We welcome a new initiate to the Musicheads panel this week: Mr. Dave Campbell, Twin Cities music and radio personality extraordinaire. Dave comes out swinging this week as he, Mark Wheat and myself review The Kills' "Midnight Boom," She & Him's "Volume One" and The Heavy's "Great Vengeance, Furious Fire."
Also, we asked: What's one of your favorite album covers of all time?
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Comments: 71
Looking forward to catching the audio!
I have to say my favorite album cover of all time has to be "Blood on the Tracks." It accomplishes all the things a good piece of album art should do - it's iconic, it's unmistakable, and it communicates something about what lies within. BOTT was one of the first Dylan albums I ever bought, and I can still remember pulling it out again and again, greeted every time by that cover, to the point where it really came to represent, for me, the world that is created by the time you finish a complete listen of the music. That personal note for me is the one thing that puts it above "The Freewheelin'"
Other notable mentions would be obvious choices - The Beatles' "Abbey Road" obviously, I really love Tom Waits' "Rain Dogs" cover. The Who's "Who's Next?" and The Police's "Ghost in the Machine" would be in there too.
it's the most whacked out, freaky cover art I've ever come across.
I think my favorite 'Mats cover is "Pleased to Meet Me." I love the Elvis album lettering & the scruffy sleeved rocker shaking hand w/what I would imagine is a record label exec!
Herb Alpert's "Whipped Cream" is classic....as is the whimsical Soul Asylum take on it!
some other obvious ones not yet mentioned : Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's" (i mean, its really gotta be the beginning of what we know as album art); Dave Brubeck's "Time Out"; Clash "London Calling". also, on the Elvis tip, i'd rather nominate "Get Happy".
some dark horses: i like Radiohead's "OK Computer" - the art really informs you as to what the over-arching feel of the album is; New Order's had some great art, courtesy of Peter Saville - i'd vote for either "Power Corruption & Lies" or the ep cover for "Temptation" & "Everything's gone green", the former as the most striking, & the latter as the most iconic.
and for local, i'd have to say my absolute favorite album cover ever - a CD i would buy if only for its art - would be the late great lateduster's "five easy pieces". its just pretty - & the music is simply gorgeous.
This one courtesy Peter Gabriel. Really, hold 1, 2, and 3 together.
p.s. I also secretly love the cover to "The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan" so... FWIW.
Runners-up: "London Calling" and any of the first three Wire albums.
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Didn't Slint do one that played on the Mats cover too?
And can someone post the link to that video that has animated album art telling a story in... that's huge!!
I also have what I think is a sweet story about a personal connection to a sleeve;
When I was a kid I collected coupons from Typhoo tea to get a poster of George Best, my fave footballer at the time. About 20 years later I got into a band called The Wedding Present and their first album was called 'George Best' and the cover was the exact same poster picture that I had gotten for my tea coupons!!
BTW Georgie played for Man Utd who are doing pretty well this season...woohooo!
I used to like the 4AD designs too, they taught me what the word 'ethereal' meant Cocteau Twins etc...
One of my personal favorites
The Damned wikipedia
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When Records Ruled
Here is a link to The Damned, "Damned, Damned, Damned" With the Whipped Cream licking Damned Whipped Cream
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQaaVTBSGoU
Is the link to that video that I mentioned earlier, great animation of classic covers, might jog your memory about a fave too!
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/customer-images/B000FC2GBE/ref=cm_ciu_pdp_images_1?ie=UTF8&index=1#gallery
For a little promo of one of my favorite little Indie bands, check out the cover art for Minus Story's album "No Rest for Ghosts." The LP looks really great...a close-up shot of a little pink skull on red felt background, hand stitched lettering...charming, kinda kiddish-juvenile looking...like when you learned to do a bit of sewing as a youngin'
can't really find a great link...they're on Jagjaguwar Records...or check out Minus-story.com...great band, haunting AND catchy noise-pop.
you like ghosty-pop? you love minus story.
Another favorite "Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon".
my favorite cover has always been the Grateful Dead's Aoxomoxoa, which looks like this:
Iggy Pop - "The Idiot"
Lou Reed - "Street Hassle"
The Modern Lovers - S/T
Morrissey - "You Are The Quarry"
Shellac - "Excellent Italian Greyhound"
Tom Waits - "The Heart of Saturday Night"
Led Zeppelin's Physical Grafffiti album with all of the windows.
These are just two of my favorites of all time.
Also, Talking Heads "MOre Songs About Buildings and Food"
100 Best Album Covers
23 Album covers that changed everything
Q magazine 100 best
Here's a link to a slew of classic Seventies Album Covers that mention the creators/artists/designers.
After perusing it, I forgot how much I liked Joe Jackson's "Look Sharp" album cover
LPartists
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50 text changesone
Be Bop Delux - Sunburst Finish
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:3zfexq95ldhe
Hatfield and the North (same)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Hatfield_and_the_North_-_Hatfield_and_the_North_album_cover.jpg
Gomez- Bring it on
janes Addiction-Nothing's Shocking
The Cult-Electric
Radiohead-Ok Computer
Is it human cloning ? Is it an alien invasion? The spawn of Cthuhlu? Whatever it is its creepily enigmatic.
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I love the Steve Earle album covers done by Tony Fitzpatrick. Also, some of the Dylan covers are classic, especially Hiway 61 Revisited and The Freewheelin Bob Dylan. My most memorable cover would have to be Neil Young - Harvest, I did all my rollin on that one back in the day!!
Physical Graffiti or Led Zeppelin III, the album cover had a pinwheel of art that moved. or Rolling Stones Sticky fingers with a real working zipper