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AAX contributor Vocephus had a déjà vu moment with the album cover for Painted by Seattle mathcore band Narrows. The photograph of a woman with a painted face and flowers in her hair is reminiscent of the one used for Les Baxter's 1959 album African Jazz.
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.
Celtic Thunder - Voyage
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The Cranberries - Roses
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Lyle Lovett - Release Me
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Pink Floyd - The Wall Immersion Box Set
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Robert Glasper Experiment - Black Radio
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WZRD - S/T
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According to our AlbumArtExchange Blog poll, the best album cover for the week of February 21, 2012 is Reign of Terror by Sleigh Bells. The cover received 36% of the votes cast by our readers. Breakfast by Chiddy Bang was second with 24%. Some Nights by fun was third with 20%.
I was not able to find credits for the the winning album cover design. It features a photograph of a pair of dirty white Ked's spattered with blood. It looks like a crime scene evidence photo to me.
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.
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Posted by: Da Guy
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Posted by: Lazlo Nibble
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Posted by: Vocephus
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Posted by: Vocephus
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Posted by: Vocephus
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Posted by: zeefritz
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Posted by: Da Guy
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Posted by: Da Guy
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Posted by: darkstar
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Posted by: zeefritz
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The war action film Act of Valor opened in theaters today. The film It stars Alex Veadov, Roselyn Sánchez, Nestor Serrano, Emilio Rivera, and active duty U.S. Navy SEALs and U.S. Navy Special Warfare Combatant Crewmen.
There were two albums released for the film. One is a collection of country music songs featured in the film and the other is the film score by composer Nathan Furst. The album featuring Keith Urban, Sugarland, Lady Antebellum, Trace Adkins and other artists is available on CD and as digital download. The score is currently only available for download.
Both the soundtrack album and the score use the same image that was used for the movie poster (right). The image has been cropped to fit a square format. I believe the black space around the door with the blue sky outside has much more impact in the poster.
Norah Jones revealed the artwork for Little Broken Hearts, her forthcoming album, via press release today. Produced by Danger Mouse (aka Brian Burton), the album is scheduled to be released on May 1, 2012.
The album cover was inspired by a poster for a 1965 Russ Meyer film that hangs in Burton's Los Angeles studio. Those who are familiar with Meyer's films are probably surprised that Jones would choose to portray herself as a sex kitten. I think it is something more appropriate for Lady Gaga or a similar artist.
Jones explained the choice as follows:
Brian has this great collection of Russ Meyer posters in his studio and this particular one, called Mudhoney, was right over the couch where I sat every day. I always was looking at it and thinking "that's so cool I want to look like her!" I remember staring at the poster the whole time we made the record. It's a great visual.
I don't think the album cover really captures the look of the poster. The colors are rather muddy and without elements like the cartoon in the bottom right corner and various campy taglines, it falls flat. It just looks unfinished to me.
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.
Chiddy Bang - Breakfast
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fun - Some Nights
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Galactic - Carnivale Electricos
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Lambchop - Mr. M
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Sleigh Bells - Reign of Terror
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Sinéad O'Connor - How About I Be Me...
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According to our AlbumArtExchange Blog poll, the best album cover for the week of February 14, 2012 is Animal Joy by Shearwater. The cover received 33% of the votes cast by our readers. Arrow by Heartless Bastards was a close second with 29%. Amos Lee's As the Crow Flies was third with 19%.
The winning cover was designed by Mark Ohe. Ohe has a long list of credits as a designer and art director that goes back to 1980. He has worked on album covers for Pavement, Foetus, Guided by Voices, Robyn Hitchcock and many other artists.
I don't know what kind of animal is featured in the photograph. It looks like some kind of bear, but the legs are a bit small in relation to the paws. It could be digitally manipulated. It looks like it is a photograph of a mounted specimen rather than a living animal.
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.
The gallery is currently getting over 1,000 uploads each week. This is making it more difficult to choose only 10 to feature. If you have uploaded an album cover that you believe is noteworthy and should be considered for inclusion here, please contact me at blog@albumartexchange.com. Fritz
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Posted by: plholland
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Posted by: 50poundnote
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Posted by: Lazlo Nibble
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Posted by: Da Guy
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Posted by: BritchelM
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Posted by: lonestranger
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Posted by: Da Guy
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Posted by: Da Guy
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Posted by: Scott
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Posted by: Da Guy
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Last month, President Obama delighted the audience at a fundraiser by singing the beginning of Al Green's 1972 hit Let's Stay Together. A video of Obama's brief performance went viral on YouTube and sales for Green's version of the song on digital retailers like iTunes and Amazon.com increased by almost 500 percent.
The song appears on the album by the same name. The title track became Green's signature song and his only number one pop chart single. The cover featured a photograph of Green wearing a suede and leather jacket and leaning against a wall.
While the photographer is not credited, the design is credited to Jools DeVere. DeVere has along list of package design credits for artists such as The Zombies, The Everly Brothers, Three Dog Night, and Elvis Costello over a span of almost 50 years.
The cover is noteworthy for being an early use of urban graffiti-style typography. I do not know of many other examples from the early 1970s that feature dripping paint on a wall. Of course, The Rolling Stones 1968 album Beggars Banquet is famous for featuring bathroom graffiti.
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.
Amos Lee - As the Crow Flies
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Band of Skulls - Sweet Sour
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Abel Korzeniowski - W./E. Music from the Motion Picture
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Lee DeWyze - What Once Was: Songs from 2006-2010
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Heartless Bastards - Arrow
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Shearwater - Animal Joy
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According to our AlbumArtExchange poll, the best album cover for the week of February 7, 2012 is Le Voyage Dans La Lune by Air. The cover received 43% of the votes cast by our readers. Van Halen's A Different Kind of Truth came in second with 24%. Die Antwoord's TEN$ION was third with 19%.
Le Voyage Dans La Lune is a new score for director Georges Méliès' 1912 classic science fiction film. The cover art features a colorized version of one of the most recognizable images from the film, the Man in the Moon with a rocket sticking in his eye (right). The graphic design for the cover is credited to Laurent Pinon.
I am not surprised that this album cover won by such a wide margin. It is an image that has delighted people for 100 years. I think the only thing I would change for this album cover would be the red blood dripping from the moon's eye. Everyone knows that the moon is filled with green cheese!
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.
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Posted by: Da Guy
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Posted by: Vocephus
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Posted by: Aequi
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Posted by: Da Guy
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Posted by: zeefritz
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Posted by: all4rock
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Posted by: SparkZ
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Posted by: zeefritz
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Posted by: Da Guy
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Posted by: Vocephus
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The 200,000th album cover was uploaded to the Album Art Exchange gallery today. It was uploaded by prolific AAX user and expert album cover restorer Da Guy. I have posted his notes for the image below. I suppose that it is an appropriate album cover to toast the occasion.
1968 ATCO Records SD33-239 release scanned from the original 12" vinyl LP cover art. The last album from The Fireballs with Jimmy Gilmer. "Bottle of Wine" reached number 9 on the Hot 100 chart before Gilmer left the group in 1969.
Here are the winners of the 54th Annual GRAMMY Award for the Best Recording Package and Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package categories. Both packages designs are definitely worthy of their wins. The Springsteen package is very innovative. The Arcade Fire packaging included distribution of several versions of the cover.
According to the Associated Press, legendary pop singer Whitney Houston has died. The details are sketchy.
Whitney Houston, who ruled as pop music's queen until her majestic voice and regal image were ravaged by drug use, erratic behavior and a tumultuous marriage to singer Bobby Brown, has died. She was 48.
Houston's publicist, Kristen Foster, said Saturday that the singer had died, but the cause and the location of her death were unknown.
Source: Associated Press
The cover art below is for Houston's 1987 hit album Whitney. The photograph was taken by the late Richard Avedon. It is perhaps one of the most iconic album cover photographs of the era.
The album was nominated for three Grammy awards, including Album of the Year. Houston won her second Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female for the album's first single I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me).
The Album Art Exchange gallery will soon reach an important milestone. Within the next few days, the number of high quality album cover images will reach 200,000.
Unlike many other album art websites, Album Art Exchange does not give prizes or similar incentives to users in order to encourage uploads. The images are carefully screened for quality by volunteer moderators.
Thank you to everyone who has contributed to the gallery over the last several years. This amazing number of album cover images would have been possible without you. The 200,000th cover will be featured here on the AAX blog.
Pop star Katy Perry revealed the cover art for her forthcoming expanded edition of her album Teenage Dream. Teenage Dream: The Complete Confection is scheduled to be released on March 27, 2012.
It was also revealed that the first run of the release will feature a limited edition lenticular cover. For those of you who are not familiar with lenticular printing, it is uses a ridged lenticular lens is used to produce images that appear to move when the image is shifted back and forth. I have not seen an example of how the image will move. The image released is the static version shown below.
The cover art for Clay Aiken's forthcoming album was revealed this week. Steadfast is Aiken's sixth full-length studio album. It is scheduled to be released on March 27, 2012.
Looking back on the cover art for the 1981 album Tattoo You by the Rolling Stones, it is difficult to remember why it was considered to shocking. The illustration of a tattooed face would barely get noticed these days. We are much more likely to see a photograph of a real face with tattoos, piercings and other bizarre modifications.
However, the album cover did result in minor controversy and concern about influencing people to get facial tattoos. While there were no actual cases of people getting the tattoos shown on the cover, it drew enough interest for the designer, Peter Corriston, to be awarded a Grammy for Best Package Design. Photography for the cover is credited to Hubert Kretzschmar and the illustration to Christian Piper.
The image below is from the 2009 reissue from Universal Music. A scan of the original 1981 LP has not yet been added to the AAX gallery.
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.
Air - Le Voyage dans la lune
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Die Antwoord - TEN$ION
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The Fray - Scars & Stories
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Paul McCartney - Kisses on the Bottom
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Roberta Flack - Let It Be
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Van Halen - A Different Kind of Truth
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According to our AlbumArtExchange Blog poll, Making Mirrors by Australian recording artist Gotye is the best album cover for the week of January 31, 2012. The album cover received 36% of the votes cast by our readers. Lana Del Rey's Born to Die was a close second with 32%. There was a tie for third between Darrell Scott's Long Ride Home and Leonard Cohen's Old Ideas, which both received 11%.
Because the cover for Making Mirrors has a very interesting story, I am very happy that it came in first. According to a review, the cover art was created in Photoshop by Gotye, using a painting by his father that he found stored in his parents' barn. "Making Mirrors" is the title of the original work.
Below are 10 noteworthy album covers and single sleeves 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.
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Posted by: superbu
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Posted by: Vocephus
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Posted by: superbu
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Posted by: BritchelM
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Posted by: alancottonwood
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Posted by: dano272
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Posted by: Vocephus
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Posted by: Da Guy
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Posted by: Da Guy
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Posted by: Da Guy
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This déjà vu moment was brought to us by American rock band The Used. The cover for their forthcoming album, Vulnerable, is very similar to the cover for U2's 1980 debut album. I think the U2 cover is vastly superior. The smears of blood in the face of the boy on the cover of from The Used is a bit too much. The boy on the U2 cover could not look more vulnerable and innocent.
Vulnerable is scheduled to be released on March 27, 2012 by Hopeless Records.
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