Noteworthy album covers of 2011

what is it about the lettering? it kills half the current album covers i see. there are some good type choices here, but in general...

really the only trend i can pick up is that the less attention drawn towards lettering, the more i end up liking the actual cover. if lettering is ever to take prominence, it should be sequestered away like here:
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51UMoebAEAL._SL500_AA280_.jpg
or here
http://www.ninebullets.net/wp-images/2009/PrettyHateMachine.jpg

i just generally dislike juxtaposition of any photograph with overlaying text. i'm really having a hard time thinking of exceptions.

i quite like the acid house kings cover

You're breaking this typography nerd's heart, kel. xp

http://www.factmag.com/wp-content/gallery/worst-sleeves-of-2011-so-far/worst005paul.jpg

I think this one is pretty cool.

I'm with Kelpolaris on the lettering thing; usually I feel that the less text there is on the cover, the better it looks. And the text should never be just on top of the pic, as it tends to mess up the picture. It looks much better when text is in its own box. The exception to this rule are the covers where the text is aesthetically integrated to the picture (like in the Super Paolo pic above), which can look nice. And of course there are some cool covers where the text is the picture, like with Daft Punk albums.

unless Photoshop 3 filter presets are now cool as kitsch, that cover is just really offensive

I'm pretty sure 99% of the people who buy records don't know about Photoshop 3 filter presets, nor do they judge a cover based on whether or not they are used in it.

I'm pretty sure you're wrong about the "99%" - especially in Super Paolo's case. Anyway, the Photoshop filter presets as graphic design kitsch was me being generous toward the designer of that cover. If it's not intentional it's just very poorly done.

I don't know from Photoshop, but that cover kinda sucks. Looks like a homemade cassingle from 1989

AND NOT IN A COOL WAY

kinda interesting to note that battles, or at least their marketing team, really thinks that album artwork really ... um, memorable or something
http://drownedinsound.com/news/4142291-battles-album-art-and-billboard-campaign-revealed-stream-ice-cream

personally if i had never seen that i would've thought it was pseudo-viral marketing for big league chew
http://mysocalledhealthlife.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/chew.jpg

It's silly-string, right? what's this "pink-bubblegum type stuff" crap? did these journalists have no childhoods?

Anyway, really sad about what has happened to Thrice, overall, and that album cover is no exception.

I like the Gravesand Orchestra Pits one, even though it only has two search results in google?

really sad about what has happened to Thrice, overall

i.e., they exist...?

staind dude goes country iirc

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51apak8vLKL._SL500_AA300_.jpg

would like it better if it didn't look stained

would like it better if it didn't look like a stock photo

so is it a city or a town. make your fucking mind up retard.

lol

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/3b/Tao_of_the_dead.jpg

Reminds me of:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/6/6b/Labyrinth_ver2.jpg/220px-Labyrinth_ver2.jpg

The Japanese-only New Album by Boris -- what does it remind you of?

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/17/New_Album_%28Boris%29.jpg

actually reminds me of ps2-era final fantasy games with that^, but i'm getting the sense that that you already have an answer in mind

http://cdn.pitchfork.com/media/littledragon_1.jpg

Awkward Family Photos

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41wiB96aMwL._SS500_.jpg

little dragon is awwwwwful

if your album cover is gonna be 'lol meme' you gotta do something no one's ever done like when the klaxons put the cat in an astronaut suit

http://www.umstrum.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Altrice.jpg

Altrice - Stem (Caribou's "Swim" remixed)

http://www.theroundtableonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/PatrickWolf.jpg

...yet you wonder why ppl hate patrick wolf? ;)

altrice cover is nice

man i adore that altrice one... sudden realization that not a lot of covers are hand-drawn, or at least in that style

haha @ilxor.

Patrick Wolf gotta be in the top bracket of awesomeness v. shitty album covers

acid house kings cover reminds me of the bit in "stella" where the guys couldn't answer the door because they were in a tableau.

http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/_ePwDySjVdyo/TY76wOPA4iI/AAAAAAAAAl8/87pMwVbeTQA/s605/38707547718517311699.jpg

Vaguely asian signifiers + helvetica = win!

http://i55.tinypic.com/302qvlv.jpg

if your album cover is gonna be 'lol meme' you gotta do something no one's ever done like when the klaxons put the cat in an astronaut suit

ILX would like to disagree with your statement:

"Imagine: your dog, cat, or other pet in full military regalia."

Vaguely asian signifiers + helvetica = win!

reeks of adobe illustrator n00b though

would like the little dragon one if all the photos were the same tone and the centre square was black just containing the logo with no thin outline or shadow.

patrick wolf should be positioned centrally not slightly to our left, and further away so you can see all of him (including presumably white shoes) with the text just underneath. don't like the elegant font/handwritten logo contrast either.

Patrick Wolf

it just screams sentimentality and pretension. and a bizarre infatuation with his terrible haircut and color. there's really nothing redeeming about it.

and god i hate his necklace

It makes one question why we collectively begged for our very own Oberst

all I think of is Black Swan

hatchback - zeus & apollo
http://www.musbest.com/uploads/posts/2011-02/1298490181_2.jpg

that is pretty awful but excited for that album

the ball's shadow is in the wrong direction

new Umberto 7"

http://www.notnotfun.com/pics/NNF227A.jpg
http://www.notnotfun.com/pics/NNF227B.jpg

I like that Hatchback cover a lot actually