Album Cover
Pop
Album Covers
Album Covers
Since the demise of the vinyl Long Playing records in the mid 1980s, I have
missed the album covers. A CD just isn't the same. I would buy a new LP, take
it home and admire it. There was some great art work on album covers, especially
thru the golden age from the middle of the 1960s thru the 1970s. As artists
wanted to express themselves on the covers as well as the music inside, they
became more ambitious and elaborate. I have a copy of Led Zeppelin III which
has a half hidden cardboard wheel incorporated into the cover. You can turn
the wheel, revealing the pictures as they turn. It used to keep me out of mischief
for hours.
I know CDs have better sound quality and will probably last longer and so on,
but we've sacrificed something as well. Everything in a CD is necessarily scrunched
up, including the visuals and the printed lyrics.
Many respected artists, photographers and illustrators got involved in album
covers. The first gatefold cover design was the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely
Hearts Club Band cover. The famous images on the cover were put together by
British Pop Artist Peter Blake. It made him a household name and the cover
was part of the iconic status of the record. Mae West and Bob Dylan etc. are
captured forever on the most important album of the 1960s. Pepper was also
the first album to have printed lyrics. The photographer Robert Mapplethorpe
gained prominence with his photograph of Patti Smith on her Horses album. Of
all her album covers, it became the one that was reproduced for most of Patti's
publicity.
In the 1970s, the illustrator Roger Dean dominated. It was the decade of the
concept album and Dean took full advantage of the gatefold to design his epic
fantasy world. They were the perfect visualization for the work of bands like
Yes. These days, people buy prints of them and they are considered works of
art and not merely album covers.
There has also been controversy every now and then, with some album covers
being banned or the record company told to make alterations. Some of these
decisions seem a little petty today, as we are not so easily shocked. Other
decisions, especially those concerning the sexual exploitation of women or
the inappropriate depiction of children, seem sound even now.
One of the most famous of the album covers that received a ban is a Beatles
compilation record for release in the US in 1966. Titled Yesterday....and Today,
the track listing did not meet with the Beatles' approval. Consequently they
had a photograph taken which showed the four of them holding various body parts
of dummy babies. It became known as the Butcher Cover. John Lennon and Yoko
Ono would cause further outrage two years later when they both posed naked
for their Unfinished Music No.1 - Two Virgins album. It was an innocent, rather
sweet shot of the couple but it was too much for some and the record had to
be wrapped in brown paper so as not to offend. Jimi Hendrix added to the album
covers storm that year with his release of his seminal album, Electric Ladyland.
There were naked ladies on the cover and the record company was ordered to
remove them!
Pop Album Covers
Album covers are conspicuous in their expression of the bands' visual side.
An album cover says I'm a painting with words.
The cover may be symbolic, a summary of stage performances, propaganda-like,
the artwork of a band member or simply designed to grab more sales. Some are
so simplistic in nature that two colors can say everything there is to be said.
Whatever the message conveyed, album covers should artistically parallel the
sound of the music.
When music first became available in a home listening format, it was engraved
on large wax disks. Stored in compressed paper sleeves, the artwork reflected
the classical music popular at the time. Black and white printing was the only
kind available. At first, classical works of art were sketched and then printed
on the covers. For example, the Venus de Milo was printed for Korsakov's musical
styling. As the technology of photography developed, a few select albums had
photographs of classical art printed on them. People from that time would have
been shocked at how the album cover would evolve.
During the 1940's, some album covers were both photographic and printed in
color. Some covers were airbrushed paintings, or pastel drawings. The popularity
of these impressionistic photographs quickly waned, as the album cover gave
way to color photographs. Many of the new covers depicted the feel-good sounds
of the albums, with people frolicking on the beaches or in fields. Other covers
featured photographs of the artist or band itself, with the person or band
performing on stage or simply in front of a microphone. A few albums today
use the same concept.
During the 1960's and 1970's, album covers tended toward conceptual protests
of previous ideas of good cover design. Abstract psychedelic patterns were
popularly tied in to this new concept. The “hippie†times
were a period of mind expansion and discovery, characterized by demands for
social and political reform. This was expressed through the medium of the album
cover, with photographs of war contrasting with portrayals of aristocratic
wealth. On a lighter note, “flower childrenâ€,
nature, and Eastern religion were combined with psychedelic mind-blowing color-infused
patterns.
Album covers of the 1980's and 1990's saw a sharp decline in artistic designs,
changing gears, leaning towards rebellious youth looking to break away from
their parents' pacifist natures. With the introduction of KISS, the heavy metal
sound was on the rise. Covers often depicted harsh, gory scenes. Offensive
and shocking designs became the new cover message. Unnerving and disturbing
people was considered a revolutionary concept.
Today, album covers are more diverse than ever. Ideas and art work from genres
and milieus throughout history are used. Everything from the original Venus
de Milo to entirely computer developed graphics may be found on today's album
covers. Almost every style used for album covers since their first debut has
been integrated since 2000. It's hard to imagine what will come next.
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Album Covers
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