March 2012 Archives

The list of special releases for the fifth annual Record Store Day has been growing, with new exclusive and limited LPs and singles being added even as the event approaches. Below is a look at some of the items that grabbed my attention.

For the location of a participating store near you, please visit the official Record Store Day website.

The cover art for Kris Allen's forthcoming album was revealed via press release yesterday. Thank You Camellia is scheduled to be released on May 22, 2012.

The press release did not include credits for the art director or the photographer. I do not really like the composition of the image. The dog is cute. However, it always bothers me to see the subjects of a photograph looking toward an edge of the image rather than toward the center. If Allen and the dog were looking in the opposite direction, it would be a very cool photo.Otherwise, it looks as if something has been arbitrarily cropped off. 

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.

Katy Perry - Teenage Dream: The Complete Confection		The Mars Volta - Noctourniquet
Meshuggah - Koloss		Paul Weller - Sonik Kicks
Shinedown - Amaryllis		The Used - Vulnerable

According to our AlbumArtExchange Blog poll, the best album cover for the week of March 20, 2012 is for the deluxe edition of Madonna's 12th studio album, MDNA. The cover received 56% of the votes cast by our readers. Port of Morrow by The Shins was second with 21%. There was a tie for third between Esperanza Spalding's Radio Music Society and Iron Maiden's En Vivo!, which both received 12%.

The art director for the winning cover is long-time Madonna collaborator Giovanni Bianco. Bianco worked on Madonna's two previous album covers (Confessions on a Dance Floor and Hard Candy) and several book projects.

Editor's Note: I have been asked why sometimes I choose to feature the deluxe edition cover rather than the standard one. Typically, I use the cover that the record label has chosen to use as the primary cover for their publicity efforts. Sometimes they use the deluxe cover. 

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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With apologies to Marilyn Manson fans, the first thing that I thought of when I saw the cover of Manson's forthcoming album, Born Villain, was the cover of Tiny Tim's 1980 album Chameleon. Born Villain is scheduled to be released on May 1, 2012.

"On tiptoe, through the tulips, with a machine gun. Won't you murder me?"

The cover for the forthcoming album Picture Show by Neon Trees is almost identical to the one used for the oddly named 2011 release EUPHORIC /// HEARTBREAK \\\ by Glasvegas. Picture Show is scheduled to be released on April 17, 2012.

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.

Please note that several of this week's albums will not be released until March 26.

Esperanza Spalding - Radio Music Society		Iron Maiden - En Vivo!
Lionel Richie - Tuskegee		Madonna - MDNA (Deluxe Edition)
Overkill - The Electric Age		The Shins - Port of Morrow

According to our AlbumArtExchange Blog poll, We All Raise Our Voices To The Air (Live Songs 04.11-08.11) by The Decemberists is the best album cover for the week of March 13, 2012. The cover received 30% of the votes cast by our readers. Requiem for the Indifferent by Epica was second with 22%. There was a three-way tie for third between Omerta by Adrenaline Mob, Giants by The Stranglers, and Sounds from Nowheresville by The Ting Tings.

The winning cover features a black and white detail of a photograph (above right) by Portland, Oregon photographer Jason Quigley. Quigley wrote about the cover on his blog.

The Decemberists released a live album this week, and I'm thrilled to have several of my photos featured on the front and back of the record, as well as all over the insides. I had the privilege to shoot their 2 night stand at Edgefield last August, at the end of their massive world tour and the beginning of the dreaded "indefinite hiatus". The following shots are the ones you'll find in the album art (in living color!), but if I have time I hope to share some outtakes sometime soon. Huge thanks to Jeri Heiden at Smog Design for the beautiful layout and design.

Source: http://photojq.com/blog/text/13465372

This Wacky Album Cover of the Evening is a bit different and requires some editorial content. The cover for Rize of the Fenix, the forthcoming third album by Kyle Gass and Jack Black as Tenacious D, features a bird that is designed to look like a penis. There's really no point in being coy about it. It could not be more obvious.

There is a censored version of the cover (right). However, it seems to more of a joke. The uncensored version is being used by most online retailers. Not only that, an elaborate Flash animation featuring the artwork has been posted on the album's official website at http://rizeofthefenix.com.

The website includes a preview of the album's title track. It is worth a look. Just be aware that it is NSFW. In addition to the penis bird, the f-word is used several times in the song. The album is scheduled to be released on May 15, 2012.

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.

This week, over 1,300 covers were added to gallery. This is the most that I have seen since starting my weekly posting of noteworthy covers. It is getting more difficult to choose. There were many more that were worthy of inclusion.

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Last year, I had a déjà vu moment with Lupe Fiasco's album Lasers (right). At the time, I pointed out that using a neon light sculpture for an album cover is not an original concept and that there are dozens of recent examples.

I compared the Lupe Fiasco album to Disco Four, the 2007 remix compilation by Pet Shop Boys. Like the cover for Lasers, Disco Four features a sculpture that illustrates the title of the album. Lasers has a sculpture of the word "LOSERS" with an anarchy symbol painted over the "O" and Disco Four has the number four in a similar color scheme.

The latest Déjà Vu pair includes a neon sculpture and a back-lit wall that both prominently feature the letter "M" as a representation of the band's name. The more recent of the two is the self-titled album by British band Morning Parade. It features a neon sculpture of the initials of the band's name. It is very similar to the Lupe Fiasco and Pet Shop Boys covers. The second cover in the pair is for Maroon 5's 2007 album It Won't Be Soon Before Long. The back-lit "M" was also used for the covers of the Makes Me Wonder singles and a b-sides collection.

Fans of Grammy-nominated American singer Melody Gardot have become familiar with her trademark glasses, which were featured on her first two albums, Worrisome Heart and My One and Only Thrill (right). They may be in for a surprise from the cover of Gardot's forthcoming album. She has not only ditched the glasses, but her clothes as well.

Gardot appears on the cover of The Absence reclining nude on a wave-swept rock and draped by a fishing net. It could not be more different from the covers of the artists first two albums. It reminds me of something Tori Amos would have done a couple of decades ago. It also reminds me of the cover for Cyndi Lauper's True Colors album.

The Absence is scheduled to be released on May 28, 2012 by Verve on CD and as a digital download.

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.

Adrenaline Mob - Omertá		The Stranglers - Giants
Epica - Requiem for the Indifferent		One Direction - Up All Night
The Decemberists - We All Raise Our Voices to the Air		The Ting Tings - Sounds from Nowheresville

According to our AlbumArtExchange Blog poll, the best album cover for the week of March 6, 2012 is Bruce Springsteen's Wrecking Ball. The cover received 39% of the votes cast by our readers. The soundtrack album for Dr. Seuss' The Lorax was second with 21%. There was a tie for third place between Love at the Bottom of the Sea by The Magnetic Fields and Todd Snider's Agnostic Hymns & Stoner Fables, which both received 14%.

Art direction for the winning cover is credited to Dave Bett and Michelle Holme. Last month, Bett and Holme were the winners of the GRAMMY for Best Boxed Or Special Limited Edition Package for Springsteen's The Promise: The Darkness on the Edge of Town Story.

The cover for the forthcoming album New Life by Monica is very similar to the cover for the 2006 single Me & U by pop/R&B singer Cassie Ventura. There have been countless album covers  that feature a female artist with hair covering one eye. However, this particular Déjà Vu set also includes similar facial expressions and lighting. New Life is scheduled to be released on April 10, 2012.

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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Earlier today, Nicki Minaj tweeted a link to the cover art for the deluxe edition of her forthcoming album Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded. Like many others, I was skeptical about this being official album art. The strange Photoshop work on Minaj's nose and her breast do not look as if it was done by a professional. The typography is also quite, uh, unexpected. 

I actually waited a few hours after seeing this cover before writing about it. I suspected that it could end up being a hoax. So far, that has not ended up being the case.

British rock group The The have released a new album, Moonbug is the original soundtrack to the documentary feature film of the same name. The album has been released on CD and is packaged in a, 80-page hardcover book (right).

The album features 17 original new tracks by The The. The book includes portraits of the Apollo astronauts by Steve Pyke featured in the documentary, an extensive interview with Pyke by The The's singer/songwriter Matt Johnson, notes from the film's director Nichola Bruce and still photographs from the film.

The album is available exclusively on the band's website at http://www.thethe.com.

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.

Andrew Bird - Break It Yourself		Bruce Springsteen - Wrecking Ball
The Magnetic Fields - Love at the Bottom of the Sea		Todd Snider - Agnostic Hymns & Stoner Fables
Various Artists - Dr. Seuss' The Lorax		Michael Giacchino - John Carter

According to our AlbumArtExchange Blog poll, the best album cover for the week of February 28, 2012 is Pink Floyd's The Wall Immersion Edition Box Set. The cover art used for this 2012 release received 38% of the votes cast by our readers. Robert Glasper's Black Radio was second with 22%. Lyle Lovett's Release Me and Roses by The Cranberries tied for third with 13% each.

Art direction and illustrations for this package is credited to British cartoonist and illustrator Gerald Scarfe. Scarfe collaborated with Roger Waters on the sleeve design. The cover features a collage of cartoons created by Scarfe for the 1979 project. I received a couple of complaints about including this album cover in the poll from readers who felt that it was "recycled" or previously released artwork. However, it is a new package. That it won this week's vote does not surprise me.

Earlier this evening, the cover for Carrie Underwood's forthcoming album, Blown Away, was revealed on the artist's official Facebook page. I have read through some of the Facebook and Twitter comments about the cover and it is getting mixed reactions from Underwood's fans. Some are writing that the image looks "too fake" and that it doesn't look like Underwood. Others are going with the predictable puns about the cover blowing them away.

Personally, I don't understand why an artist with one of the most beautiful smiles in country music would want to look like such a sourpuss on her album cover. Considering that parts of the country have just experienced a major tornado disaster, I also have to question the logic behind releasing this album cover this week. 

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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I have already read a couple of reviews for the recently revealed cover art for Chris Brown's forthcoming album, Fortune. One called it "futuristic" and another tried to assign some kind of mystical significance to the symbols that appear in place of the album's title. They are dingbats, people!

Dingbats are symbolic characters that are made available in various font collections such as Zapf Dingbats and Wingdings. Graphic designers and those familiar with graphic programs know that when you change the font for a word to a dingbat font, you get something that looks just like what appears on Brown's album. 

The art director for the project was quoted in an article calling the dingbats "hieroglyphics" and claiming that fans could use them to decode secret messages. This is probably the least original gimmick that I have seen used for an album cover in years. The album is scheduled to be released on March 27, 2012. Perhaps is should have been titled "Dingbat" instead.

The cover art for Nicki Minaj's forthcoming album was revealed online yesterday. Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded is scheduled to be released on April 3, 2012.

I have read several articles that compare the brightly colored album cover to those used by Ke$ha. However, the lack of Ke$ha's trademark glitter doesn't make me think that she was the inspiration for this cover. It looks a bit more like something Katy Perry would do.