Albums you bought because of the Cover Art / Liner Notes

Discussion on new albums, developing listening skills, critical listening to others' work, as well as TOMB members' MP3 links, online recording critiques

Moderator: cgarges

Johnny B
pushin' record
Posts: 271
Joined: Mon Aug 28, 2006 5:18 pm
Location: Syracuse, NY
Contact:

Post by Johnny B » Tue Apr 03, 2007 6:16 pm

I had a friend who did that all the time at the used record stores in the mid-80s. I would listen to all of it and then just tape the good stuff. This was at a time when much of the cool 70s stuff that we found was out of print and a lot of the good 80s stuff was hard to come by in the small town where I grew up. There was a lot of good and bad stuff in that lot. I still listen to a good bit of it.
Some examples:

The Monks (70s) - Suspended Animation
Sparks - Indiscreet
Anthrax - Among the Living
Alien Sex Fiend - Who's Been Sleeping in My Brain?
Guillotine (cool Virgin Records 10" sampler with X-Ray Spex, Roky Erickson, XTC and some bands that no one has ever heard of).

I think the coolest record I ever bought for the cover was The Who's Live at Leeds.

cgarges
zen recordist
Posts: 10890
Joined: Mon Jun 16, 2003 1:26 am
Location: Charlotte, NC
Contact:

Post by cgarges » Wed Apr 04, 2007 9:07 am

will the moor wrote:Image
Man, that is a TERRIFIC album! I got it when it came out, because I happen to be a big west African music fan, but I always thought that cover was brilliant.

I used to have a roommate who bought albums based on the art all the time. He'd just walk into a record store and peruse the albums until he found some art that he liked. Sometimes he would do it based in genre, but oftentimes not. It was amazing how much cool stuff he found that way.

Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC

User avatar
Meriphew
deaf.
Posts: 1759
Joined: Sun May 11, 2003 9:56 am
Location: Seattle USA

Post by Meriphew » Wed Apr 04, 2007 2:04 pm

I've heard the new Bright Eyes album's artwork is supposed to be pretty wicked.

User avatar
oudplayer
audio school graduate
Posts: 15
Joined: Thu Jan 18, 2007 9:41 am
Location: Istanbul
Contact:

Post by oudplayer » Wed Apr 04, 2007 2:46 pm

It's doubtful I would have bought

Yes - Tales from Topographic Oceans
Budgie (a buncha albums)
Il Baletto di Bronzo - Ys

if it hadn't been for the cover.

Of those, I only still listen to "Ys" - still an amazing album, 34 years later.

User avatar
stevedood
takin' a dinner break
Posts: 188
Joined: Wed Jun 21, 2006 11:00 am
Location: Berkeley, CA
Contact:

Post by stevedood » Wed Apr 04, 2007 4:25 pm

Image
...that and a recommendation from a friend had me fumbling for cash
;)

(and it's awesome by the way)

cgarges
zen recordist
Posts: 10890
Joined: Mon Jun 16, 2003 1:26 am
Location: Charlotte, NC
Contact:

Post by cgarges » Wed Apr 04, 2007 5:10 pm

oudplayer wrote:Budgie
Man, what the hell?

I go decades without hearing mention of Budgie and then all of a sudden, they're everywhere. Budgie was a constant supply of humour on this tour I just did.

Chris Garges
Charotte, NC

User avatar
Brian
resurrected
Posts: 2254
Joined: Mon Jun 02, 2003 6:00 pm
Location: corner of your eye
Contact:

Post by Brian » Wed Apr 04, 2007 6:49 pm

YES, Tormato, big mistake
Yes album, not so much
Kiss, rock and roll over, YEAH! woulda bought it anyway.
Harumph!

gotpop
pluggin' in mics
Posts: 39
Joined: Sun Dec 31, 2006 5:11 am
Location: Palo Alto, Ca
Contact:

Post by gotpop » Thu May 24, 2007 12:25 am

Which albums did I buy 'cause of the cover art? How 'bout these:

Image

Image

Top: Spark's classic Propaganda album.
Bottom: Utopia -- Oops! Wrong Planet

User avatar
JWL
deaf.
Posts: 1870
Joined: Sun Apr 02, 2006 7:37 pm
Location: Maine
Contact:

Post by JWL » Thu May 24, 2007 4:46 am

Not technically an album, but a 12" single, but how can you NOT buy this?!???

Image

User avatar
vvv
zen recordist
Posts: 10139
Joined: Tue May 13, 2003 8:08 am
Location: Chi
Contact:

Post by vvv » Thu May 24, 2007 4:01 pm

I like any with Geiger 8) .
Image

I also bought some of the Molly Hatchet's. :oops:
Image

Remember these guys, anyone?
Image

A fave:
Image
bandcamp;
blog.
I mix with olive juice.

Greg Nagy
gettin' sounds
Posts: 122
Joined: Thu May 25, 2006 10:31 pm
Contact:

Post by Greg Nagy » Sat May 26, 2007 1:26 pm

Back in my youth, we went to the mall, and perused albums. Two things often determined if we bought an unfamiliar artist's work. Cover art and whether we had enough money.

Honestly, these days I don't really care about cover art as much as the songs. Though, I will admit a good cover can round out the package quite nicely.

myphx
audio school graduate
Posts: 24
Joined: Fri Nov 28, 2003 7:55 pm

Post by myphx » Sun Jun 24, 2007 10:00 am

Tangerine Dream - Alpha Centauri and Zeit.

.....or should I say Alpha Centauri und Zeit.


Also a Buddy Rich and Max Roach CD,.."Rich vs. Roach"

standup
re-cappin' neve
Posts: 722
Joined: Mon Nov 01, 2004 7:04 pm
Location: Washington, DC

Post by standup » Sun Jun 24, 2007 10:20 am

XTC's "Go 2" was the first record of theirs I bought. I think the cover art was the main reason at the time.

jdparris
pluggin' in mics
Posts: 37
Joined: Sat Aug 02, 2003 6:58 am
Location: Valdosta, Georgia

Guilty as charged....

Post by jdparris » Sun Jun 24, 2007 6:09 pm

Image


Image


The above gal also wrote and sang most of the Carrie Nation's songs in "Beyond the Valley Of the Dolls" (the greatest movie ever)...

User avatar
Sharp Machine
audio school
Posts: 6
Joined: Thu Jun 21, 2007 1:11 pm
Location: San Diego
Contact:

Post by Sharp Machine » Thu Jul 19, 2007 12:53 pm

I've only bought a album once based on cover art, and I'm glad i did. The album was called "An Education in Rebeliion" by the Union Underground. Unfortunatly it was one of that albums that was underrated and it was the bands first and only album. Check it out if yer into hard rock.
Gotta go, gotta rock.

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 25 guests