Saturday, September 27, 2008

Album Cover Art

We're moving along on Gigwise's top 50 most controversial, weirdest, best and worst list of album covers.

Controversial


32. Ministry: 'Dark Side Of The Spoon' Don't you just love naked fat people-seems to be a theme of sorts. At least we didn't get the frontal view.

Dark Side of the Spoon is the seventh studio album by industrial metal band Ministry, released in 1999 through Warner Bros. Records. There are two theories behind the title, the first being a play on words, as it is easily noticed as a parody of The Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd. The second is a reference to the blackened or dark side of a spoon when heated to dissolve heroin, as the band suffered from addiction of said substance at the time. "Bad Blood" was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance at the Grammy Awards of 2000.

The album's cover generated some controversy when retailer K Mart refused to stock it in its stores. This from Rolling Stone Magazine:

""We took a look at it and said it's not something that we normally carry," says Kmart spokesperson Dennis Wigent. Kmart specifically objects to the naked overweight woman seen wearing a dunce cap on the album cover. The same woman, shown only from behind and always naked, reappears on the back cover and three times on the jacket sleeve.

"I thought that people would probably be offended by it, but not to the degree that it would be offensive," says Ministry bassist Paul Barker. "I think it's really beautifully composed. It's just how we want to have the band represented for this record and the social satire involved in it. It's a highly developed concept and I think it was perfectly realized."

On the cover, the naked woman stands in front of a blackboard where the words "I will be god" are written over and over again. Barker says the band has no intention of using an alternate cover of Dark Side of the Spoon -- perhaps one with a clothed woman -- to conform to Kmart's standards. "The corpulence of it is part and parcel to the whole concept," Barker says. "So if the person were clad, you wouldn't necessarily notice."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Weird

32. Peter Gabriel: ' III' Seems to me we have seen this one before, (logged in at # 34-best album cover). I guess it was so well liked that it was put up twice, one of the weirdest. Hmmm. makes me think we may see it again

-------------------------------------------




Worst


32. Bob Dylan – ‘Saved’ Saved is Bob Dylan's 20th studio album, released by Columbia Records in 1980. Amen brother.

Saved was Dylan's second album to follow his conversion to born-again Christianity, explored on the album's predecessor (1979's well-received Slow Train Coming). Every song on the album is about strong personal faith and features heavy gospel influences; unlike the previous record, many critics dismissed Saved for its dogmatic songs and bombastic arrangements. While it still made a healthy #3 in the UK, it only managed #24 during a brief chart stay in the US and never went gold.

The cover of Saved originally featured a painting by Tony Wright of God's hand reaching down to touch the hands of his believers. However, this cover was subsequently replaced by a painting of Dylan on stage performing during that time period in order to downplay the overtly religious nature of the original cover. It has since been changed back on some re-releases.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Best


32. The Stone Roses: ‘The Stone Roses’ Why this is among the 'best' covers is anyone's guess, I'm not overly impressed. I'm still thinking about the duck from yesterday to be impressed by this (plus I hate lemons).

The Stone Roses were an English alternative rock band formed in Manchester in 1984. They were one of the pioneering groups of the Madchester movement that was active during the late 1980s and early 1990s. The band's original lineup consisted of Ian Brown (vocals), John Squire (guitar), Andy Couzens (guitar), Pete Garner (bass) and Alan "Reni" Wren (drums). Couzens and Garner left in 1987. Couzens' position was left vacant and Garner was replaced by Gary "Mani" Mounfield in 1987, and this completed the band's most visible lineup. Reni would depart in 1995 and was replaced by Robbie Maddix, and a year later Squire departed and was replaced by Aziz Ibrahim. Nigel Ippinson joined the band in 1995.

Their 1989 debut album The Stone Roses quickly achieved the status of a classic in the UK, and topped NME's list of the Greatest British Albums of All Time.[1] The band decided to capitalise on their success by signing to a major label, but Silvertone would not let them out of their contract, which led to a long legal battle. The band signed with Geffen Records in 1991, but it wouldn't be until 1994 that they released another album, Second Coming. The album had a heavier sound to it, which was not well received by the press. After experiencing several lineup changes throughout the supporting tour, the band decided to disband after its completion and associated touring.

No comments: