The death of album art?
Discussion
I've wondered recently if we're facing the slow death of album art work?
With digital distribution taking over physical sales more and more, album artwork seems to be being relegated to small pictures in the corner of your chosen music player or iPod etc.
I remember as a kid that I'd look through my dad's vinyls, and I loved the artwork on them. I can't really remember what artists there were, but I distinctly remember the pictures on them. Some were a bit saucy too!
Some artists, such as Iron Maiden, would have excellent album artwork, and it was a pleasure to view them.
So what do we all think? Is album artwork becoming a bit pointless now, as we generally don't need to see anything other than album name/artist/track name, or is it as important as always, just now we only see the pictures on small screens on our generic portable music players?
With digital distribution taking over physical sales more and more, album artwork seems to be being relegated to small pictures in the corner of your chosen music player or iPod etc.
I remember as a kid that I'd look through my dad's vinyls, and I loved the artwork on them. I can't really remember what artists there were, but I distinctly remember the pictures on them. Some were a bit saucy too!
Some artists, such as Iron Maiden, would have excellent album artwork, and it was a pleasure to view them.
So what do we all think? Is album artwork becoming a bit pointless now, as we generally don't need to see anything other than album name/artist/track name, or is it as important as always, just now we only see the pictures on small screens on our generic portable music players?
Could not agree more (sadly).
The biggest you'd get to see these days is a CD cover; nowhere near big enough to appreciate the quality of what's come before; like as you say the Maiden stuff, early Motorhead, etc, etc, etc.
Even something as simple as Ace of Spades looks great on the old 12" LP size. But a CD cover - absolutely no impact.
Sadly.
The biggest you'd get to see these days is a CD cover; nowhere near big enough to appreciate the quality of what's come before; like as you say the Maiden stuff, early Motorhead, etc, etc, etc.
Even something as simple as Ace of Spades looks great on the old 12" LP size. But a CD cover - absolutely no impact.
Sadly.
My dad had Jeff Waynes War of the Worlds on vinyl, the artwork in that was incredible, with all the painted pictures inside, listening to that whilst looking at the pictures used to scare me!
I now own the CD version of it, and although it still has the picture book, they are much smaller, and just don't seem as good.
When I was in the RAF I lived in a small room and just didn't have the room to keep all the CD cases I had at the time, so sadly, I threw them all away, just keeping the discs in wallets. Fast forward many years and I have a house and wish I'd kept them now, but considering I buy my music online now, I wouldn't have cases for them anyway, so never get to see the artwork.
I now own the CD version of it, and although it still has the picture book, they are much smaller, and just don't seem as good.
When I was in the RAF I lived in a small room and just didn't have the room to keep all the CD cases I had at the time, so sadly, I threw them all away, just keeping the discs in wallets. Fast forward many years and I have a house and wish I'd kept them now, but considering I buy my music online now, I wouldn't have cases for them anyway, so never get to see the artwork.
For popular bands, yes perhaps iconic artwork has now passed. However like many music topics it can depend on the genre and band. In Metal there's still some fantastic artwork coming out with a lot of people choosing to purchase on vinyl, sometimes in various editions, in part to appreciate the art (along with the 'collector' mentality).
This is one of my favourites from the last few months:
..And there's some artists who are only starting to emerge in the last year or so. There's still hope:
This is one of my favourites from the last few months:
..And there's some artists who are only starting to emerge in the last year or so. There's still hope:
Yes, it is no doubt dying a slow death. I remember when I used to sit and pore through the books of my Rush records. The latest one is just a squiggle on my itunes window now! No doubt death metal will suffer too, as their game of 'who can have the most offensive cover' will dwindle.
I remember buying Sadness Will Prevail by Today Is The Day when I was younger. Classic sort of album, it seemed very special at the time. Two discs, a folding cover, fantastic art work that conveyed the bleak, despairing theme of the album. I still love that record, though it wouldn't seem as special now if you just downloaded it. Back when it was something you had to physically buy, it felt like some sort of holy treasure in your hand. The cover held promise, the folding sleeve with the book of artwork inside was something you eagerly plucked out whilst waiting to get home to your stereo. Now it would just be a string of song titles on a computer display. It was a concept album, no doubt, but the concept was communicated or at least outlined in the physical package of the record.
I remember buying Sadness Will Prevail by Today Is The Day when I was younger. Classic sort of album, it seemed very special at the time. Two discs, a folding cover, fantastic art work that conveyed the bleak, despairing theme of the album. I still love that record, though it wouldn't seem as special now if you just downloaded it. Back when it was something you had to physically buy, it felt like some sort of holy treasure in your hand. The cover held promise, the folding sleeve with the book of artwork inside was something you eagerly plucked out whilst waiting to get home to your stereo. Now it would just be a string of song titles on a computer display. It was a concept album, no doubt, but the concept was communicated or at least outlined in the physical package of the record.
Brigand said:
Some impressive pictures there Gompo, what band is that?
It's been quite a few years since I moved on from my 'metal' stage, but I still like to keep my hand in with a few bands.
i think you need to pop over to the heavy music thread my friend!!It's been quite a few years since I moved on from my 'metal' stage, but I still like to keep my hand in with a few bands.
gompo and hornet post some frightful racket up all the while(ha! just kidding fellas) whereas more discerning chaps like myself post up gorgeous stuff!!
tuscaneer said:
i think you need to pop over to the heavy music thread my friend!!
gompo and hornet post some frightful racket up all the while(ha! just kidding fellas) whereas more discerning chaps like myself post up gorgeous stuff!!
But we all agree Asking Alexandria are toss gompo and hornet post some frightful racket up all the while(ha! just kidding fellas) whereas more discerning chaps like myself post up gorgeous stuff!!
Back to the topic at hand, there's still some great artwork out there when you dig below the surface, and there are plenty of labels still putting out vinyl. Unearthly Trance and Cathedral always had great art, and people like Ufomammut also have interest covers. There's also some great digital art, especially at the tech-death end of things, a lot of which has a great deal of crossover from the world of gaming. Makes sense really, as that's obviously been a huge influence on the newer generation of bands. Can't post any at the moment, but I'll have a dig later on.
Have to agree about Maiden. I have the Japanese issues of the Stranger in a Strange Land EP and Live After Death, and they're both things of beauty. Never played them!
I started buying cassettes and then moved to CDs in the mid-90s. I'm too young for vinyl albums and therefore album art already doesn't mean that much to me.
It is inevitable that the digital era will be the death of it. Heck, even albums as an art form seem to be in masive decline sales-wise.
It is inevitable that the digital era will be the death of it. Heck, even albums as an art form seem to be in masive decline sales-wise.
king thing. Are we getting old ?AlexS said:
It isn't just album art that has gone missing, but packaging as well.
Led Zeppelin III had the rotating image disk in the front part of the gatefold, In Through the Out Door came in a brown paper bag. Picture disks as already mentioned.
Maiden had a version of "Bring Your Daughter..." where the sleeve was a flip top lid that looked like you were opening Eddie's brain Led Zeppelin III had the rotating image disk in the front part of the gatefold, In Through the Out Door came in a brown paper bag. Picture disks as already mentioned.
There are still some creative CDs out there. Metallica's Death Magnetic was pretty clever, and there are some nicely done digipacks, so it's not totally doom and gloom. I do miss picture discs, shaped EPs, box sets and coloured vinyl though.
Depends what you're in to.
Paul Romano who does alot of Mastodon's artwork, for example, is very good.
The vinyl market is not dead either. In fact it is growing again in the UK and is apparently still pretty big in Europe. That's what you buy if you're in to album artwork - Vinyl.
Paul Romano who does alot of Mastodon's artwork, for example, is very good.
The vinyl market is not dead either. In fact it is growing again in the UK and is apparently still pretty big in Europe. That's what you buy if you're in to album artwork - Vinyl.
Edited by CrabDan on Friday 3rd August 17:33
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