I’ve always really enjoyed good album artwork. Maybe even more so than movie posters and book covers. Albeit, I care about music on the whole more than I care for film or books but I really think I enjoy it more because the artwork just as the medium and format encompass more in music. An album envelops a range of songs and while often themed, the artwork needs to catch more than just a concept of a story. The artwork of an album should capture the essence of the music, the artist, and be as conceptual as the music itself.
In lieu of the MP3 immediate gratification generation, I fear that album artwork is losing it’s importance. While POP artists and other well known musicians are still releasing CDs, MP3s are still the prevailant choice in today’s music sales. With less hard copies being sold, the artwork is becoming less emphasized.
While I understand the convenience of MP3s and have an MP3 player myself, I think it is still very important to purchase the actual CD, record or cassette. They are usually the same cost as the digital download if you are going for the whole album. You then have the actual music in hand at a better quality and can still load it on to your computer and then to your MP3 player. This all sounds like basic knowledge but it seems like these are too many steps for people. I could go on about this for a great length but will leave it at that. These aren’t in any specific order or a best of list, just some examples of what I am referring to.
The Velvet Underground and Nico, The Velvet Underground - Look Sharp!, Joe Jackson - The Dark Side of the Moon, Pink Floyd - Peter Gabriel, Peter Gabriel - Houses of the Holy, Led Zeppelin - 1984, Van Halen - Nevermind, Nirvana - Under the Iron Sea, Keane - BlackSabbath, Black Sabbath - Security, Peter Gabriel - Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, The Smashing Pumpkins – The Aeroplane Over the Sea, Neutral Milk Hotel – Mezzanine, Massive Attack – Medulla, Bjork – Sepultura, Beaneath the Remains – City of Echoes, Pelican – - Blackwater Park, Opeth - A little Touch of Schmilsson in the Night, Harry Nilsson - Sieg Howdy, Jello Biafra with The Melvins, American Recordings, Johnny Cash - Horses, Patti Smith - Songs of Darkness Words of Light, My Dying Bride- ágætis byrjun, Sigur Ros
Please feel free to share some of your album art thought or works.
