iLike: Album Covers

Anyone who has gotten to know me knows that I can't stand a messy looking music library on a computer. iTunes has to look neat. iPods must look neat. It must have the correct artist, album, year of release (year of album release, not single), track number, and volume setting.

But I think the most important aspect of a neat looking library is that ALL songs have album covers. The correct album covers. Not the deluxe version, unless it's a deluxe track. Not the single version, unless it's just the one song. If a particular song is leaked and has no cover, I find a picture of the artist that's square and make it the temporary album cover, until one is officially released. However, there's more to it than the fact that I like to keep my iTunes library looking awesome.

I can't explain it, but there's something about album covers that I really like. It's the artist's opportunity to capture the album's atmosphere and convey it with one picture. It's what people see when they're in a store and they're wondering whether or not to purchase it. It's the image people have in their head when they reminisce about their favourite albums. Hey look at that, turns out I can explain it.

This is a list of my favourite covers, and brief explanations why. Not all of them, but a few. Of course, there is probably bias towards some of the albums by artists I love, but all the same, they are awesome album art. IMO. Eye mo. Sounds funny. Eye mo.

Disclaimer: Fave album cover =/= Fave album.
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In Rainbows by Radiohead:

Why not start with my favourite album cover of all time? (Well, heaps of reasons, but phooey those reasons) I love it so much it was my display picture for my MSN account for ages. It still might be, I dunno, I havn't used it since fb chat came into my life, but that doesn't change how awesome this picture is.

It's colourful, but not in a cheesy or obvious way. It has the album title written over and over again, but it's almost done so with the intent of just wanting to show more colour. The underscores and slashes I can't explain to be honest, but I like them. There is a thin blue line that resembles a ribbon to the left; this album is a gift from them to you.

The best part though has to be the explosion behind the words... Is it lava? Or paint? Or maybe not an explosion at all. Probably not an explosion at all. But still so... pretty. Very pretty. Man. I need to get out and do something manly after this writing post. But it's 1AM and I'm really cold.

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Absolution by Muse:

A guy standing alone looks up and sees... well, we don't know what he sees, but judging by their shadows, this guy is blown away.

Are they falling? Are they flying? Are they friend or foe? It's a mystery; well at least to us. Given the singer's obsession with aliens and conspiricy theories, it's likely that it's the beginning of an invasion that will annihilate all life on this planet.

Whatever the case, there's a chilling feeling that comes with this image. In a good way. If that makes sense.



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Revolver by The Beatles:

This cover is a perfect representation of where The Beatles were as a band. It was the mid 70's and they were huge, but they had a sound that wasn't fully original. Paul McCartney even was sick of writing music that sounded like music others had already written. So they wrote and recorded 'Revolver'.

The album art conveys it all.

Their faces aren't looking in the same direction; in fact, they look like individual photos put into one image. This represents the band members starting to write songs on their own and develop their own unique styles. There is no symmetry or discernable flow to the image, which represnts their songs beginning to evolve from just pop to something that wasn't conventional. The absense of colour speaks of them ditching their happy-go-lucky image, becoming more obscure.

There are more examples I'm sure, but it is fitting that one of their greatest albums (my favourite Beatles album at least) has also the best album art.

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This Is Our God by Hillsong:

So maybe this isn't the most amazing cover, but it has one simple aspect to it that makes me love it:

The massive font of the title.

The music isn't about the crowds, so they get rid of the random silhouttes they always have. The music isn't about the Hillsong artists themselves, so there are no closeups of Brooke Fraser or Joel Houston. It isn't about impressing or sounding a certain way, so there is no desire to write in flash fonts.

The massive font used to write the title shows the purpose: to worship God. It's a message made large because it is important. To magnify him, and make him bigger in your life than everything else in it. Bigger than the sound of the music itself, bigger than any service, bigger than the "superstar christians" who sing them. The purpose is to point to our king, our saviour, our Lord, and say:

"This is our God."

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Not Too Late by Norah Jones:

1. Memorable dress and design.

2. Simple colour scheme.

3. Digging the font of her name and title.

4. She looks good.

(This does remind me of Albertine though. A lot.)




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X&Y by Coldplay:

This album art is Coldplay in a nutshell.

It's dark, but not in a sinister way. Like the band itself, it's an image that is more sad than it is depressing, and more lost than it is confusing.

There are patches of light, but there is a feeling of something missing. Its emptiness and echoes speak of the sparse sounds of their music, but is also reflects the lonelinesss that Chris Martin will always need to express.

Lastly, the image in the middle is confusing in its nature. (As in, what the ass is it?) But on a close inspection, it's revealed to be merely a pile of coloured blocks. And behind all the eccentric lyrics and U2 pretentions (or U2 admiration if you prefer that), Coldplay are just blocks. Simple, packagable music, made to be mainstream, made to be enjoyed by as many people as possible. They aren't revolutionary game-changers as far as the music industry is concerned, but they are consistent. Formulaic as their songs may seem, they are undeniably good at what they do.

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This turned out to be longer than I expected.