I'm always interested in album covers. All my mp3's are tagged with album art. I hate the idea that "the kids nowadays" just download a song, and have no idea what album it's from or what the artwork looked like. Sad.

I hate that, too. Unfortunately I know too many people--kids and otherwise--who simply download songs and have no idea about anything about the band or the artwork or anything else.

I don't really care about what an album cover looks like, it doesn't really matter to me. I know all about the bands themselves but couldn't care less what an album cover looks like usually.

atsonic, I'm surpised. I mean, you're into albums as albums.

The album cover always adds to the album's mood in my opinion. EVOL wouldn't be nearly as haunting without the Submit To Me still picture.

Nah, I'm into music. Cool art is a bonus. It's not something I obsess over.

It's like vinyl fetishism.. I'm not into that. I don't care if I hear a CD, a vinyl, a tape, an MP3, an 8-track... as long as the music is good, I don't care how I hear it.

I think people get very very into the aesthetics involved behind things ("OH THE ALBUM IS PACKAGED IN A PIECE OF WOOD!!!!!!!!!!!") or have some kind of weird connection to certain albums based on a certain piece of art or whatever. That stuff's cool I guess, but it doesn't really interest me enough to check out a band. I hear people on here going, "THAT ALBUM COVER RULES! I'M GOING TO GO LISTEN TO THAT BAND!" Makes no sense to me.

I sort of agree, but EVOL's a bad example in a way. I mean, the opening attack of "Tom Violence" sets the mood just fine.

I dunno, who said this.. Steve Albini? "Albums aren't paintings"? Something to that effect? I guess that'd make sense if you notice how minimal all the Shellac album covers are.

I know some people like to look at album covers while they listen to an album or something. I dunno. Makes no differnece whatsoever to me and don't find it that interesting.

But I'd absolutely hate it if you went to a record store and all records were white labels.

Well, I never said I wanted that.

I just don't... I guess I don't usually LOVE an album cover. On the other hand, I never HATE an album cover. They're just there.

yr albini quote does not really add to yr argument.
shellac, rapeman, and big black all had extremely well thought out and purposfully done covers and cover art and packaging.
i think what he meant is that he undwerstand s that album art is advertising for the music inside.

a cool cover, a great package for yr music, lets customers know that whoever put out the album truly cares about what is inside. If they care so much about the packaginig it ussually means they took great care in writing fucking awesome songs.

This really points to why I think it's hard for there to be any kind of great breakthrough album these days. A release once upon a time included many other cultural attachments. It's fine to be all about the music but focusing only on the music also means those other things lose significance. It's hard to create a huge swelling of fan enthusiasm without those other cultural aspects, because basically and quite simply, those things are a lot of "fun."

They may also be a lot of marketing but you can't deny the fun factor in things like cover artwork, rock fashions, videos, and so on.

Think about the Beatles making music if their music had just been downloaded and we never saw them on TV, or they never made movies, or kids never started copying their hairstyles and clothes, or if they didn't make those revolutionary album covers.

Not sure if I agree with that at all.

Good frames don't save bad paintings.

I think a lot of bands.. let's look at Nine Inch Nails' "year zero", which including all kinds of viral marketing and art and stuff to go along with it. I thought that stuff was interesting and cool but at the end of the day, I mainly focus on the music. To go back to something noisereductions said earlier, yeah, it would suck if every album cover was all white or something, but it wouldn't affect the music in any way.

I really like albums like albums the Residents release that come with stories about songs and full color art books and stuff........

But honestly, it doesn't affect my enjoyment of the music one way or another.

BMR.

But it's not like I adore it religiously. or even enough to write its name entirely.

See, I don't see the artwork and other cultural stuff as merely the frame. I see it as part of the whole thing, at least ideally. I know with perhaps a lot of albums these things are afterthoughts. But I think with the best of albums, the artwork is a very important consideration. I think with the very best albums, the packaging is just as important as the music contained within.

but bad frames RUIN good paintings
that is the proper analogy there

True, but everything on that album just ties in with the tone of that picture.

EVOL would not be nearly the same album without that cover. No getting around that.

Thinking about an album without the art is like reading a book in just the typed manuscript pages. Yeah, it's still a good book but, damn, it sure ain't as pretty or fun.