Worst looking CD/LP artwork

[Peter Power Pop]

Without the mop of red hair, but close

[asin]B007VLHPEU[/asin]

For a while, the cover reminded me of something, but I couldn't quite remember what it was. Then I remembered:

Peter Gabriel - Peter Gabriel (1982)


Incidentally, Peter Gabriel's first four albums were all called Peter Gabriel.

[kishnevi]

Yep. And that's one of the least attractive album covers I've seen this year. There's absolutely nothing about that cover that prompts me to say, "Hmm, I really want to hear what's on that album."

And I just realised the previous paragraph contained at least four "that"s. (There may be more.)

I think that from now on I'll need to do some more proof-reading before I press the "Post" button.

(And I just did it again with another "that". Oops.)

That is okay:  that's something that we all do.
As to La Bartoli
Mission is her next to most recent.  The newest just came out, in the luxe book form she has used previously.  I just got it last week.  Like the others it is a recital of obscure Baroque arias, this one focused in on operas performed at the courts of the three Empresses of Russia (Anna, Elizabeth, Catherine).  Which I suppose is why she went for the Audrey Hepburn look on the cover.

[ZauberdrachenNr.7]

It is certainly an ugly cover, but I think that it is fitting for Shostakovich -- the idea of a mask. Especially if the person behind the smiling mask is miserable. Too bad that they didn't pick a better photo for that idea.

I agree - unattractive though it is - there's at least a legitimate reason for the cover : it suggests the hybridization (half-ape and half-man) for the Orango libretto. 

[Peter Power Pop]

[snip]
As to La Bartoli
Mission is her next to most recent.  The newest just came out, in the luxe book form she has used previously.  I just got it last week.  Like the others it is a recital of obscure Baroque arias, this one focused in on operas performed at the courts of the three Empresses of Russia (Anna, Elizabeth, Catherine).  Which I suppose is why she went for the Audrey Hepburn look on the cover.

I don't know why Cecilia's going all Dr. Zhivago on us there, but it's fine with me. I much prefer that cover to the ones for I'm A Statue and Hi, I'm Cecilia Baldoli™:

     

[TheGSMoeller]

It's a flute party!!   <--- FPPD (flute party police department)
(I know, they're recorders. But flute party sounded much more exciting)

[Peter Power Pop]

It's a flute party!!   <--- FPPD (flute party police department)
(I know, they're recorders. But flute party sounded much more exciting)

The moment I saw that cover, I heard the sound of someone from Lancashire in my head, warning me: "You'll have someone's eye out with that."

[Brian]

Plus, he stole Scott Aukerman's outfit!

[Peter Power Pop]

It's a flute party!!   <--- FPPD (flute party police department)
(I know, they're recorders. But flute party sounded much more exciting)

The moment I saw that cover, I heard the sound of someone from Lancashire in my head, warning me: "You'll have someone's eye out with that."

That person from Lancashire was right:

[Madiel]

It's a flute party!!   <--- FPPD (flute party police department)
(I know, they're recorders. But flute party sounded much more exciting)

It's more like a "recorder storm". Or blizzard, I could go with blizzard.

Whatever the woodwind-related weather, he isn't dressed for it.

[Jo498]

It looks like a spell gone wrong (invoco flautos) in a Harry Potter film. Steger looks so young, he could even pass for an older Hogwarts student...

[TheGSMoeller]

No photoshop needed for this little gem. BTW, how frightened does that boy look?

[Peter Power Pop]

No photoshop needed for this little gem. BTW, how frightened does that boy look?

The junior camper doesn't look anywhere near as frightened the right way up:






He may look puzzled, as in "What am I doing on a Kenny Loggins album cover?" But not frightened. No sir, not when he's a reflection. In a pond. With a butterfly.

Either way, that is one weird album cover. It's the kind of cover that makes me want to say out loud, "Oh dear. Didn't anyone try to stop Kenny from realising his dream of having, er, his dream as an album cover?"

And it also makes me want to say, "Can we please get back to the classical music covers? As quickly as possible?"

[Dancing Divertimentian]

Obviously this is to commemorate "The Bear" symphony. But there were no other bears available?

[Peter Power Pop]

Obviously this is to commemorate "The Bear" symphony. But there were no other bears available?

Considering the titles of the other symphonies on the CD, I'd have preferred a picture of a hen.

But that bear...

To me it looks like it's covered in something. Something edible. Like shards of dark chocolate. (Mmm: shards of dark chocolate.)

[Jo498]

I don't think the bear is so bad. What's bad is that they swapped the keys of 84 and 85!

[Peter Power Pop]

I don't think the bear is so bad. What's bad is that they swapped the keys of 84 and 85!

That's not terribly handy. But at least the album has a chocolate bear.

[Peter Power Pop]

Over on the "New Releases" thread, Todd posted the cover for a gargantuan box set of Georg Solti's 1980's work for Decca. (Album details here.)

The cover looks like this:



Now, I'm not posting this here because I think that cover is dreadful. To me it's a perfectly serviceably cover (it's a standard "conductor conducting" cover).

I'm posting it here because as soon as I saw that cover I pictured Georg holding an ice cream, like so:



I mean, he has to be holding an ice cream, doesn't he?

[Peter Power Pop]

I think this is a horrendous cover, for three reasons:

1. The Text: What's the deal with jerking around the text, making it less than enjoyable to read? Is that how the font is supposed to look? Or did the graphic designer decide, "I'm going to play around with the kerning. It's gonna look great!"

2. The Artist: The guy on the cover is a pianist, so why is there a vocalist's microphone (in a starburst, no less) in the top left corner?

3. The Flowers: What's with the semi-transparent flowers? Is the one on the left going to devour him?

I also thought about mentioning the lightened section running vertically in the left third of the image, wondering if it served any purpose whatsoever (and if it could be called "anti-shade"), but it didn't bother me as much as the other stuff.


(Thanks to Todd for posting that cover in the "New Releases" thread, which is where I first saw it.)

[NorthNYMark]

Funny, I find the Solti cover to look far, far more awkward than the Ish-Hurwitz, even without the ice cream cone (which does fit perfectly). 
The problem with the Solti isn't the image itself, but the way it looks pasted into the completely anachronistic (in relation to the photographic image) background, and moreover seems to be crowding him uncomfortably, and perhaps comically, into the corner.

I see what you mean about the Ish-Hurwitz, though those issues don't seem to bother me as much.  I actually find the text positioning to be fairly well thought-out, in an asymmetrically balanced way--though I can imagine that the pressing of the text lines up against one another (which is the only thing that makes reading a bit challenging for me) will come to look very dated, very soon (like all those DG covers with the artist against a bright white background). I think the "anti-shade" effect you mention is actually caused by a combination of the blurred column to the left and the floral patterning that lightens what would otherwise be the dark area.  I'm assuming that the vocal mic is part of the recording company logo and would be on all their releases, but I could be wrong about that. 

[Peter Power Pop]

Funny, I find the Solti cover to look far, far more awkward than the Ish-Hurwitz, even without the ice cream cone (which does fit perfectly). 
The problem with the Solti isn't the image itself, but the way it looks pasted into the completely anachronistic (in relation to the photographic image) background, and moreover seems to be crowding him uncomfortably, and perhaps comically, into the corner.

For me, that photo of young Georg is what the English call "bog standard". And that drop shadow doesn't help one bit.

I see what you mean about the Ish-Hurwitz...

I really want to call him Hurwitz-ish. (As in Q: "How are you feeling today?" A: "I'm feeling Hurwitz-ish.")

..., though those issues don't seem to bother me as much.  I actually find the text positioning to be fairly well thought-out, in an asymmetrically balanced way--though I can imagine that the pressing of the text lines up against one another (which is the only thing that makes reading a bit challenging for me) will come to look very dated, very soon (like all those DG covers with the artist against a bright white background). I think the "anti-shade" effect you mention is actually caused by a combination of the blurred column to the left and the floral patterning that lightens what would otherwise be the dark area.

At first I thought it was a crease in the booklet, as if someone had scanned it badly. ("Hey Gary, I think your scanner's playing up again...")

I'm assuming that the vocal mic is part of the recording company logo and would be on all their releases, but I could be wrong about that.

You're probably right. I'll have a look at the record company's other releases. Hang on...

Yep. It's a part of their logo:



But that's not terribly helpful for the artists on their roster who aren't singers.