November 2011 Archives

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 cover that you think is the best of the bunch. The winner will be announced next Tuesday.

Adele - Live at the Royal Albert Hall		Hot Chelle Rae - Whatever
Trey Songz - Inevitable		Gorillaz - The Singles Collection 2001-2011
Kylie Minogue - Aphrodite Les Folies Live in London		Various Artists - Sons of Anarchy Music from Seasons 1-4

Kate Bush has posted an interesting video called "Mistraldespair" to YouTube. It is described as the official animation for a segment from Misty, a track from Bush's new album 50 Words for Snow. The album was released last week.

The video features a snowman that is literally melted by the passionate touch of a woman. It is definitely a new take on the traditional Frosty tale. I usually like music videos that tie in to the theme of the album cover. However, the video is really quite depressing. It is not what I imagined when I saw the cover.

According to our AlbumArtExchange Blog poll, The Muppets Original Soundtrack has been voted the best album cover for the week of November 22, 2011. The cover received 50% of the votes cast by our readers. Kate Bush's 50 Words for Snow was second with 26% of the vote. Mary J Blige's My Life II... The Journey Continues (Act 1) was third with 15%.

The winning cover is a cropped version of the movie poster by Walt Disney Studios. The poster shows the actors' feet, which makes it clear that they are standing and holding back the crowd of Muppets. The album cover looks more like they are laying on a pile of Muppets. I think the cropped version is actually more appealing.

Below are 10 noteworthy album covers that were posted to the AAX gallery last week. They were selected simply because I found them to be interesting or a valuable addition to the gallery. They are listed in no particular order.

Posted by: zeefritz		Posted by: Vocephus
Posted by: Vocephus		Posted by: zeefritz
Posted by: Tim Barron		Posted by: PhilR
Posted by: Mediocrates		Posted by: Vocephus
Posted by: Lazlo Nibble		Posted by: Vocephus

Here are 10 new holiday albums for 2011. They are presented in no particular order. All are currently available for purchase.

Posted by: zeefritz		Posted by: zeefritz
Posted by: zeefritz		Posted by: zeefritz
Posted by: zeefritz		Posted by: zeefritz
Posted by: Tim Barron		Posted by: ron spencer
Posted by: zeefritz		Posted by: zeefritz

Made in Germany, the forthcoming greatest hits album by German rock band Rammstein, features six different album covers, each with a photograph of a plaster life mask of a band member. Many online reviews and articles about the album are calling the artwork "death masks" rather than "life masks" without understanding the obvious difference between the two.

Death masks are, of course, plaster masks that are created shortly after a person dies. Life masks are made while the person is still alive. Plaster masks were once the best way to memorialize a person. They were created in order to have a record of what the person looked like, both in life and in death. Painters and sculptures often made them in order to have a model to use and avoid having to make the subject pose for many hours. The most common use for them today is the creation of special effects make up.

Although death masks are quite rare in modern times, many famous people have had life masks created. This includes pop stars such as David Bowie (above left) and Michael Jackson (above right). Fans can purchase life masks from businesses such as The Haunted Studios. 

This is not the first time that a life mask has been used as album cover art. The 1973 album Lifemask by English folk singer-songwriter and guitarist Roy Harper features a life mask of Harper.

Made in Germany is scheduled to be released on December 13, 2011. It includes one new track, Mein Land.

Lady Gaga has released a live holiday EP. It is available as a digital download from iTunes and Amazon.com and features four tracks, including a version of the holiday classic White Christmas.

The musical comedy The Muppets opened in U.S. theaters this week. It is scheduled for release in the U.K. on February 17, 2012. The film features six new musical numbers. It also includes performances of three classic Muppet songs, The Muppet Show Theme, Rainbow Connection and Mah Nà Mah Nà.

The soundtrack is available as a digital download and on CD. It features 30 tracks, which includes clips of dialogue and the film's musical numbers. There are two different album covers for the soundtrack. The U.S. version features The Muppets and human stars Jason Segel and Amy Adams (below left). The U.K. version does not include Segel and Adams (below right).

Disney has created a preview video for the soundtrack. It is over seven minutes long and includes previews of all of the songs from the album. Both the film and the soundtrack are getting great reviews. This will probably be the most popular soundtrack of 2011.

Below are six album covers that were preselected from this week's new music releases (the albums listed were released on November 21). They were chosen based on Amazon.com sales rank and for their noteworthy album cover designs. Please vote for the cover that you think is the best of the bunch. The winner will be announced next Tuesday.

James Durbin - Memories of a Beautiful Disaster		Mary J Blige - My Life II... The Journey Continues (Act 1)
Lady Gaga - Born This Way: The Collection		Various Artists - The Muppets Original Soundtrack
Rihanna - Talk That Talk Deluxe Edition		Kate Bush - 50 Words for Snow

According to our AlbumArtExchange Blog poll, the best album cover for the week of November 15, 2011 is Lady Gaga's Born This Way The Remix. The cover won with 32% of the votes cast by our readers. Nickelback's Here and Now was second with 27%. Take Care by Drake was third with 23%.

The winning cover features a candid photograph by Nick Knight that was taken after a bucket of goo was dumped on Lady Gaga during a photo shoot. The photo of the actual goo dumping was used as the cover for Born This Way The Collection, which was released at the same time.

Below are 10 noteworthy album covers that were posted to the AAX gallery last week. They were selected simply because I found them to be interesting or a valuable addition to the gallery. They are listed in no particular order.

Posted by: zeefritz		Posted by: TotheLastShot
Posted by: FuGGer		Posted by: Vocephus
Posted by: zeefritz		Posted by: uberchemist
Posted by: eta		Posted by: TotheLastShot
Posted by: Vocephus		Posted by: jgreene5

RockPop Gallery recently tipped us to a new blog via their Facebook page that features Photoshop creations that combine popular album covers with cute kittens. The Kitten Covers appears to be a clever promotion for a small business called AYM Visuals. The promotion appears to be quite an Internet hit, with several major blog articles. Can a Honey Badger album cover website with narration by Randall be very far in the future?

On Friday, November 25, the folks who bring us Record Store Day will be having a Black Friday event at approximately 900 independent record stores in the U.S., Canada, France, Germany, Holland and the United Kingdom. Black Friday has long been an American event celebrated on the Friday after Thanksgiving by large retailers as a shopping day with special sales and marking the beginning of the holiday season.

RSD's Black Friday is different from the big events at large corporate chains in that it encourages shoppers to shop at smaller, independent record stores and features limited special editions, often numbered, from some popular recording artists. Unlike the special releases for Record Store Day that are made to be sold on the day that Record Store Day takes place (the third Saturday of every April), Black Friday releases are made for the holiday season. This means stores will launch the special releases on Black Friday but may choose to carry them beyond Black Friday (as supplies last). Black Friday releases may also be sold on the store's websites.

Below is a sample of some of the special editions that are being made available for the Black Friday event. To find a participating store, please visit the official Record Store Day website.

This Déjà Vu pairing was suggested by AAX contributor Vocephus. The first cover is for Heads Off, the seventh and last album released by the Swedish rock band The Hellacopters. The second is Never Say Die!, the eighth studio album by British heavy metal band Black Sabbath. It was released in 1978.

Released in 1976, Chicago X is the tenth album by American rock band Chicago. The album reached the #3 position on the Billboard Pop Album chart and featured the band's #1 single If You Leave Me Now.

The album cover was designed by Grammy award winning American graphic designer and art director John Berg. The former creative director and vice president of Columbia/CBS Records, Berg oversaw the creation of countless album covers from 1961 to 1985. Berg did 14 album covers for Chicago before leaving his position at the label.

The cover for Chicago X is perhaps the one most often associated with the band. It was designed to look like a Hersey's chocolate bar, with the brand's trademarked brown and silver wrapper pealed back to reveal the name of the band embossed in chocolate. The album cover won a Grammy for Best Package Design in 1977. 

I was in high school when this album was released and recall seeing several photographs of people pretending to be eating the giant chocolate bar LP sleeve. The joke just would not be the same with a CD.

Below are six album covers that were preselected from this week's new music releases (several of the albums will not be released until November 21). They were chosen based on Amazon.com sales rank and for their noteworthy album cover designs. Please vote for the cover that you think is the best of the bunch. The winner will be announced next Tuesday.

Big Time Rush - Elevate		Daughtry - Break the Spell
Drake - Take Care		Lady Gaga - Born This Way The Remix
Nickelback - Here and Now		Rihanna - Talk That Talk

According to our AlbumArtExchange Blog poll, the best album cover for the week of November 8, 2011 is A Foot In the Door (The Best of pink Floyd). The cover received 55% of the votes cast by our readers. Mac Miller's Blue Slide Park was second with 18%. The self-titled album by Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds was third with 14%.

The winning cover was designed by the great Storm Thorgerson. It features a student dresssed in the traditional academic dress and rushing to class on a floor made of Pink Floyd album covers. It is a great concept for a greatest hits compilation.

Below are 10 noteworthy album covers that were posted to the AAX gallery last week. They were selected simply because I found them to be interesting or a valuable addition to the gallery. They are listed in no particular order.

Posted by: Lazlo Nibble		Posted by: all4rock
Posted by: Mediocrates		Posted by: PhilR
Posted by: Scott		Posted by: 50poundnote
Posted by: Gulickson		Posted by: zeefritz
Posted by: Tim Barron		Posted by: Vocephus

The 3D fantasy adventure Immortals opened in theaters today. The film was directed by Tarsem Singh and stars Henry Cavill, Freida Pinto, and Mickey Rourke. The cast also includes Stephen Dorff, Luke Evans, John Hurt, Isabel Lucas, Kellan Lutz, Joseph Morgan, and Alan Van Sprang.

The score for the film was composed by Trevor Morris (The Borgias, The Tudors) and is available as a digital download that includes a digital booklet and on CD. The artwork for the album is a cropped and edited version of the movie poster, featuring an illustration of Cavill swinging a sword in battle.

When I created the Déjà Vu category for the blog several years ago, my inspiration was the two album covers featured below. Unfortunately, there were not good examples of them in the AAX gallery at the time and I simply forgot about them.

When Lunada, the tenth studio album by Mexican recording artist Thalia, was released in 2008, it created a controversy regarding the cover art. The cover created by art director and graphic designer Lisette Lorenzo is almost identical to that of Australian electronic band Cut Copy's 2004 album Bright Like Neon Love.

This is probably the most jaw-dropping example of an album cover that is either a blatant rip off or an amazing coincidence. So many elements are the same in both covers that it is difficult to believe that the earlier cover did not serve as the inspiration for the other. However, when similar elements are also common (such as a scene being reflected in sunglasses and bright red lips) it is more likely that very similar designs were created independently. You be the judge.

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 cover that you think is the best of the bunch. The winner will be announced next Tuesday.

David Lynch - Crazy Clown Time		Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds - S/T
Keith Jarrett - Rio		Mac Miller - Blue Slide Park
Pink Floyd - A Foot In the Door The Best of Pink Floyd		Rush - Time Machine Live in Cleveland 2011

According to a recent news article, the dress worn by Amy Winehouse on the cover of the UK version of her album Back to Black (below) will be auctioned to raise money for the Amy Winehouse Foundation.

The printed chiffon dress is expected to fetch up to £20,000 for the Amy Winehouse Foundation, a charitable trust set up by the late singer's family.

[...]

After her death, Thailand-based designer Disaya decided to auction the dress, which was returned after the album cover shoot in 2006.

It will go under the hammer at La Galleria, London, on November 29 and all the proceeds will go to the foundation, which supports charitable activities for vulnerable young people.

Source: Google.com

The U.S. release of Back to Black has a different cover, which shows Winehouse in a bubble bath.

According to our AlbumArtExchange Blog poll, the best album cover for the week of November 1, 2011 is Ceremonials by Florence and the Machine. The cover received 70% of the votes cast by our readers. Lulu by Lou Reed & Metallica and Balls Out by Steel Panther tied for second with 11%. Long Live the King by The Decemberists received 7%.

The winning cover features a photograph of Florence Welch by Tom Beard. Art direction for the project is credited to Tabitha Denholm. It is clear why the cover won this week's poll by such a landslide. The photograph is a work of art and Welch could not look more stunning.

Below are 10 noteworthy album covers that were posted to the AAX gallery last week. They were selected simply because I found them to be interesting or a valuable addition to the gallery. They are listed in no particular order.

Posted by: CreeWarrior		Posted by: zeefritz
Posted by: Tim Barron		Posted by: Tim Barron
Posted by: zbop		Posted by: zbop
Posted by: all4rock		Posted by: zeefritz
Posted by: c0nspiracy		Posted by: Vocephus

When I saw the cover for Robin Thicke's forthcoming album Love After War earlier this week, I had a déjà vu moment involving Frank Sinatra. Perhaps it is the style of the painting of Thicke with deep blue eyes that did it. Love After War is scheduled for release on December 27, 2011.

The Rolling Stones will issue the previously unreleased track No Spare Parts on exclusive limited edition 7" vinyl to mark Record Store Day's Black Friday, Friday, November 25, 2011. A digital download version of the single will be available on November 14.

No Spare Parts is one of twelve bonus tracks that have been incuded on the forthcoming deluxe and super deluxe reissue of The Rolling Stones' Some Girls, which will be released on November 21. The limited edition 7" version of the single will also include the Some Girls album track Before They Make Me Run as the B-side.

The rock music comedy Killing Bono opens in limited engagements in the U.S. today. The film is about two Irish brothers who struggle in the shadow of U2 to make a name for themselves in the music scene of the 1980s. Based on a true story, the film was directed by Nick Hamm and stars Ben Barnes as Neil McCormick, Robert Sheehan as Ivan McCormick, and Martin McCann as Bono.

The cover art for the soundtrack is a square version of the movie poster and features the stars of the film, including the Bono look-alike. The soundtrack has 19 tracks, most of which are performed by Ben Barnes and Robert Sheehan with Joe Echo. There is one U2 track, I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For.

While some may consider it odd for an outsider artist to be included in a series about famous album cover designers, the late Howard Finster was commissioned to create several album covers by recording artists such as R.E.M. and Talking Heads. Finster was an American folk artist and Baptist minister from Georgia who believed that he could spread the gospel through the artwork he created.

Finster claimed that his artwork was inspired by visions from God and created over 46,000 unique pieces during his lifetime. His work began getting national attention in the mid-1970s with a feature in Esquire magazine. He had his first major exhibition in 1976.

In 1983, R.E.M. filmed the music video for their song Radio Free Europe at Finster's Paradise Garden's museum in Summerville, Georgia. As a result of meeting Finster, lead singer Michael Stipe commissioned him to collaborate on a painting for the cover of the band's second album, Reckoning (below).

The painting created for Reckoning began as a drawing of a snake created by Stipe. It was given to Finster to add his folk art images to the background and complete. The result is a piece that is not typical of Finster's work. However, it began series of album covers for other recording artists and worldwide fame.

The second album cover created by Finster was for Talking Heads' 1985 album Little Creatures (below). The cover was named the best of the year by Rolling Stone magazine. 

After the success of the Talking Heads cover, Finster was commissioned to design album covers for several other artists such as Adam Again, Memory Dean, and Pierce Pettis. Finster's motivation for creating album covers was simply spreading the word of God to millions of people by distributing it on LP sleeves and CD covers.

Howard Finster's official website (http://www.finster.com) includes a biography and an online store featuring Finster originals. The website for Finster's Paradise Gardens (http://www.finstersparadisegardens.org) is definitely worth a look.

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 cover that you think is the best of the bunch. The winner will be announced next Tuesday.

The Decemberists - Long Live the King		Florence + the Machine - Ceremonials
Lou Reed & Metallica - Lulu		Susan Boyle - Someone to Watch Over Me
Steel Panther - Balls Out		Wale - Ambition

According to our latest AlbumArtExchange Blog poll, A Very She & Him Christmas by the duo comprised of M. Ward and Zooey Deschanel is the best album cover for the week of October 25, 2011. The cover received 29% of the votes cast by our readers. Audio Video Disco by Justice was a close second with 23%. There was a tie for third between Brian Wilson's  In the Key of Disney and John Prine's The Singing Mailman Delivers, which both received 16%.

The winning cover features a photograph of Ward and Deschanel by Autumn de Wilde and a retro design by Kate Harmer. This is a good example of why using a talented photographer and a simple design often results in a striking album cover. There isn't anything that beats us over the head with a Christmas theme. It isn't too cute, which would be a temptation with anything related to  Deschanel.