweet to let fans know that their new music video has been published on Babelgum. (If You're Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To is the first single from the band's forthcoming album Raditude (right), which is scheduled for release on November 3.

The single was released in August to some chilly reviews. The music video is a very nice production that is set in what looks like a 1930s era small town with a very unusual population (I won't spoil the surprise).

I really like that Weezer has made their video available for bloggers to include in our reviews. In addition to creative album art, this is one of the things that will really help promote an album.

For some reason, KKK isa trending topic on Twitter. In addition to being disturbing, it reminded me of the 1981 single by Ramones The KKK Took My Baby Away. I was not able to locate the cover art for the single. However, the AAX gallery does have the cover of the album on which the song appeared. Pleasant Dreams was the sixth studio album by the pioneering American punk band. It is also one of my favorites by Ramones.

The cover features a creepy silhouette of a man in a trench coat. I remember how cool this graphic looked on the LP.

Rock band Phish is promoting their Halloween Festival 8 performance with a special website that displays album art for the various albums that they are considering covering live that evening. Albums that have literally been given the axe (or stabbed, shot with arrows, etc.) are the ones that have been removed from consideration.

http://www.phish.com/festival8/halloween/

The Big Bopper - Chantilly lace (1959)

Fun Boy Three was a British pop band formed in 1981 by former members of ska band The Specials, Terry Hall, Neville Staple and Lynval Golding. The group never had a hit in the U.S., but their single The Lunatics (Have Taken Over The Asylum) (right) was popular here as a protest against the Reagan presidency.

The band began their two-year stint with the name The Fun Boy Three. However, by the time they released their second and final album in 1983, they had dropped the superfluous “the” from their name. Fun Boy Three recorded two songs with Bananarama and band member Terry Hall co-wrote the hit Our Lips Are Sealed with Jane Wiedlin of the Go-Go’s. Fun Boy Three recorded Our Lips Our Sealed for their album Waiting.

Believe it or not, the cover for Fun Boy Three’s self-titled debut album was somewhat controversial in 1981. Many people still held racist attitudes and found the portrait of the trio to be too intimate. The cover for the single showed the band in an even more controversial pose, with Staple and Golding resting their chins on Hall’s shoulders. Hall appeared on both covers wearing lipstick, eye makeup and a hairstyle that was very feminine for the time (Boy George and Culture Club had just hit the scene).

The covers for both the album and the single shown here are composites created by combining several examples found online.

Recently, Chicago DJ crew Jump Smokers have been working artists such as Mariah Carey and Pitbull. A few months ago, they had limited success with a single called Don’t Be A Douchebag!, which can best be described as a novelty song. The music video has received just over 240,000 views on YouTube.

While I’m not crazy about the cover for the single, Jump Smokers have a strong and colorful logo that they aren’t afraid to use. It really stands out on the cover of their remix of Mariah Carey’s Obsessed (right). I’m giving Jump Smokers a big thumbs up for their consistent use of the logo. This is one of the proven methods for establishing a brand. What works for potato chips works for music — especially a group of DJs without a single frontman.

I am surprised that Don’t Be A Douchebag! hasn’t turned into a new version of the Rickrolling fad. Click here if you think you’re sexy. See what I mean?

Former Danity Kane singer D. Woods revealed the cover of her forthcoming solo album The Gray Area via Twitter yesterday. It was also announced that the album is scheduled to be released on December 8.

This is a very nice album cover. The portrait is beautiful and the dotted line down the center of the artist’s face is simple, yet effective.

The cover for the forthcoming album by producer and rapper Timbaland was revealed via news release today. Shock Value II is Timbaland’s third studio album. It is scheduled to be released on November 23.

The cover features an image of the artist superimposed on an electonic audio wave. It would be interesting to know what sound is being imaged on the cover. I am willing to bet that there’s a story behind it.

To publicize the premiere of Columbia Pictures’ new animated comedy Planet 51, the studio has put a DVD of the film in orbit on the International Space Station. Planet 51 will be released in theaters on November 20, 2009. It features the voices of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Gary Oldman, John Cleese, Jessica Biel and Justin Long.

The soundtrack for the movie is scheduled to be released on November 17. It features songs performed by Keith Murrell, Sophie Green and others. The album cover features a very cute illustration that is different from the various movies posters and can be seen as the main graphic on the movie’s webpage (which is worth checking out).

Toilet Boys - Sex Music (2007)

The deluxe edition of Fever Ray’s self titled album was just released in the U.K. It contains two new tracks, Stranger Than Kindness and Here Before, and a DVD of six videos. Vanity Fair debuted the music video for Stranger Than Kindness on their website today.

Recently, Sleevage published an excellent article about the Fever Ray album cover and the various singles.

A paranormally gifted woman stands in front of a barren, twisted and wintry landscape, her face expressionless and intentions unclear. The mysterious cover of Fever Ray’s self-titled debut album invokes a pitch-black, pagan sensibility.

Continue reading…

The cover for the deluxe edition is the same as the previous release (except for a sticker in the top left corner). I do not have a U.S. release date for it

Sleeveface - Ministry Filth Pig, originally uploaded by therealdavidjones.

I really like the innovation of showing the back of the politician with his fingers crossed behaind his back. This is one of my favorite sleevefaces yet.

After I wrote a review of Allison Iraheta’s new album cover (right) this morning, I started thinking about what makes the difference between an average cover that is simply designed to sell the album and those memorable album covers that make a lasting impact. The cover for Iraheta’s Just Like You doesn’t really say much. It features an attractive portrait of the artist, but it doesn’t tell us anything interesting about her — other than the fact that she has brightly colored hair.

If you’re a fan of American Idol, you watched Allison grow as a performer during the competion. She matured from a timid young girl who had difficulty speaking her mind into a confident star. Why isn’t that story conveyed by her album cover?

Below is a mock up of a concept that I came up with for Iraheta’s album cover. It shows her standing in what could be a backyard or neighborhood playground anywhere in the world. Standing in front of a tire swing is a small girl with a frightened look on her face. This child is “just like you” or just like anyone who has ever been small enough to be afraid to jump in that swing and head for the sky.

A talented photographer could do much to improve a concept like this. It would result in a cover for a debut album that Iraheta could be proud of for the rest of her career. I think this kind of image would be inspirational to Iraheta’s young fans who view her as a peer who has already achieved fame and success.

This concept shows a contrast between the edgy pop star that Iraheta has become and the child that she used to be. It is something that will contrbute to her image and be valued by fans years from today. There are dozens of album covers that portray female artists as sexy vixens. There are very few that are smart and sexy at the same time.

It took me about an hour to come up with a concept for this album cover. That demonstrates the small amount of effort that must have gone into creating the final cover for Just Like You. The record label just slapped something together without considering the artist’s image or her future. That is very typical and should serve as a lesson to young artists who are just starting out in the business. Ask for concepts that you can live with for the rest of your career. Your album art will help define you.

The cover for American Idol contestant Allison Iraheta’s debut album was revealed online yesterday. Just Like You is scheduled to be released on December 1, 2009.

I must confess that Iraheta was one of my American Idol favorites last season. However, I dislike this album cover. The combination of the pink colors and the amorphous blobs that are inexplicably surrounding the young artist makes me think of the lining of a stomach and antiacids. It is simply not an attractive cover. It appears as if the graphic designer tried to coordinate the background with Iraheta’s hair color. It would have been much better to have used a neutral background to make her trademark dye job stand out. Instead, the cover turned out somewhat vomitous.

The cover for American R&B singer Angie Stone’s forthcoming album Unexpected was revealed yesterday. Unexpected is Stone’s fifth studio album. It is scheduled to be released on November 23 and is currently available as a presale item on Amazon.com.

The album cover features Stone in a shimmering dress astride a motorcycle. One thing that can be said about this cover is that it is unexpected. Kidding aside, Stone looks great in the photograph. I always look forward to her albums. Thanks to AAX user fourplay for uploading this cover to the gallery.

Ben Weasel - The Brain That Wouldn’t Die (2009)

The music video for Adam Lambert’s song on the 2012 Original Motion Picture Soundtrack album was posted on YouTube tonight. Time for Miracles is the kind of rock ballad that fans have anticipated from Lambert, whose album For Your Entertainment is scheduled to be released on November 23.

The 2012 soundtrack is set to be released on November 10. If I were them, I’d place a “Featuring Adam Lambert” in the bottom left corner of the cover.

Below are six abum covers that were preselected from this week’s new releases. They were chosen based on Amazon.com sales rank and the quality of the design. While they are from different genres and by artists that range in popularity, the covers should be judged on individual merit.

Rihanna debuted her new single Russian Roulette on Ryan Seacrest’s radio program this morning. The cover for the single was also revealed online. Thank you to AAX user bknollenberg for uploading it to the gallery today.

The cover features Rihanna dressed in a kinky bondage costume, wrapped in barbed wire and holding a rusty chain. I’m not sure what that has to do with Russian Roulette, but at the very least it is an interesting photograph.

According to our AAX poll, the best album cover for the week of October 13, 2009 is for Blue Record by Baroness. It won by 73% of the vote. Second place goes to Embryonic by The Flaming Lips and third to Christmas From The Heart by David Archuleta.

This week’s poll will be posted later today. Later in the week, we will be introducing another poll to determine which cover uploaded to the AAX gallery qualifies as the Best Upload of the Week.

Vagina Panther’s self-titled debut album is such an obvious choice for the AAX blog’s WTF?! category I don’t even know where to begin. When I was teenager, the California punk rock scene had a lot of appeal. Bands with outrageous names like Circle Jerks and Dead Kennedys had shocking album covers that captured the attention of my adolescent mind. I was young. The bands were young. It was all about being rebellous and deliberately inappropriate.

However, there is something disturbing about a band of seemingly mature adults who employ tactics that most of us outgrew over 25 years ago. A band called Vagina Panther seems more like something from an episode of South Park. An album cover that features a breast dripping milk seems just as sophomoric.

The funny thing is that I like this New York rock band’s sound. The only thing that would keep me from sharing that with my circle of friends and family is that I would have to say the band’s name. No one would believe that I was being serious. Word of mouth is important when it comes to the success of a band. “Vagina Panther” is going to keep a lot of mouths closed.

The fourth single from Lily Allen’s It’s Not Me, It’s You is scheduled to be released on November 23, around the same time as a DVD/CD special edition of the album (right). The music video for Who’d Have Known has already made its debut on YouTube.

The video features Allen and an actor portraying Elton John. In the video, Allen is a crazy fan who has kidnapped Sir Elton and is keeping him tied up in her apartment. It is very entertaining.

The cover for the single uses the same branding as the others from the album. It features an attractive photograph of Allen, but I was disappointed that is doesn’t contain any visual references to the quirky music video. I would have like to have seen her holding a length of rope or something.

Biz Markie - Biz’s Baddest Beats (1995)

Can you imagine heading to the beach with a camera crew and posing in the surf for hours to create what you imagine will be a unique photograph for the cover of your new album? Then, imagine that after your album cover is a done deal that another artist uses the same concept — except that they do it much better.

That’s what I assume happened when two album covers featuring the artists sitting in chairs during a rising tide were both scheduled for release at around the same time. The cover of Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson’s Summer of Fear shows the American singer-songwriter sitting in a chair at the beach as the tide rises. It is a very serene image and not really one that conveys a feeling of fear.

The same cannot be said of the album cover for Keep Calm and Carry On by Welsh rock band Stereophonics (the irony of the two titles does not escape me). This cover shows the band sitting at a kitchen table while a raging tide rises around them. Perhaps this installment of Déjà vu should be called “Who done it better?”

Summer Of Fear - Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson (2009)

Stereophonics - Keep Calm And Carry On (2009)

I just noticed a trending topic on Twitter called #chartjackers and did a quick Google search to find out what it is. I discovered that ChartJackers is some kind of YouTube project involving a BBC documentary and four young guys making a pop music single.

Frankly, I found it all a bit confusing. It all seems like cheap publicity stunt. A video posted on October 15 shows one of the guys asking people to submit artwork for the cover of the single.

Unfortunately, he did not mention the name of the single and refused to play it. So, these people are asking for artwork based on absolutely nothing. The designer does not know the name of song, what it is about, or anything. Not only that, there is no mention of how much they are willing to pay — which makes me believe that they are asking a graphic designer to work for free.

Good luck with that. Watch the video and I’m sure that unless you are a teenage girl (or otherwise inclined to appreciate a cute boy) you will find this young man’s coyness to be quite annoying. Does anyone really have time for this kind of tease? Either play the song or shut up!

Girls are and alternative rock band from San Francisco who released their debut album Album. Album received a very good review on Pitchfork last month that begins with a disturbing bio of frontman Christopher Owens.

Girls frontman Christopher Owens grew up in the Children of God cult. His older brother died as a baby because the cult didn’t believe in medical attention. His dad left. He and his mother lived around the world, and the cult sometimes forced his mother to prostitute herself. As a teenager, Owens fled and lived as a Texas gutter-punk for a while. Then a local millionaire took Owens under his wing, and Owens moved to San Francisco. There, he and Chet “JR” White formed Girls, and recorded Album, their debut album, under the influence of just about every kind of pill they could find.

There are many online comments that compare Girls to Elvis Costello. Personally, I don’t hear any similarities to Costello’s sound. To me, they sound more like Pixies and a couple of other more obscure alternative bands from the 1990s.

The cover for Album is not quite as generic as the title — but it comes close. It features photos of Owens and White and bouquets of roses. It is a simple design, but at least it shows us what the artists look like (and lets us know that they aren’t girls) and doesn’t feature a dead raccoon.

Pat Cooper Spaghetti Sauce & Other Delights, originally uploaded by SA_Steve.

SA Steve tweeted that this album cover has had over 117,000 views on Digg. He has lots of strange vintage album covers on Flickr.

Barry Mann - Who Put The Bomp (1961)

INOUDID’s Attic uses the covers of unplayable LPs to create unique coasters. The coasters can be used as a simple puzzle and keep rings off your furniture.

Each LP results in nine coasters and there are dozens of artists from which to choose. I selected Revolver by The Beatles to use as an illustration for article, but there are country, jazz, pop, and many other genres represented in the coasters that are available on the website.

A set of nine is priced at $35, which seems very reasonable for something that is handcrafted and one of a kind. This seems like a great gift for any album art lover.

The second single from Arctic Monkeys’ album Humbug (right) is called Cornerstone. I was not impressed with the album art for Humbug. Recently, the band boasted that the cover was taken with a camera that was picked up for just one dollar.

The cover for Crying Lightning, the first single from the album, is far superior. It features the mirror image of a nude woman doing a contortionist act on a drum with a bolt of lightning in the background.

Sadly, the cover for Cornerstone is not very creative at all. It features a fanciful black and white illustration of some leaves — yeah, leaves. The single was released along with a very low budget music video. Perhaps I’m wrong, but thrift is usually not a quality that the public expects or appreciates when it comes to rock bands.

With Halloween just around the corner, I think this déjà vu moment is appropriate. It involves two albums that seem to have both been inspired by the Stephen King horror movie Carrie.

Who can forget the scene in which Sissy Spacek has a bucket of blood poured over her during her senior prom — sending her into a telekinetic killing frenzy (right). It is a horror movie classic.

Garage punk musician Jay Reatard appeared on the cover of his 2006 album Blood Visions in what looks like a shot right from Carrie. Wearing nothing but a pair of bikini briefs, Reatard is soaked from head to toe in blood.

When I first saw the album cover for Blood Visions, I immediately thought of Carrie and another album cover that I first saw in 1998. On the cover of Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood, rapper DMX appeared shirtless and also covered in blood. The cover was considered to be quite shocking at the time and many retailers refused to display it on their shelves. 

Jay Reatard - Blood Visions (2006)

DMX - Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood (1998)

Here is an interesting video about the creation of the cover for Snoop Dogg’s forthcoming album Malice N Wonderland by Estevan Oriel and Mister Cartoon.

Vamps are a Japanese rock band that just finished a U.S. tour last month, following the release of their debut self-titled album. The album is currently a hot item selling as an import on Amazon.com for just over $50.

The album art is very similar to the lips from the movie poster for Rocky Horror Show Picture Show (right) and has a posterized, Andy Warhol look to it. It is certainly not very original. However, it is a compelling image and appropriate for a band called Vamps.

Vamps perform in both Japanese and English and have a very commercial American rock sound. Apparently, the lead singer Hyde is quite the heartthrob of many teenage girls.

The murder revenge movie Law Abiding Citizen starring Gerald Butler and Jamie Foxx was released to theaters yesterday. The soundtrack for the film is currently available as a digital download and as CD on Demand from Amazon.com.

CD on Demand is a new way to distribute digital music on a physical CD. The album is burned onto a CD-R and packaged with album art much the same way as a traditional mass-produced CD. This is the first time that I have seen a motion picture soundtrack distibuted on CD on Demand. The last time I read about this new sales format, it was being presented as an affordable way for indie artists to produce CDs.

The album art for this soundtrack is very basic. It is a square version of the movie poster. It is missing the “Original Motion Picture Soundtrack” phrase that we’ve come to expect on soundtrack covers.

American indie rock band Vampire Weekend have made the first single from their forthcoming album Contra (right) available as a free download. Horchata can be downloaded from the band’s website after entering a valid e-mail address.

The download includes a 320kbps MP3 file and a digital booklet. That’s a pretty good deal compared to most free music downloads.

Contra is scheduled to be released on January 11, 2010 in the U.K. and on January 12 in the U.S. The cover art for the album was revealed several weeks ago on the band’s website.

Vampire Weekend - Horchata Download

The cover for the single Bad Romance from Lady Gaga’s forthcoming album The Fame Monster was revealed online today and is currently being posted on Twitter and blogs. Thanks to AAX user joshdelta high resolution versions of the cover were uploaded to the gallery yesterday.

The cover features Lady Gaga draped in blood red fabric. I think this image has much more imapct than the photographs that were chosen for the covers of the album and the deluxe edition of The Fame Monster. Bad Romance is scheduled for release on October 27.

As Tall As Lions - You Can’t Take It With You (2009)

The cover for Enya’s forthcoming album The Very Best of Enya was recently revealed on Amazon.com. The cover features the artist wearing a bright red gown that is spread around her like a giant flower. This album cover demonstrates a wonderful use of color.

The Very Best of Enya is scheduled for release in the U.S. on November 24.

John Mayer revealed the cover for his forthcoming album Battle Studies via Twitter today. The album is scheduled to be released on November 17.

The cover has the retro look of a 1960s jazz album. It features a portrait of the artist wearing a leather coat and looking very much like James Dean in the famous Phil Stern photographs (right). I think that this is a very good concept and Mayer looks very handsome on the cover. It definitely conveys the image of the Hollywood rebel from a previous era.

Retro-looking album covers and black and white portraits have been a trend this week. Susan Boyle, Janet Jackson and John Mayer are three artists who have used black and white photography to achieve very nice results. If this is a trend, I hope that the quality continues to be this good.

I write frequently about how much I love albums that have a consistent theme that can be seen in the album art, covers of the various singles and the key music video. Get Wild by American DJ and producer Sharam is one of those albums.

The album has a very creative theme based on spaghetti westerns. The cover for the album and that of the special limited double CD editon (right) features the artist dressed as a 1960s era movie cowboy. This theme is carried over to the cover for the single She Came Along which features rapper Kid Cudi and samples of Strange by the late great Pasty Cline.

The cover art for She Came Along is a little more evocative of Clint Eastwood’s Man with No Name with the gunslinger shown wearing the trademark poncho seen in classics like A Fistful of Dollars and Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Any doubts about this connection will be erased after watching the music video for She Came Along. 

Monty Python - Monty Python Sings  (1991)

The Royal Mail has announced the 2010 release of special collector edition postage stamps that will feature 10 notable album covers by British artists. The stamps will include artists such as New Order (right), Coldplay, Blur, David Bowie, and Pink Floyd.

Special stamps such as this are quite popular in many countries, including the United States. In an article about the British stamp on pop culture blog Idolator, the question was asked which album covers are likely to be chosen for a series of U.S. stamps featuring American artists. Elvis? Madonna? Britney Spears?

There is one British band that is conspicuously absent from this collection. Check out the 10 stamps and I’m sure you’ll be able to spot it (they are the number one rock band of all time).

Hello Kate!! is an electronic band from Sao Paulo, Brazil lead by DJ Hisato. Last year, they released their debut EP Girls. The EP features four tracks that show obvious influence from ’80s electronic bands like New Order and Caberet Voltaire. The EP had been forgotten in my collection for quite a few months and I just recently gave it a listen. Technically, it may not be new, but it surprised me and is certainly worth sharing.

The cover for the EP features a young woman wearing a combat helmet and a star in glittery makeup drawn around her eye. It is a very simple image, yet it it nicely executed and catches the eye. Hello Kate!! has several music videos posted online. All are very avant garde and low budget. I have posted the video for a song called Female Mousache.

The Surfin’ Gorillas - The New Adventures of The Surfin’ Gorillas (2003)

Get U Home is the first single from American rapper Shwayze’s forthcoming album Let It Beat (right). The music video for Get U Home was recently posted on YouTube. It is set at a sorority house with all kinds of youthful shenanigans taking place. That really doesn’t seem to be what the song is about, but the song is featured in the film Sorority Row.

The cover art for both the album and the single feature bright illustrations with neon colors and a dashing typographical treatment of the artist’s name. It is clear that this music is about parties and fun for the young generation. I feel tired just looking at it!

Let It Beat is scheduled to be released on November 3. Get U Home is available now for download on Amazon.com and iTunes and on the Sorority Row soundtrack.

The cover of rapper Snoop Dogg’s forthcoming album Malice ‘n Wonderland appeared on Amazon.com today. The illustration pulls out all of the stops in representing the gangser rap lifestyle, featuring a buxom woman, liquor, gambling, a fast car, and a skeleton wearing dark glasses and a goatee. It is a quality illustration, however it is not really typical of what Snoop Dogg has done in the past — even considering Doggystyle which featured a cartoon dog.

There were a couple of articles about the album published online today, including one on MTV.com. None featured the album art. The album is not scheduled to be released until December 8. Perhaps this is not the final version of the cover.

The cover for Janet Jackson’s forthcoming greatest hits album Number Ones was revealed on Amazon.com today. The cover features a beautiful black and white portrait of Jackson, who is shown reclining and resting her head in her hand.

This is a very appropriate album cover for a mature artist. One thing that I find interesting is that the “e” in the artist’s name is the same symbol that appears on Jay-Z’s album Blueprint 3 (right). It is probably just a coincidence, but it seems like an odd typographical treatment.

Number Ones is scheduled to be released on November 17.

On rare occassions (which frankly not rare enough), I run across an album cover that seems too much like a parody to be real. The cover for the single Teardrops On My Telephone by California pop band Hunx and His Punx is one of those. Watching the music video on YouTube did not help to confirm that this is in fact a real, performing band either.

However, a little bit of poking around confirmed that Hunx and His Punx is a real band. In fact, they have just released five out-of-print singles and a new track called Do The Makeup on the LP Gay Singles (right).

The LP is being released by Matador records in a limited quantity of 1,000 pressings. The label’s website includes the following product description:

The debut LP from California’s Hunx and His Punx…Amazing, at once hilarious and deeply good pop songs, like the Gay Ramones mixed with Ronnettes filmed by John Waters.

The cover for the single is definitely more Ronnettes than Ramones. I suppose that is “Hunx” reclining on the bed with a giant telephone and black pantyhose.

It has been a long time since I last went to see a live performance at a club in San Francisco or Los Angeles. But, this band seems typical of the kind of campy acts that have performed there over the past few decades. The legendary Divine, Pasty Cline and the Memphis G Spots, Julie Brown, and El Vez are a few that immediately come to mind. 

The first single from Norah Jones’ forthcoming album The Fall (right) is called Chasing Pirates. The covers for both the album and the single feature the artist wearing a top hat and posing with dogs.

The album cover shows Jones with a St. Bernard, while the Chasing Pirates single shows her with an assortment of furry friends. I’ve made it clear in the past that I really like consistent branding when it comes to an album and the associated single. I believe that a solid artistic concept helps consumers identify the music of a particular artist and keep track of what is new or recently read about in publications and online.

The excellent art direction for The Fall will not only help promote the album and the singles, it will remain in the minds of fans as the “dog” album. That’s a good thing if the music is worth remembering as well. From a listen to the song on YouTube, I think that will be the case.

On February 2, 1985, Relax by British pop group Frankie Goes To Hollywood peaked at number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100. Both the song and the cover for the single were very controversial at the time. The song contains less than subtle sexual lyrics and the cover features half-naked male and female figures locked in a reverse embrace.

In 1984, the song was banned by the BBC in all of its TV and radio outlets. This caused the single to jump to the number one spot on the U.K. charts, where it remained for five weeks. It subsequently started getting airplay in the U.S. and other countries. The following year, Relax was featured on the group’s album Welcome to the Pleasure Dome (right) and won an award for Best British Single.

Today, a music video featuring a 2009 remix of Relax was was posted on YouTube. The video features Frankie Goes To Hollywood front man Holly Johnson performing the song for the first time in 22 years.

The Ramonetures with Billy Zoom - Johny Walk Don’t Run Paulene (2000)

A movie that is being called High School Musical with fangs premires in New York City tonight. The young cast of I Kissed A Vampire will be in attendence at the Landmark Sunshine Cinema at 6 PM. The soundtrack was released on iTunes today.

The album cover features yet more attractive young people with vampire fangs and an ambiguous love triangle. I don’t know how much longer this trend will continue, but a rock musical just could be the thing that drives a stake through its heart.

British rapper Example has the number two single on the UK iTunes dance chart with Watch The Sun Come Up. The cover art for the single features a psychedelic illustration that is reminiscent of the 1960s. However, the music video for Watch The Sun Come Up is certain to remind those who are old enough to remember of the video for a-ha’s Take On Me (just not done as well).

Fans of the Twilight Saga films were excited to see the album cover for the film’s score appear on Amazon.com yesterday. The cover for the film’s soundtrack (right) was revealed last month and is scheduled to be released on Friday.

The album cover for the score by noted film composer Alexandre Desplat is very similar to that of the soundtrack. It features the film’s three young stars standing in a misty forest. There is often confusion when both a score and a soundtrack are released for a film. Many consumers purchase the score thinking that the album will contain popular songs that are heard in the film.

The Twilight Saga New Moon: The Score will be released on November 24. That means it will be available just in time for many grandparents to purchase it as disappointing Christmas gifts for teenagers who wanted to listen to Death Cab For Cutie and The Killers and got Alexandre Desplat under the tree instead.