July 2010 Archives

I had not heard of Christian TV (a.ka. Christian Berishaj) until I saw him on So You Think You Can Dance this week. He performed When She Turns 18, his debut single on the Motown label. It was released late last year and a remix and music video package was made available last week.

I downloaded the remix from Amazon.com. The cover art for the remix (right) features Christian chilling out in a seedy backyard. He is a very attractive guy, which makes it a shame that they went for such a dopey photograph.

AlbumArtExchange.com user Gleeful uploaded the cover art for the single to the gallery. It doesn't even have a photograph of the artist. It is definitely superior to the cover for the remix. However, it is always puzzling when a record label fails to use a photograph of a exceptionally attractive artist for cover art.

Ultra Records has posted the music video for Alex Gaudino's dance single I'm in Love (I Wanna Do It). The single was released on May 25, 2010.

The cover art has a Keith Harring look to it, with cartoon bodies forming the shape of a heart. At least the little figures aren't doin' it.

Robin Williams - reality... what a concept, originally uploaded by therealdavidjones.

You don't see too many sleeveface photos using comedy albums. This one using a Robin Williams LP is particularly good. You can see more like this one at Sleeveface.com.

Joe McElderry, the 2009 winner of the British talent competition The X-Factor, confirmed rumors that he is gay in an announcement on his official website today.

Hey Guys,

Tomorrow there will be some articles about me in the newspapers because I have been doing some important interviews today. I wanted you to know that the articles are true. I also wanted you to know that I really respect your loyal support and all the kind messages I have had from you up to this date.

I have always been a very honest person and so it is important for me to continue to be honest. It has been the most amazing year so far and I feel so privileged. It's also been a time of real self realisation and I feel as if I have grown up so much in these few months.

There has been speculation about my sexuality in the past and I have always been honest at the time I have been asked. Over the past few weeks I have really had time to reflect and to realise who I am. I spoke to my friends and family about this in the last few days and it was important to do the same for you all as you have been so supportive.

I have had nothing but support from you and many of you have been very open in saying that you will continue to support me whatever my sexuality. It is important to me to let you know first, so that you know the stories in the papers are true. I made the choice to speak openly about this.

Again, I can't thank you enough for all your support.

Everything is going well and I'm really happy to be able to move forward from here

Joe. x

Source: www.joe-music.com

McElderry's debut album is scheduled to be released on October 25, 2010. The album is still untitled, but is available for presale in the U.K. The album art below is the promotional image.

Goodbye Thrill - Outrageous (2010)

Posted by: all4rock

The 3D dance movie Step Up 3D is scheduled to be released in conventional 2-D, Real D 3D, XpanD 3D and Dolby 3D formats on August 6, 2010.

Many of you may have already noticed that there are two versions of the movie soundtrack being sold. One is the U.S. version (left) with 16 tracks by artists such as Flo Rida, Trey Songz, Jessie McCartney and Jazmine Sullivan. The other is the European version (right) with 14 tracks.

The cover art for the two albums differs significantly. I think I prefer the cover of the import version. The U.S. version looks as if a hooded grim reaper is ready to grab the young lovers. The other cover shows a dynamic dance move.

Posted by: zeefritz

  

Recently, American punk band Bad Religion revealed the cover for their forthcoming album The Dissent of Man to their online mailing list. The album will be the band's 15th album and their first in three years. It is scheduled to be released on September 28, 2010.

I am not quite sure what the album cover is about. It appears to be a 3D image, using that red and blue color separation that has recently popped up on numerous album covers. Frankly, the image isn't interesting enough for me to put on my 3D glasses.

Wonderful Life is the second single from the forthcoming album Happiness (right) by British electronic music duo Hurts. The album is scheduled to be released on September 14, 2010. The single will be available in the U.S. on August 31.

I love the art direction for this project. The album cover is very nicely done and has contributed to comparisons to Pet Shop Boys. Personally, I think they sound more like Roxy Music.

The cover art for the Wonderful Life single ties in with the music video that was just released. It has a very 1980s retro feel.

A video of the photo shoot for Eminem's latest album Recovery (right) is on its way to going viral today. The video has been featured on the MTV website and several blogs since being posted on YouTube yesterday.

It is a nice little documentary of the creation of the album cover. Eminem explains the concept and the art director and photographer are shown during the creative process.

I wish more recording artists would do this kind of thing. It is a great way to give credit to the creative professionals who work behind the scenes.

American alternative rock band The Pretty Reckless has managed to raise a few eyebrows with the cover for their forthcoming album Light Me Up. The album is scheduled to be released by Interscope Records on August 31, 2010.

The controversy stems from the image of a child playing with a cigarette lighter. In what is probably just a strange coincidence, alternative rock band Terrible Things is also releasing an album on August 31 that features what appears to be children playing with fire on the cover (right).

Perhaps the little blonde girl from the Light Me Up album cover was playing with these the two having their little tea party. It is interesting that two bands are releasing albums with "children playing with fire" themes on the same day. Terrible Things records on the Universal Motown label. I like the Terrible Things cover much better. It is dark with a sense of humor. The cover for Light Me Up is simply disturbing.

Posted by: zeefritz

The song Secrets by pop duo The Pierces was released on their 2007 album Thirteen Tales of Love and Revenge. The quirky number is currently being used as the theme for ABC Family's new show Pretty Little Liars.

Sisters Allison and Catherine Pierce recently made a music video for the song that can best be described as dark comedy. Throughout the video, the ladies try to murder each other in numerous ways.

Posted by: xDarkAngel2007x

Lexicon - Rapstars (2010)

Posted by: zeefritz

This photo of Broadway legend Carol Channing holding her CD of Christian music was posted on the newswires today. For Heaven's Sake was released last year.

Below are six album covers that were preselected from among this week's new music releases. The covers were chosen based on Amazon.com sales rank and for their noteworthy designs. Please vote for the cover that you believe is the best of the bunch.

Avenged Sevenfold - Nightmare		Best Coast - Crazy for You
Fat Joe - The Darkside		Jorn - Dio
Menomena - Mines		Rufio - Anybody Out There

Swim is an album by Canadian electronic musician Daniel Victor Snaith, who records using the name Caribou. Swim was released in April 2010, and I took notice of the album cover at that time.

The photography and art direction for the album cover is credited to Jason Evans. The design is credited to Matthew Cooper and Jason Evans.

The music video for the album's second track, Sun, was posted online a few hours ago. It features a group of mature women who look like they've been experimenting with Ecstasy. You have to watch it to see what I mean.

According to our AlbumArtExchange Blog poll, the best album cover for the week of July 20, 2010 is Zero 7's Record: Best of Zero 7. The abstract design won with 57% of the vote. Brian Culbertson's XII and Sheryl Crow's 100 Miles from Memphis tied for a distant second place. Tokio Hotel's Humanoid City Live came in third with only two votes.

The artwork is by London-based artist and designer Zakee Shariff. It is an interesting image. The marble effect was created using silk-screened version of a painting and pen and ink.

Check back later this evening to vote on your favorite album cover from among this week's new music releases.

Modeselektor - Happy Birthday! (2007)

Posted by: zeefritz

Stand up comic and actress Margaret Cho has an album scheduled to be released on August 24, 2010. Cho Dependent has an uncommonly good cover for a comedy album.

Like many comics these days, Cho is an unbridled narcissist. Almost everything she does ends up being a wildly inappropriate PR stunt. She's all Cho, all the time. So, it wasn't surprising that I had to do a bit of digging to find out the name of the artist responsible for her album cover.

The artist is Shawn Barber, who is known for his portraits of people with tattoos and tattoo artists. The logo design was done by The Uprising, a design studio in Los Angeles.

I am glad that I did some research on Barber. The FAQ section of his website is worth reading. He has some great insights into what it takes to be a creative professional (and life in general):

Be Prepared to Struggle
The life of a freelance / self employed / gallery artist is not an easy one. It definitely has it's ups and downs. The pros- you can be creative everyday, you can set your own schedule, you can travel whenever you like, you are in control of your day to day, including your future... The cons- inconsistent cash flow, stress of not knowing when work will come, sometimes you have to do work that is less than exciting, no health insurance, bills sometimes get paid late...

Barber's portrait of Cho made a wonderful album cover. I think it compares to the recent album cover by Will Cotton that was commissioned by Katy Perry. I certainly hope this kind of album cover becomes a trend and I would love to see Barber's work appear on more album covers in the future.

This is the ninth installment of Search for the Worst here at the AlbumArtExchange Blog. I am taking my time when in comes to selecting album covers for this category. I want to make sure that my list of the worst album covers of all time includes nothing but the most vile and disgusting and not album covers that are simply bad.

The cover that I've chosen this time is for a 2001 album by French death metal band Arkhon Infaustus called Hell Injection. The album cover is so heinous that is has a "censored" cover for use on online stores (right).

Of course, the cover is intentionally disgusting. It is exactly what one would expect from a band whose lyrics deal with Satan worship, sex and sado-masochism.

These days, if a death metal band wants to shock the public with a controversial album cover, the best thing to do would be to use an image of a unicorn flying over a rainbow. While my generation was shocked by horror movies like The Exorcist, kids today have seen everything. They shoot demons with shotguns in video games. A transexual Jesus is hardly going to impress them.

I doubt that Shontelle was trying to imitate Miley Cyrus with the cover of her forthcoming album No Gravity. However, I would just like to know what being in a giant bird cage has to do with zero Gs. I get the concept of Miley's cover. The title of the single in Can't Be Tamed. She's in a cage. Shontelle has some explaining to do.

Shontelle - No Gravity (2010)

Miley Cyrus - Can't Be Tamed Single (2010)

Posted by: nims101

The new season of Mad Men premieres tomorrow. Many people are having Mad Men viewing parties with 1960s themes. If you're thinking about doing something like this, you'll need to have the right music (and plenty of booze).

Last year, The Verve Music Group released an entire series of EPs through iTunes that would be perfect for a Mad Men viewing party. Each EP features music based on the fictional tastes of a character from the series.

If you're looking for some costume ideas, I suggest that you check out MadMenYourself.com. There you will find a Flash game that you can use to create a cartoon version of yourself in Mad Men attire. I selected a slinky black number and a rifle. I'll teach that Don Draper a lesson for firing Sal Romano!

The cover art for Usher's forthcoming EP, Versus, has been revealed. Hopefully, this will not be the cover when the EP is released on August 24, 2010. It is a very poor design that is not worthy of a major recording artist.

Frankly, this cover is not even good enough to be used for a single. Everything from the ugly gradient to the unnecessary repetitions of the title screams cheap and amateur. It must have taken all of one afternoon to come up with this. Most fan-made covers are better.

Who says album cover art and music videos have to be high budget in order to be creative? Here's something from the folks who bring you Auto-Tune the News. It is a great summer tune that I hope becomes a hit. Enjoy.

The film Charlie St. Cloud starring Zac Efron is scheduled to be released to theaters on July 30, 2010. However, the soundtrack album will not be released until August 17.

The music was composed by Rolfe Kent, who has done the scores for such films as About Schmidt, Sideways, Wedding Crashers and The Men Who Stare at Goats. It is difficult to judge the soundtrack by the trailer and previews are not yet available online.

The album cover art is a square version of the movie poster. However, the image does work well as album art. It features a nice portrait of Efron that is certain to appeal to his fans.

Terrible Things - Terrible Things (2010)

Posted by: zeefritz

In February 1987, Prince released the title track as the first single from his album Sign "☮" the Times (right). The double album resulted in three U.S. top-ten hits, Sign "☮" the Times (#3), U Got the Look (#2), and I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man (#10).

The cover of the single Sign "☮" the Times (below) featured a photograph of singer and dancer Cat Glover holding a large heart-shaped cut out over her face. The fact that the model's face was hidden led to a rumor that the model was actually Prince in drag.

I recall that there were several factors that led people to believe that the model was Prince: the shoulders were too muscular, the chest too flat, and there seemed to be something dangling in the shadows just underneath the skirt. A couple of my friends bought the single just because they thought the model had to be Prince.

After the rumors and controversy over the cover for the single, the album cover art was somewhat of a disappointment. It features a confusing collage with a blurry image of Prince in the bottom corner and the words "Two Disc Set" in an ugly red font. The cover of the single will always be the first thing that comes to my mind.

Last week, I wrote about the eight album cover designs that have been created for Arcade Fire's forthcoming album The Suburbs. The album is scheduled to be released on August 3, 2010 and the various covers will be shipped to customers at random.

I have since learned that the art direction was done by Vincent Morisset, the design by Caroline Robert and the photography by Gabriel Jones. I also found a cool Flash animation that shows the various designs on the Arcade Fire website. Just move your mouse over the image below and enjoy the show.

A wonderful thing about writing a blog like this is meeting interesting people who I would otherwise never have encountered. One of those people is Jerry Hopkins, who was a member of the 1960s identical twin singing duo Twinn Connexion (right).

Twinn Connexion was signed to Decca and released their self-titled album in 1968. Jay passed away in 2001 and Jerry recently released a new album of remastered tracks that he rediscovered among his brother's belongings.

Being an identical twin myself, I had a personal curiosity about Twinn Connexion and developed an online friendship with Jerry. Today, he is an accomplished artist who lives in Woodstock, New York. He also has great stories to tell about his experience being a recording artist in the late 60s.

Flashing forward to 2010, a new twin duo has appeared on the pop music scene. Like Jay and Jerry Hopkins, John and Edward Grimes are talented young blond boys who are signed to a major record label. They perform under the name Jedward (a combination of their first names).

Jedward has just released a new music video for their forthcoming single, All the Small Things. The song is a cover of the Blink182 hit. Watching the video makes me wonder what things would have been like for my friend Jerry if he and his twin brother had been born a few decades later. John and Edward are obviously free to camp it up and have fun being themselves. It will be interesting to see how far their careers go in this day and age.

Eliza Doolittle - Eliza Doolittle (2010)

Posted by: dano272

Minutes ago, Katy Perry and New York City artist Will Cotton (right) revealed the painting that will be used for the cover of Perry's forthcoming album Teenage Dream. Both appeared live on Perry's website to talk about the painting and answer questions from fans. The website was not accessible for several minutes at the start of the live video feed. I assume that traffic was unexpectedly heavy.

The painting by Cotton is a true work of art. In the style of 1940s pin up calendars, it features Perry reclining nude on clouds that appear to be made of pink cotton candy. The cover is being distributed without typography.

The album cover could end up being one of the best of 2010. It is available in high resolution in the AAX gallery. Teenage Dream is scheduled to be released on August 24, 2010.

Record Collection is the third album by British music producer Mark Ronson. It scheduled to be released in the U.K. on September 27, 2010 on October 5 in the U.S.

The album cover for Record Collection features six album sleeves that have been designed to look like those of real albums, such as Duran Duran's Rio (right) and The Beatles' Yellow Submarine. The sleeves are arranged to create a portrait of Ronson. It is a very creative concept.

The music video for the album's first single Bang Bang Bang was posted on Ronson's YouTube channel last month.

Nina Hagen Band - Nina Hagen Band (1978)

Posted by: zeefritz

Nina Hagen - Personal Jesus (2010)

Posted by: zeefritz

Below are six album covers that were preselected from among this week's new music releases. The album covers were chosen based on Amazon.com sales rank and for their noteworthy designs. Please vote for the album cover that you believe is the best of the bunch.

Brian Culbertson - XII		Lillian Axe - Deep Red Shadows
Rick Ross - Teflon Don		Sheryl Crow - 100 Miles from Memphis
Tokio Hotel - Humanoid City Live		Zero 7 - Record: Best of Zero 7

Katy Perry has announced that she will reveal the cover art for her forthcoming album, Teenage Dream, on her website:

I'm ready to reveal my new album cover for 'Teenage Dream'!

Come join me for the LIVE unveiling on Wednesday, July 21st at 4:30 pm ET/1:30 PT - right here on www.katyperry.com!

Last month, Chart Rigger's Robbie Daw posted a photo that was taken at a listening party for the album (below). Teenage Dream is scheduled to be released on August 24, 2010.

According to our AlbumArtExchange Blog poll, the best album cover for the week of July 13, 2010 is M.I.A.'s /\/\ /\ Y /\. The votes were very close this time, in part because all of the album covers in this batch of new releases were weak designs. There really wasn't a cover with a "wow" factor. Dark Night of the Soul by Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse was in second place. Intriguer by Crowded House was third. Just one vote separated all three album covers this week.

The winning cover is interesting at best. It features a photograph of M.I.A. covered with the control bars for YouTube video players. Other elements of the design include a brick wall and bars of gold. There's supposed to be a message about corporate censorship or something.

Posted by: Joseebus

Check back this evening to vote on your favorite album cover from among this week's new music releases. The aritsts include Sheryl Crow, Tokio Hotel and Rick Ross.

Related articles:

• M.I.A.'s Unveils Busy, Flashy, Attention-Grabbing New Album Cover For /\/\/\Y/\ (newsroom.mtv.com)
• M.I.A.'s Album Cover Is Not Subtle (pitchfork.com)
• Cover Me, Game Sixty-One (popdose.com)

Amanda Palmer's new album has a very long title and a great cover. Actually it is an album of Radiohead covers performed by Palmer on a ukulele and aptly titled, Amanda Palmer Performs the Popular Hits of Radiohead on Her Magical Ukulele.

The good news is that you can purchase the entire album for as low as 84 cents! If you go to Palmer's website, the album is being sold through Bandcamp in mp3, AAC, FLAC, amd Ogg formats. Those purchasing the album are given the option of entering their own price, with 84 cents being the minimum.

The music files include high resolution cover art, too. I was surprised to find a 900 x 900 image in the folder when I unzipped it. I assume the image comes with all file format options.

I love this retro album cover. The fonts are perfect. The photograph of Palmer playing her ukulele is indeed magical. I could not resist buying this album.

International DJ Flore is scheduled to release her first album on July 20, 2010. Raw includes a cover version of Gary Numan's 1979 New Wave classic Cars (right). The track features Shunda K and a music video for it was posted on YouTube late last month.

Cars was named #11 on VH1's 100 Greatest One Hit Wonders of the '80s and #93 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of the '80s. Numan performed the song live with Nine Inch Nails on September 2, 2009 at the Hollywood Palladium as part of the band's Wave Goodbye Tour.

This week, a commercial for DieHard Batteries featuring Gary Numan playing Cars on a keyboard powered by a single car battery and a couple dozen cars.

I am not sure how the recent publicity for the Gary Numan original is going to impact the forthcoming Flore album. Certainly, she had no way of knowing that Gary Numan would be making headlines with his 31-year-old pop song.

I have posted both the DieHard commercial and Flore's music video, which was created by the design firm Lightgraff.

If we were to judge by the album cover art alone, Flore doesn't come close to matching the originality of Gary Numan. The cover of Raw features silouettes of a jungle cat of some sort and a yellow-eyed image of who I assume is DJ Flore. It is nothing to write home about.

Charlie Brand, frontman of the indie rock band Miniature Tigers just sent out the following tweet. It is a clever joke about the news that Vampire Weekend is being sued by the woman whose photograph was used on the cover of their most recent album, Contra.

I have been putting off writing about the Vampire Weekend album cover suit. One of the reasons is that I really don't like the trend of using old snapshots as album cover art. Several bands have already copied the Vampire Weekend cover (right), digging through old family albums to find a faded Polaroid to scan and label with a title that is supposed to be ironic.

Unfortunately, it looks like the Vampire Weekend cover is going end up being rather expensive. Two million dollars will buy one heck of a masterpiece. The band would have been better off hiring a model and doing a professional photo shoot.

You can bet that the cover for Miniature Tigers' forthcoming album, Fortress, cost quite a bit less than two million. Yet, it is obvious that their album cover is real art and not just something that was kept in a shoe box for 25 years. Fortress is scheduled to be released on July 27, 2010.

Obviously, Brand was making a joke about his band being sued by the girl on their album cover. However, the painting used for the cover of Fortress has to be taken seriously. It caught my eye immediately when I was browsing through upcoming releases a couple weeks ago. I just hope that the parrot signed a release!

Here's an Album Cover Mash Up that took too much effort to make an old joke. I didn't cheat too much with this one. The rules of the game are that the elements from one album have to be added to another. Other elements can be taken away. You have to admit the band was just asking for this one.

If you want to participate in the AAX Album Cover Mash Up, all you have to do is follow these rules:

1. The album covers must be part of the AAX gallery.
2. All of the elements in the mash up cover must be present in one of the two originals. However, you do not have to use the original images. For example, if there is a black car in one of the original covers, you can use a black car from a stock photo instead of the one on the cover.
3. Submit your mash up along with the AAX links to the original cover images via e-mail to blog@albumartexchange.com. You must also include your name or AAX forum username.

I will publish mash ups as I receive them. I will not guarantee that your mash up will be published (but I'm not going to be too picky).

Director Christopher Nolan's sci-fi thriller Inception opened in theaters today. It is definitely one that I will go to see. The special effects look impressive and it has an interesting cast that includes Leonardo DiCaprio, Ellen Page and Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

I have been listening to the soundtrack all afternoon and I think it is the best work that Hans Zimmer has done in years. The track Old Souls is haunting and beautiful and definitely my favorite.

Unfortunately, the cover art for the soundtrack album is not goin to going to get such a favorable review. It is going to serve as a prime example of why a squared-off version of the movie poster doesn't always work as album art.

In this case, the poster shows a dramatic bending of a city street behind the cast of the film. You can see that the street is being folded over on to itself. This is a graphic depection of the film's special effects.

The album art has been cropped so that it looks as if the cast is standing at the foot of a steep hill. It looks like a typical scene in San Francisco. Half of the poster has been lost. I could almost imagine Steve McQueen speeding up behind them in his green Mustang. Sadly, it is just my imagination. Nothing but a lot of standing around is going on in that album cover.

It looks like Jerry Lee Lewis has a new album coming out on September 7, 2010. It is being released on Verve Forcast and available for pre-order on Amazon.com.

Mean Old Man will feature duets with Willie Nelson, Tim McGraw, and Merle Haggard. The title track was released as a single featuring Kris Kristofferson last year. Also appearing on the album will be Sheryl Crow, Eric Clapton, John Fogerty, Kid Rock, members of the Rolling Stones and several other artists.

The album cover features Lewis emerging from a limo with a red velvet interior and being mobbed by a group of attractive young women. I will just imagine that they are his grandchildren, happy to see him return safe from a tour. Maybe the one in the green top is reaching for an appropriate gift from The Killer. Yeah, that's what I'll keep thinking.

Canadian singer and songwriter Nelly Furtado continues to have success with her first Spanish language album Mi Plan (right). The 2009 release went platinum in the U.S. and was Billboard's #1 Latin pop album and # Latin album.

This week, the music video for the single Bajo Otra Luz was the #1 most viewed video worldwide on YouTube and the #1 most viewed music video on YouTube. The video has almost 3 million views. That doesn't come close to Shakira's record shattering World Cup video, but those Furtado doesn't have a major world sports event driving viewers.

The cover for the single is a beautiful portrait of Furtado. The video shows Furtado and Mala Rodriguez (who is featured on the single) wearing an assortment of costumes, from Dorothy Gale to a circus clown. There are no special effects, just two very beautiful women dressing up in crazy outfits.

Ministry - Filth Pig (1996)

Posted by: Shwanger

The album cover for the forthcoming collaboration by John Legend and The Roots has been revealed. Wake Up! is secheduled to be released on September 21, 2010.

According to the product description, the album is "eleven profoundly evocative songs pulled from the soulful music of the '60s and '70s". I hate to make this comparison, but the album art is giving off more of a Fat Albert vibe than 1960s soul.

It certainly is bright and cartoonish. I wonder if they will create an animated music video to go with the album art. If so, they could get Bill Cosby to do some of the voices. "Hey, hey, hey!"

The forthcoming album by Canadian rock band Arcade Fire is going to be released with eight versions of the album cover (right). The Suburbs is scheduled to be released on August 3, 2010. It is currently being sold as a preorder at various online retailers, including Amazon.com.

Those purchasing the album online will not be able to choose which version of the cover will come with their CD or LP. They will be shipped at random. Of course, those who choose to make their purchase at a brick and mortar outlet will be able to select the cover they prefer.

The covers are all a variation of an image that features a car parked in front of a suburban home. It is too bad they didn't have a contest for fans to submit photos of their own homes for use on the cover. That certainly would have increased interest.

Last year, 30 Seconds to Mars released their album This is War using 2,000 photos submitted by fans online. That makes eight seem like nothing in comparison. Imagine if they had used 2,500 photos of houses submitted online by fans. Perhaps it would seem like too much of a copycat promotion.

The album cover that is being distributed for sales and promotion is the one with the palm tree and the drak red and green colors. I think it is the stringest of the eight images. The other seven seem kind of dreary.

Last week, Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert was publicly ridiculed for using the Comic Sans font in an angry letter to player LeBron James. The letter was posted on the team's website after James announced that he is leaving the team. Gilbert's ridiculous font choice was instantly a trending topic on Twitter and become a hot topic on blogs across the Internet.

It has been quite a long time since I have seen Comic Sans used on an album cover. However, I often see other fonts that have become cliche from overuse or have been reviled by graphic designers for their lack of artistic merit. There are just some fonts that should not be used unless it is intended to be ironic. The recent cover for the album Brothers by The Black Keys (above right) is an excellent example of an ironic cover. It uses a version of the overly common font Cooper Black for a generic look.

Recently, I saw that the font Copperplate Gothic was used for the cover of David Archuleta's forthcoming single, Something 'Bout Love (below). Copperplate Gothic is certainly not as despised as Comic Sans. However, it is a font that has been used for countless rock and heavy metal album covers. It has a kind of horror movie look to it, especially when modified to include crosses and other symbols. It definitely doesn't work on a David Archuleta cover.

Perhaps the art director who approved Copperplate Gothic for Archuleta's cover should have gone the ironic route instead and used Comic Sans and Cooper Black. At least that would have been cute and creative.

I hope that I am not the only one who is eagerly anticipating the reveal of the cover art for Katy Perry's forthcoming album Teenage Dream. The latest publicity photo by Emma Summerton is nothing short of hilarious!

I am checking EMI's publicity website several times a day in the hope that the album cover has been posted. Today's addition to the photo assets made me wonder what Perry has in store for us.

On July 15, 2010, at 2:11 a.m., the Album Art Exchange gallery reached an important milestone. AAX user CDsOfAustin uploaded a set of scans for the Ricky Nelson box set The American Dream: The Complete Imperial and Verve 1957-1963 (right), one of which was the 100,000 cover in the gallery.

I was hoping that the 100,000th cover would be a quality, original scan by an AAX user and CDsOfAustin came through like a champ. The scans of the four CD covers included in the set are excellent examples of the type of images we like to see in the gallery.

Thank you to CDsOfAustin and the many other dedicted AAX users who have helped us reach this important milestone. Album Art Exchange doesn't give prizes or hold contests because that encourges quanitity and not quality. It is important to have both, even if it takes longer to reach milestones like today's.

Today, the design blog TAXI wrote about an interactive Digipak-style case developed by a Swedish design agency that creates a sort of design when opened.

Designed by Hubero Kororo for a new musical project by Ivan Palacký, 'Uceroz' is an interactive album cover that sees ink staining the snow-white cover with just a tear of the package's seal.

The ink that is contained within the album will be released once the album package is opened, a result of a mechanism the studio bills as its own "authentic construction".

Source: TAXI

While it is an interesting CD package design concept, I am not very impressed with the resulting ink blot. It looks more like a random spill. It would be nice to see someone come up with a more advanced version of this, perhaps using multiple colors.

The cover for pop singer Robbie Williams' forthcoming greatest hits compilation album has been revealed. In And Out of Consciousness: The Greatest Hits 1990-2010 is scheduled to be released on October 12, 2010.

The cover features a photograph of Williams walking on a beach while waves pound the rocky shore. I am not really sure what that has to do with going in and out of consciousness. I guess I was expecting something a bit more existential.

Below are six album covers that were preselected from this week's new music releases. They were chosen based on Amazon.com sales rank and for their noteworthy album cover designs. Please vote for the album cover that you believe is the best of the bunch.

Crowded House - Intriguer		Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse - Dark Night of the Soul
Hellyeah - Stampede		M.I.A. - /\/\ /\ Y /\
Norma Jean - Meridional		Sting - Symphonicities

It looks as if Kylie Minogue fans rallied to vote for the cover of her new album Aphrodite in our Best Album Cover for the Week poll. The cover won by one of the largest percentages I have seen since we started running the poll. It received 67% of the vote. The self-titled album by How to Destroy Angels came in second with 20%. Flesh Tone by Kelis was a very distant third place winner with 7%.

Although I am not wild about this album cover (I think it looks more like a perfume ad), it shows that a flattering image of a popular recording artist always wins the hearts of his or her fans. Had this album cover not featured Minogue in this glorious pose, it could have been a dud with those who adore her.

Posted by: zeefritz

Come back later this evening to vote on the best album cover from among this week's  new music releases. This week, we have a very eclectic mix of covers.

Today, Iron Maiden debuted the music video for Satellite 15..The Final Frontier on their official website. It is the first track from their forthcoming album, The Final Frontier, which is scheduled to be released on August 17, 2010.

The music video uses amazing sci-fi special effects to bring the album cover to life. It is a strange mix of Star Wars and Indiana Jones. However, fans of Iron Maiden's toothy monster mascot will be thrilled with the ending.

Posted by: zeefritz

Diplo & Lil Jon - U Don't Like Me EP (2010)

Posted by: zeefritz

The AlbumArtExchange.com blog has been asking readers to vote on the Best Album Covers for the Week all year. Since we have passed the halfway mark of 2010, it is time to do a recap of the 26 album covers that have been selected as the best of the year so far.

The covers below are presented in chronological order. As always, you can click the image to see a larger view.

The Killers frontman Brandon Flowers revealed the cover of his forthcoming debut album Flamingo today using some kind of a Facebook and Twitter game. A version of the cover (right) was posted to Flowers' Facebook page. The Facebook version does not include the artist's name and a blue diamond at the top on the final cover (below).

It was a good bet that the album cover would have a Las Vegas theme. The photograph that appears on the cover shows Flowers standing in what looks like a 1960s-era Las Vegas hotel room. The image has been tinted a bright orange, perhaps to simulate an aged Polaroid.

I have read a couple of online comments from fans who are disappointed with the cover. One wrote that it looks a bit too "Chris Isaak" for his taste. Another wrote that Flowers looks too much like Michael Bublé. I have to agree somewhat. The whole Rat Pack, cool Vegas routine has been done to death. The only thing that really bothers me is that hideous desk!

Coco Sumner is an English musician who records under the name I Blame Coco. Her first album, The Constant, is scheduled to be released in the U.K. on October 4, 2010. The first single Caesar (right), which features pop singer Robyn, was released in February.

Sumner is the daughter of Sting and Trudie Styler. So, her debut album is certain to be closely watched by the media.

Several days ago, a video of the photo shoot for the album was posted on YouTube. It is a short clip that lasts for one minute. It shows Sumner supposedly posing for photos, while a soundtrack plays.

The reason why I'm writing about this is that several of the comments on YouTube are reactions to Sumner's cigarette smoking. I have to admit that I was more turned off by her grubby-looking fingers and greasy hair.

I guess the days when recording artists could look cool by puffing on a cigarette are over. Looking at the album cover, I can't help thinking about Sumner's dirty hands fumbling with an old pocket watch and a smoke. She is a beautiful young woman. I don't know why she would want to look like a homeless person.

Ricet Barrier - Tel quel (1998)

This déjà vu moment is brought to you by the old-fashioned red and white checkered tablecloth. Now, I'm hungry for Italian food!

Con Gusto - Con Gusto (2010)

The Waitresses - Wasn't Tomorrow Wonderful (1982)

The forthcoming album When Everything Breaks Open by Matt Morris is scheduled to be released on July 13, 2010 by Interscope. In January, the album was released by Justin Timberlake's joint venture with Interscope, Tennmen Records.

I don't know why the album is being released twice. The Interscope version has received a cover art makeover and a bonus track (100,000 Strong) has been eliminated. I imagine that there ws some kind of legal legal or financial issue involved. Timberlake's name has been removed from the second track, Money. The original version was Money (feat. Justin Timberlake).

The new album cover is a huge improvement. It features a composite of photographs of Morris (right) by Brigitte Sire that have been Photoshopped to appear as if Morris' chest tattoo is coming to life, or exploding or something. It is a strange concept, but it includes a nice portrait of the artist. I don't know who did the graphic design.

The music video for the track Live Forever was posted on YouTube last week. It features Morris walking down the middle of the street in what looks like a So. California track housing development. The computer special effects get more intense as the video progresses.

The debut solo album from The Killers frontman Brandon Flowers is scheduled to be released on September 14, 2010. The album is titled Flamingo and I have posted what is likely a promo cover (right) to the Album Art Exchange gallery.

The first single from the album, Crossfire, was released on June 21 and the music video was posted on YouTube yesterday. The cover art for the single uses the playing card concept that is shown on the Flamingo cover. It features a red diamond and pistol. It also has a very detailed border. I hope that the final album cover has a similar look.

I imagine that the title has something to do with the Las Vegas casino rather than the pink bird. Look for Charlize Theron in the video.

R&B/pop singer Ciara has revealed the cover of her forthcoming album Basic Instinct. The album is scheduled to be released on August 17, 2010.

The cover features a photograph of Ciara with left side of her face covered with long, flowing hair. This style was made famous in the 1940s by actress Veronica Lake (right). After Lake was photographed with her hair covering her face, it became her signature look.

The album has ties to two of film's legendary beauties. The title conjures up images of Sharon Stone in her prime. Ciara certainly has the beauty to measure up to the movie stars. Her face is absolutely flawless. Ciara's makeup and jewelry are perfect. Her hair looks thick and flows in a sensual curve across her eye. I think it stands up to the legendary Veronica Lake image.

Last year, a similar look was attempted by Selena Gomez for the cover of her album Kiss & Tell (right). Unfortunately, Gomez' lips were covered with pink jewels in the shape of a heart. The result was rather freakish and unnatural. The young pop star's hair looked limp and far from sexy.

It is always interesting how similar concepts can have very different results. Ciara looks classy and mature. Gomez looks like a bizarre Disney cartoon character.

While I could easily see women imitating Ciara's hairstyle, I doubt that many girls bedazzled their lips trying to look like Selena Gomez.

The cover art for the fourth studio album by country music quartet Little Big Town has been revealed. The Reason Why is scheduled to be released on Augunst 24, 2010 and currently available for pre-order at Amazon.com.

Today is Ringo Starr's 70th birthday. The musician, singer, songwriter, and actor who rose to worldwide fame as the drummer for The Beatles was born Richard Starkey on July 7, 1940 in Liverpool, England.

Two albums by Ringo Starr & His All Starr Band are being released during Starr's birthday month. Previously available as an import, the 2001 album The Anthology... So Far is scheduled to be released digitally in the U.S. on July 13, 2010. A new album, Live at the Greek Theatre 2008, will be released on July 27. Live at the Greek Theatre 2008 is also being released as a DVD.

Created by producer David Fishoff, Starr's All Star Band has toured with a changing line up of famous musicians over the last 20 years. Eight live album have been previously released.

The single We No Speak Americano by Yolanda Be Cool vs. D Cup is a huge hit in the U.K. right now. The song is very catchy in a way that reminds me of the Macarena (you'll see what I mean when you watch the music video).

The cover art for the single in a simple grayscale image created using cartoon hand lettering. Unfortunately, it doesn't go with the art direction of the music video at all. The video is made to look like an old silent movie, complete with old-style caption cards. I couldn't resist making my own version of the cover art (right) using a caption card as the inspriration.

The color of the cover is a middle gray. The reason why I chose a similar gray for the background of this blog is that it is a color that is almost never used for cover art. I have only encountered a couple of covers this color. The reason is isn't used is that it is so neutral that it makes almost no visual impact.

I think my cover is a bit of an improvement. However, there are some great visuals in the video that would have made great cover art.

Below are six album cover that were preselected from this week's new music releases. They were chosen based on Amazon.com sales rank and for their noteworthy designs. Please vote for the album cover that you believe to be the best of the bunch.

Big Boi - Sir Lucious Left Foot...		Enrique Iglesias - Euphoria
Five for Fighting - Slice		How to Destroy Angels - S/T
Kelis - Flesh Tone		Kylie Minogue - Aphrodite

American rock singer and Incubus frontman Brandon Boyd revealed the cover art for his forthcoming solo debut via news release today. The album is scheduled to be released on July 12 exclusively through iTunes.

The cover has an interesting and off-center composition. I am certain that we will see unofficial versions that have been made square with the text and image centered on the canvas. The positioning of the cover's elements to the right works with Boyd's crazy pose in the photograph. He looks like a madman playing an invisible violin in a darkened cell. The typography isn't too extreme (although I could do without the long, drippy parts of the "p" and "y"). I actually like this cover quite a bit.

According to our AlbumArtExchange blog poll, the best album cover for the week of June 29, 2010 is Night Work by Scissor Sisters. The cover won with 54% of the vote. In second place with 25% of the vote was Wolf Parade's Expo 86 and Streets of Gold by 3OH!3 was a very distant third. 

While many people assume that the cover is a photograph of the band's vocalist Jake Shears, it is actually an art photograph by the late Robert Mapplethorpe.

The photographer is known for his often controversial nudes with homoerotic and S&M themes. However, he also shot numerous photographs of rock stars such as Debbie Harry (right), Peter Gabriel, and Patti Smith. Mapplethorpe took the photograph for the cover of Smith's 1975 debut album Horses.

Come back this evening to vote for the best album cover from among this week's new music releases. I am going to predict that Kylie Minogue fans are going to rise to the occassion. The pop star is going up against Enrique Iglesias, Kelis, and a few surprise artists.

WTF?! A bloody wolf's head on a stake? That someone has pulled the teeth out of with a pair of pliers? Really? Is this what it takes to shock the public these days? Really?

I don't know anything about this band other than they are probably named after the 18th century book by William Blake. A poet and a printmaker, Blake's work is comprised of hand-colored etchings (right). The book's text and images describe a journey to a "Printing House in Hell" and a series of proverbs imitate the Bible.

I can see why Blake appeals to metal bands. What I can't understand is the mutilation of a beautiful animal. This has to be one of the most disgusting album covers of all time. It may even end up on my "worst ever" list.

I found a track from the album on YouTube. It is the typical raspy "I am the reaper...your God's not real...blah, blah, blah" satanic crap that we've all heard a thousand times. It is definitely not inspired by the work of Blake. The scribbles on the cover of a troubled high school student's bookcover? Perhaps. William Blake? No way.

Art Garfunkel : Angel Clare, originally uploaded by See Gee.

The combination equals brilliant. This has to be one of my favorite sleevefaces of all time. You can find more great sleevefaces at Sleeveface.com and Flickr.

Over the past few years, The Star Spangled Banner has been recorded by Jennifer Hudson, Jordin Sparks, and Beyoncé live during the Super Bowl. The resulting singles are all great versions to play on the 4th of July. It takes a special talent to sing The National Anthem and not many artists are brave enough to take the challenge.

In my opinion, the best version of The Star Spangled Banner was recorded in 1991 by Whitney Houston at Super Bowl XXV. Her Super Bowl performance is often recognized as one of the best of all time and one of the most notable moments in television history. Houston was definitely in her prime. The single also included America the Beautiful.

The single was repackaged as a charity release (right) benefiting the 9/11 first responders in 2001. The 2001 version features a simple illustration of an American flag. I prefer the original 1991 cover with Whtney in her patriotic tracksuit.

The new science fiction action film Predators is scheduled to open in theaters on July 9, 2010. The film's soundtrack was composed by John Debney and is scheduled to be released on August 10. I'm not sure why they're waiting a full month after the film's debut to release the soundtrack.

The album cover is a square version of the movie poster. I am not sure that it works very well in a small format. The outline of the alien is a weak image. Also, it is puzzling that there is only one predator shown when the title of the movie indicates that there are a more than one.

There have been a couple of prerelease posters issued for the film in the international markets and one of them (right) would make a better album cover. It shows one of the film's stars, Adrien Brody, with lazer beams targeting him and a alien in the background. I understand that there is often a desire to create an iconic image for a science fiction movie (as was done with the egg hatching for Alien and more recently with the "no aliens" sign for District 9). If that is the case with Predators, the alien needs to be much more detailed and dynamic. The outline profile also seems a bit dated -- like something from the early 1990s. 

Universal Music Group just tweeted about the new music video by R&B quintet Brutha. The video is for a single called Can't Get Enough, which was released on June 8, 2010.

When I watched the video, the thing that caught my ear was the chorus, "I'm a sexaholic, sex, sexaholic." I am sure that many people will hear the song and assume that "Sexaholic" is the title. The song even references Tiger Woods.

Judging from the cover art for the single, one would assume that the brothers can't get enough of their classic convertable. I guess the sign pointing the way to the "Good Fellas Motel" is supposed to be a hint as to what is really on their minds. However, the term "good fellas" may lead to another unfortunate conclusion (and I don't mean gangsters).

In 1962, legendary pop artist Andy Warhol caused quite a stir in the art world with Campbell's Soup Cans, thirty-two canvases each featuring a painting of a Campbell's Soup can (right). Each painting represents a diffferent variety of Campbell's Soup.

I saw Campbell's Soup Cans in the 1980s at an Andy Warhol exhibit in Los Angeles. Like most of Warhol's work, the scale was surprising. The canvases take up a huge amount of wall space. It can be seen on permanent exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. The paintings at MoMa are arranged in the order they were introduced to the public by Campbell's.

Campbell's Soup Cans was one of the first major pieces that uses a branded product label as fine art. It led to an entire series of Campbell's Soup can paintings by Warhol. There have been dozens of parodies and tributes of the work over the past 48 years.

I do not know how many album covers have been based on Campbell's Soup Cans. Two recent exampes is Soup by The Beautiful South and The Housemartins and Dog Food by Mondo Generator.

A version of the collaboration by The Beautiful South and The Housemartins actually came in a soup can. I have seen an alternate cover that looked more like a copy of the Warhol painting. I assume it was changed due to copyright issues.

The Mondo Generator cover more closely resembles the Warhol original. I think it stands up better as a parody of Warhol rather than an imitation.

The Beautiful South and The Housemartins - Soup (2008)

Mondo Generator - Dog Food (2010)

Posted by: zeefritz

Today, Maroon 5 revealed the cover of their forthcoming album, Hands All Over, on their official website. The album is scheduled to be released on September 21, 2010.

The cover features a photograph of a nude female model with an extra set of arms. I won't speculate about what she appears to be doing. I guess if you're lucky enough to have four hands you should use them.

Various Artists - Red Peters Presents Summer Song Sizzler! (2010)

The cover of Bloodsport's forthcoming single About My Dough features the North Philly rapper sitting on a golden throne. When I saw it, I was immediately reminded of the photograph of Michael Jackson that appears on The Remix Suite album that was released last year.

Not only are the thrones very similar, the lighting and the poses are almost identical. It is difficult to believe that the art director was not inspired by the Jackson photograph. All Bloodsport needs is some groovy two-tone bell bottoms and it would be a perfect recreation. All My Dough is scheduled for release on July 13, 2010.

Michael Jackson - The Remix Suite (2009)

Bloodsport featuring Yak Digger, Jazz, & G-Mann - All My Dough (2010)

Posted by: zeefritz

Prince has revealed the cover of his forthcoming album 20Ten. This will be Prince's 27th studio album. The album is being released though various publications in Europe beginning July 8, 2010. As of today, there is no news about a traditional U.S. release.

The cover features a rather psychedelic illustration of Prince, which includes a variation of the dreaded "love symbol" that he came up with in the early 1990s. The artwork is certainly something that would make Adam Lambert green with envy. Personally, I grew weary of Prince's bizarre publicity stunts and marketing gimmicks decades ago. Yawn.