Worst looking CD/LP artwork

[Todd]

[Scion7]

Actually, that's not a bad cover.

[Jo498]

I think this one beats the one with the tour bus by a country mile for absurdity:



Asin: B000ALCFYI

[Madiel]

I think this one beats the one with the tour bus by a country mile for absurdity:



Asin: B000ALCFYI

Striking, yes. Absurd, no. Music from another time as a portal to a different world makes perfect sense to me. Especially as one is using a piece of rather modern technology to reproduce the sounds of close to 3 centuries ago.

[Florestan]

Striking, yes. Absurd, no. Music from another time as a portal to a different world makes perfect sense to me. Especially as one is using a piece of rather modern technology to reproduce the sounds of close to 3 centuries ago.

It's a reinterpretation of "the calf looking to the new gate": the reindeer looking to the new window. 

[Peter Power Pop]

I think this one beats the one with the tour bus by a country mile for absurdity:



Asin: B000ALCFYI

I agree. That is one baffling cover.

[Biffo]

I agree. That is one baffling cover.

I have had that album for several years but never really thought much about the cover. I suppose 'baffling' is a good word if you look at it. Covers rarely interest me though occasionally they put me off a recording.

[JBS]

It's a poetic, beautiful, interesting photo....
which has no obvious connection to the music, the composer, or the performers.

[vandermolen]

Considering that A Pastoral Symphony tends to be seen as a Requiem for those lost in the First World War (like the composer's friend George Butterworth) and the 4th Symphony is a most violent and turbulent work, I can hardly think of a less appropriate choice that this 'Cadbury's Milk Tray Selection' effort:

[vandermolen]

This one, from the same series, is arguably even worse:

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Considering that A Pastoral Symphony tends to be seen as a Requiem for those lost in the First World War (like the composer's friend George Butterworth) and the 4th Symphony is a most violent and turbulent work, I can hardly think of a less appropriate choice that this 'Cadbury's Milk Tray Selection' effort:

Yes, it looks more like two couples enjoying a picnic or a hike off in the hills somewhere.

PD

[Irons]

Considering that A Pastoral Symphony tends to be seen as a Requiem for those lost in the First World War (like the composer's friend George Butterworth) and the 4th Symphony is a most violent and turbulent work, I can hardly think of a less appropriate choice that this 'Cadbury's Milk Tray Selection' effort:

A literal translation of the title. Just shows how little they know!

[Pohjolas Daughter]

A literal translation of the title. Just shows how little they know!

That's what I was thinking.

PD

[KevinP]

I posted this one earlier in the thread, or perhaps the old forum's version, basically when it was a new release, and I got called out on it.

It's grown on me since. It's still rather incongruous with the music, but by itself it's a really good photograph.

[SimonNZ]

Yeah, for striking covers like that I'm usually fine with just saying "the photographer's artistry is analogous to Bach's artistry", and that's good enough for me.

...an argument I once made on a different forum about the Steve McCurry portraits on the Gardiner cantata series, which someone found equally incongruous.

[JBS]

Perhaps it's just me...but this one, posted by @SimonNZ on the main listening thread


It rather looks to me as if Mary is trying to run away, with the angel chasing her.

And the cat is plain scared

Not quite your normal Annunciation.

[Jo498]

There is a reason that the first words of most angel visitations are "Do not be afraid!"

Lorenzo Lotto

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recanati_Annunciation

[KevinP]

Perhaps it's just me...but this one, posted by @SimonNZ on the main listening thread


It rather looks to me as if Mary is trying to run away, with the angel chasing her.

And the cat is plain scared

Not quite your normal Annunciation.

Well first of all, this is not a depiction of the Annunciation. This was one of the more successful attempts to depict daily life among the holy. In this case, they're playing charades.

[Peter Power Pop]

Sometimes I think the major record companies aren't even trying anymore.

[Madiel]

Sometimes I think the major record companies aren't even trying anymore.

I question both whether that's a major record company and whether there's anything terribly wrong with the cover. It's certainly not in the "not trying" category. Whether you like what they tried is a different question, but that is not a boring photograph.