Mind Numbingly Awesome Album Covers

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I LUV FAETTY (ex machina), Tuesday, 15 June 2004 15:19 (8 years ago) Permalink

sexyDancer, Tuesday, 15 June 2004 15:23 (8 years ago) Permalink

that boredoms ep rules, also.

peter smith (plsmith), Tuesday, 15 June 2004 15:27 (8 years ago) Permalink

Caroliner to thread

Stephen Boyle (SBoyle), Wednesday, 16 June 2004 15:07 (8 years ago) Permalink

That Yoshida Tatsuya cover is truly awesome.

J0hn Darn1elle (J0hn Darn1elle), Wednesday, 16 June 2004 15:11 (8 years ago) Permalink

I love all of Ruins album covers featuring ruins!


(the interior art for this one is better)

0r4l R0b3rt5 (ex machina), Wednesday, 16 June 2004 15:17 (8 years ago) Permalink

JaXoN (JasonD), Wednesday, 16 June 2004 15:52 (8 years ago) Permalink

0r4l R0b3rt5 (ex machina), Wednesday, 16 June 2004 15:54 (8 years ago) Permalink

Punks and Skeletons Taking Over the City.....YEAH!

Alex in NYC (vassifer), Wednesday, 16 June 2004 16:32 (8 years ago) Permalink

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B000000P3G.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

One of my all time favorites!

Davlo (Davlo), Wednesday, 16 June 2004 19:25 (8 years ago) Permalink

htti://images.amazon.com/images/P/B000000P3G.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

Here, let's try that again...

Davlo (Davlo), Wednesday, 16 June 2004 19:26 (8 years ago) Permalink


ABSOLUTE POWER.

ddb (ddb), Wednesday, 16 June 2004 19:27 (8 years ago) Permalink

I must be on drugs or something - last attempt!

Davlo (Davlo), Wednesday, 16 June 2004 19:27 (8 years ago) Permalink


This one always struck me.

Sean Witzman (trip maker), Wednesday, 16 June 2004 19:33 (8 years ago) Permalink

Sean Witzman (trip maker), Wednesday, 16 June 2004 19:37 (8 years ago) Permalink

udu wudu (udu wudu), Wednesday, 16 June 2004 19:41 (8 years ago) Permalink

no contest:

latebloomer (latebloomer), Wednesday, 16 June 2004 19:42 (8 years ago) Permalink

ddb (ddb), Wednesday, 16 June 2004 19:44 (8 years ago) Permalink

charltonlido (gareth), Wednesday, 16 June 2004 19:49 (8 years ago) Permalink

Alex in NYC (vassifer), Wednesday, 16 June 2004 19:54 (8 years ago) Permalink

If only the music contained within was as good.

Alex in NYC (vassifer), Wednesday, 16 June 2004 19:55 (8 years ago) Permalink

charltonlido (gareth), Wednesday, 16 June 2004 19:56 (8 years ago) Permalink

charltonlido (gareth), Wednesday, 16 June 2004 19:59 (8 years ago) Permalink

Aw, man! That Porter Wagoner cover makes me wanna cry.

Johnny Fever (johnny fever), Wednesday, 16 June 2004 22:27 (8 years ago) Permalink


My alltime favourite, and the only cover that ever enticed me to buy the record all by itself. That I enjoyed the music as well was a happy coincidence!

Myonga Von Bontee (Myonga Von Bontee), Wednesday, 16 June 2004 23:26 (8 years ago) Permalink

oops (Oops), Wednesday, 16 June 2004 23:44 (8 years ago) Permalink

I can't find a pic of that Mantronix "Needle to the Groove" cover :(

oops (Oops), Wednesday, 16 June 2004 23:45 (8 years ago) Permalink

Alex in NYC (vassifer), Wednesday, 16 June 2004 23:55 (8 years ago) Permalink

Ian c=====8 (orion), Thursday, 17 June 2004 00:17 (8 years ago) Permalink

Ian c=====8 (orion), Thursday, 17 June 2004 00:17 (8 years ago) Permalink

Be happy I don't i this link (IT'S HUGE):

http://www.southern.com/southern/band/REGWA/pics/D1195L.jpg

PS - This is also a record I bought because of the cover (& the Dischord association, yeah).

David R. (popshots75`), Thursday, 17 June 2004 00:22 (8 years ago) Permalink

David R. (popshots75`), Thursday, 17 June 2004 00:24 (8 years ago) Permalink

CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Thursday, 17 June 2004 00:34 (8 years ago) Permalink

The Feederz - "Ever Feel Like Killing Your Boss?"

It had sandpaper on the cover so that it would scratch the covers of any albums stored next to it! Yay!

woly boly (woly boly), Thursday, 17 June 2004 09:17 (8 years ago) Permalink

Regulator Watts!@!@!@ ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

0r4l R0b3rt5 (ex machina), Thursday, 17 June 2004 11:22 (8 years ago) Permalink

My all time fucking favourite.

Huey (Huey), Thursday, 17 June 2004 12:07 (8 years ago) Permalink


Huey (Huey), Thursday, 17 June 2004 12:08 (8 years ago) Permalink

4 years pass...

I found this cassette tape in my bosses office today. Somewhere this guy is a star and rightfully so:

ENBB, Thursday, 21 August 2008 21:40 (4 years ago) Permalink

bosses? whoops.

ENBB, Thursday, 21 August 2008 21:41 (4 years ago) Permalink

what about mind-numbingly awesome album titles:

scott seward, Thursday, 21 August 2008 21:43 (4 years ago) Permalink

Millsner, Thursday, 21 August 2008 22:32 (4 years ago) Permalink

Again:

Millsner, Thursday, 21 August 2008 22:38 (4 years ago) Permalink

...AND...

bmus, Thursday, 21 August 2008 22:55 (4 years ago) Permalink

I like how passively bummed dude is about the eyeball spooning. Like, "Fuck, he's gonna spoon my eye. Again. Sigh."

contenderizer, Thursday, 21 August 2008 23:01 (4 years ago) Permalink

omar little, Thursday, 21 August 2008 23:18 (4 years ago) Permalink

I like how passively bummed dude is about the eyeball spooning. Like, "Fuck, he's gonna spoon my eye. Again. Sigh."

OTM! When I found that cover, I thought that "The Sad" would have been a much better fit than "The Mad"

bmus, Thursday, 21 August 2008 23:34 (4 years ago) Permalink

I found this cassette tape in my bosses office today. Somewhere this guy is a star and rightfully so

Why were you snooping around your bosses office? Does he know you were in there?

Just wondering.

kwhitehead, Friday, 22 August 2008 01:24 (4 years ago) Permalink

Just because it's obvious doesn't mean it's not true.

Mr. Snrub, Friday, 22 August 2008 01:36 (4 years ago) Permalink

First saw this one on an ILM thread and it still startles me - I've never seen such a mix of colours on any other album, ever. It reminds me of something a gifted 11-year old might create with water paints in 6th grade art class. (That's a compliment.)

Myonga Vön Bontee, Friday, 22 August 2008 05:06 (4 years ago) Permalink

I've been thinking a "best Fall cover art" poll is in order. Or "worst Fall cover art." Its so hard to decide which is which.

bendy, Friday, 22 August 2008 05:33 (4 years ago) Permalink

esp. the first 5

The previous message has been brought to you by (kelpolaris), Sunday, 20 February 2011 21:15 (2 years ago) Permalink

that said, i bought ride's nowhere purely b/c of the album art (ok, and it was $4) when i was about 13... in total realization joy division's unknown pleasures is the clear inspiration, and a little more iconic, but there's something about this that rly suggests that buying this album will transport you somewhere


and furthering shoegaze scene, mbv's were always particularly good:

uno mas:

again, i can easily see why anybody would go "so what" about this one, but there's always been something striking about this cover... maybe the particular nostalgia factor, or how utterly simple it is. i dunno. it's just yet another band i've checked out for the artwork alone.

The previous message has been brought to you by (kelpolaris), Sunday, 20 February 2011 21:22 (2 years ago) Permalink

Mmm... here's a few of the favorite ones in my collection. Not sure if they could be considered mind numbingly awesome but I love staring at them.






Moka, Sunday, 20 February 2011 21:36 (2 years ago) Permalink

Siegbran, Monday, 21 February 2011 02:03 (2 years ago) Permalink

lol at horace silver

mookieproof, Monday, 21 February 2011 02:18 (2 years ago) Permalink

what is that sieg?

Samuel (a hoy hoy), Monday, 21 February 2011 02:26 (2 years ago) Permalink

That Horace Silver was my entrypoint into jazz. I went to my local recordstore looking for jazz, not knowing anything about the genre, and singled it out based solely on the cover.

, Monday, 21 February 2011 04:05 (2 years ago) Permalink

omg u racist perv

mookieproof, Monday, 21 February 2011 04:06 (2 years ago) Permalink

It was a simpler time... :wistful gaze:

No, but how can one not love that cover.

, Monday, 21 February 2011 04:22 (2 years ago) Permalink

angry face one is ildjarn, strength and anger.

(⊙_⊙?) (Alan N), Monday, 21 February 2011 04:32 (2 years ago) Permalink

What's mind-numbingly awesome about this one? Looks like a standard 80s band photo to me...

Tuomas, Monday, 21 February 2011 07:31 (2 years ago) Permalink

all of the following: http://tisue.net/jandek/discog.html

jumpskins, Monday, 21 February 2011 07:39 (2 years ago) Permalink

^^ otm

Damn this thread seems so....different without ilxor (ilxor), Monday, 21 February 2011 07:40 (2 years ago) Permalink

Eh? Most of those are just badly framed, blurry photos, not mind-numbing at all:

I guess I just have a very different definition of "awesome album cover" than some others...

Tuomas, Monday, 21 February 2011 07:45 (2 years ago) Permalink

Not sure how a thread like this gets to 121 posts without

egregious fannydangling (Autumn Almanac), Monday, 21 February 2011 07:45 (2 years ago) Permalink

I mean, it's not that I'm against that sort of aesthetic, but in order for it to impress me, the photo has to be evocative in some way, not just a random pic of some guy or an apartment. The album covers of 310, for example, do this pretty well:

(x-post)

Tuomas, Monday, 21 February 2011 07:50 (2 years ago) Permalink

This album came out the same year as Tron, so I assume they borrowed the aesthetic from there. It's still awesome though.

Tuomas, Monday, 21 February 2011 07:57 (2 years ago) Permalink

i love the jandek covers but they are pretty much a case of "sum greater than its parts"

Damn this thread seems so....different without ilxor (ilxor), Monday, 21 February 2011 08:59 (2 years ago) Permalink

What's mind-numbingly awesome about this one? Looks like a standard 80s band photo to me...

― Tuomas, Monday, February 21, 2011 8:31 AM (7 hours ago) Bookmark

Yeah I guess it's maybe not objectively too extraordinary. While it is a common approach to coverart - "a standard 80s band photo" - it comes off as iconically so to me. I don't really know. Maybe I just like the record and conflate the cover with the music...

, Monday, 21 February 2011 16:16 (2 years ago) Permalink

the painting on the Surf's Up cover is the kind of awful, unfun kitsch that I would rightfully sneer at if I saw it at a flea market (its natural habitat) or on the living room wall of some crusty, humorless old coot who thinks dogs playing poker are crass and undignified & therefore decorates his home with images of depressed minorities and solemn owls.

uncle twikkelingssteurnissen (unregistered), Monday, 21 February 2011 16:32 (2 years ago) Permalink

wow, you do know that painting is based on a really famous statue, right?

rendezvous then i'm through with HOOS (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Monday, 21 February 2011 16:34 (2 years ago) Permalink

I don't have a problem with the statue. I just don't think it retains a lot of its dignity when it's reproduced ad nauseum as a (almost celebratory?) cultural icon.

uncle twikkelingssteurnissen (unregistered), Monday, 21 February 2011 16:38 (2 years ago) Permalink

Mr. Snrub, Monday, 21 February 2011 22:17 (2 years ago) Permalink

I always mistake that cover for this one (time to dig up the cover connections thread again...)

Hodge Podge Bodge, Peo-PLE! (Dan Peterson), Monday, 21 February 2011 22:33 (2 years ago) Permalink

Also love Baroness covers:


Moka, Monday, 21 February 2011 22:46 (2 years ago) Permalink

Deluxe edition of blue had some great presentation and packaging as well:

Moka, Monday, 21 February 2011 22:48 (2 years ago) Permalink

Ossman and flamin groovies remind me of inside sleeve of James Blood 'Tales of Captain Black':

Moka, Monday, 21 February 2011 23:01 (2 years ago) Permalink

Also entire Skull Disco catalogue to thread:

Moka, Monday, 21 February 2011 23:03 (2 years ago) Permalink

Moka, Monday, 21 February 2011 23:10 (2 years ago) Permalink

1 year passes...

One I have been loving lately:

eggleston or instagram? (Hurting 2), Friday, 22 June 2012 16:29 (11 months ago) Permalink

Actually never much liked the strip of photos on the bottom right, but the main cover photo is fucking brilliant.

eggleston or instagram? (Hurting 2), Friday, 22 June 2012 16:30 (11 months ago) Permalink

gonna send him to outer space, to hug another face (NickB), Friday, 22 June 2012 16:31 (11 months ago) Permalink

^^^
Winner.

I wish to incorporate disco into my small business (chap), Friday, 22 June 2012 19:33 (11 months ago) Permalink

i know the gal c is above, but let's look at all 4 sides of the relevant releases...




and a jpeg, but click to view: http://s.dsimg.com/image/R-1222672-1339083900-6249.jpeg

69, Friday, 22 June 2012 19:46 (11 months ago) Permalink

Loses something in reduction from LP size, but still

dow, Friday, 22 June 2012 20:42 (11 months ago) Permalink

chupacabra seeds (Abbbottt), Saturday, 23 June 2012 00:21 (11 months ago) Permalink

hard to lose with Louis Wain but it's still striking

chupacabra seeds (Abbbottt), Saturday, 23 June 2012 00:21 (11 months ago) Permalink

scott seward, Saturday, 23 June 2012 01:12 (11 months ago) Permalink

i just got this record the other day from my next door neighbor. epic 1973 sci-fi synth musique concrete audio play about the end of the world and mutant children. kinda can't stop staring at the cover.

scott seward, Saturday, 23 June 2012 01:14 (11 months ago) Permalink

Is the music as amazing as the cover?

Ned Raggett, Saturday, 23 June 2012 01:17 (11 months ago) Permalink

it's pretty crazy! lots of proto-vocoder recitations and people screaming and arp synth mayhem.

scott seward, Saturday, 23 June 2012 02:49 (11 months ago) Permalink

Lots of gooduns on the Takoma One-Offs thread, this is still my fave

dow, Saturday, 23 June 2012 05:09 (11 months ago) Permalink

Close to his heart

dow, Saturday, 23 June 2012 05:10 (11 months ago) Permalink

1 month passes...

an all-time favorite:

Will Chave (Hurting 2), Thursday, 2 August 2012 17:05 (9 months ago) Permalink

Yeah, that one is fantastic and one of those that is significantly diminshed seeing it CD-sized or smaller.

heated debate over derpy hooves (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Thursday, 2 August 2012 17:08 (9 months ago) Permalink

great cover and sort of a cover connection to another classic cover:

Elrond Hubbard (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Thursday, 2 August 2012 17:10 (9 months ago) Permalink

underground has great liner notes too - it's like a Fahey sleeve

Will Chave (Hurting 2), Friday, 3 August 2012 18:51 (9 months ago) Permalink

Never realized Basement Tapes reminds me of this:

Must be time to play cover connections again.

David Allan Cow (Dan Peterson), Friday, 3 August 2012 19:23 (9 months ago) Permalink


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