Great Album Art From the CD Era

For those of us who take our music seriously and also who remember the (original) days of vinyl, the art and packaging of the album as a self-contained work of art is as important as the music contained within.  While the art of the original vinyl era of the 1960s and 1970s and even the new vinyl that is being released now is highly regarded, it's also used as further proof that vinyl beats all other formats.  Now, I've written about my love of vinyl and the personal experiences and memories I have of it and those feelings will never change. However, as someone who grew up in the peak period of the CD age and whose collection is predominantly on CD (1000+ CDs and counting), I also need to defend this assertion that only vinyl albums have worthwhile art and packaging.  Since you're currently reading this, it's obvious what my intentions are with this post, so without further ado let me set up what I want to share with you.

While interest in CDs and sales of the format are at an all time low, for many of us who are old enough to remember an era before digital music, physical formats will always trump digital-only collecting. I like having my most beloved music in a physical format for a variety of reasons, chief among them because I value the art and packaging as much as the sounds and, God forbid my ipod or hard drive crashes (and it has happened to me...twice), I still have copies to fall back upon. When bands still released their music primarily on CDs, many of them took as much care and effort into the artwork and packaging as their foreefathers in the 1960s, 70s, and 80s did.  As someone whose musical tastes spans the early 1960s to the present, I've seen this firsthand and so I want to share some of my favorite examples from my own massive CD collection.

(***A NOTE*** I am not taking into account reissues of albums from the 1960s and 1970s on CD which include the original artwork/packaging/booklets/inserts/etc. Not because they're not great...they are! But these are CD versions of the original vinyl albums. I am only focusing on albums released during the CD era, which I am defining as 1985-present, when the primary/only format bands released their albums on was CD***)

***...and please keep in mind that this list is purely subjective; these are simply some of my favorite examples!*** 

...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead

One of my favorite modern bands also happens to be one of the leading lights when it comes to keeping the flame of great album packaging burning bright.  Trail of Dead play a bombastic mix of noisy alternative and grandiose epic progressive rock and their album art always has the cinematic scope to match the music.  Part of the reason is that they are fortunate to have a fantastically talented artist in Conrad Keely, who also happens to be the chief singer/songwriter/guitarist/creative force within the band.  Keely is responsible for drawing and/or painting all of the album covers and inserts, as well as writing the accompanying liner notes and librettos.  As a fellow lifelong comic book fan, Keely's approach really appeals to my sensibilities and these albums could just have easily have been released in the 1970s or 80s and fit right in.   All of their albums have great art but the ones below are my personal favorites from their discography.  

The first album of theirs to have truly elaborate art was 2005's Worlds Apart, with a Marvel Secret Wars-inspired front cover, an elaborate triptych gatefold, and a booklet with illustrated lyrics.

The inner triptych

Their 2009 album, The Century of Self, had artwork from Keely that was drawn 100% in blue ballpoint pen which is very intricate and striking.

2001's Tao of the Dead was a gorgeous package where there was more to the story than just the music.  Several of the tracks on the album are part of a story Keely is working on called "Strange News From Another Planet" and the album art incorporates characters and scenes from the story. Also included in the package is a graphic novel containing the first part of the story (the rest is supposed to be forthcoming as a standalone graphic novel in the future).

The mini graphic novel

Inside the mini graphic novel

For 2012's Lost Songs, the CDs are housed in a thick book containing a 180-page story (with illustrations) by Conrad Keely. The CDs also contain the album in two versions: one version as discrete tracks, the other version as one continuous, segued piece of music.

That is a thick book to come with some CDs!

Their latest album, from 2014 and entitled IX, continues their tradition of elaborately designed artwork and illustrated booklet.

Some fans and critics consider the band's presentation to be ostentatious and over the top, but that's one of things I love about them. Besides the music, they understand that the experience of an album involves more than just the music; it's an appeal to the imagination and to the senses.


Radiohead

While Radiohead is well known and highly regarded for their ambitious music, they also have very interesting artwork for all of their albums (except for maybe their debut), which is due to their collaboration with artist Stanley Donwood. Each of their albums have interesting presentations, but the ones below are my favorites.

2000's Kid A had very stark, ominous artwork which in and of itself was cool, but there was something else hidden underneath the CD tray...

What's that under the tray?

...why, it's a second album booklet containing some very interesting, bizarre, and disturbing artwork and writing.

Pop off the tray and voila! Bonus booklet!

Lots of weird clues and things in this one...

Their 2007 album In Rainbows was notorious because the band let fans name their own price to download it before the physical version was released in stores. However, if you're like me and you must have the physical version, you were in for a treat with the packaging.

The package folds open to show a bunch of goodies...

...including the CD in slipcase as well as stickers and inserts in order to create your own jewel box version of the album (if you so desire).

Construct your own jewel box, complete with stickers and inserts

2011's King of Limbs, while a rather disappointing album (my opinion), has neat packaging, being presented like an old vinyl album. It opens up into a gatefold with the CD held on the right hand side.

The Smashing Pumpkins

I distinctly remember buying this mammoth double album when it came out in 1995; I'd been a fan of the Pumpkins from their first album and after the exquisite Siamese Dream I was curious where they would go. What they ended up releasing was a sprawling epic that was 1990s American alternative rock's version of The White Album, and that included the packaging.

Each disc had its own title and theme and the album came with two booklets.

The first booklet contained elaborate color art that loosely (maybe?) related to the music but was nonetheless interesting to look at.

The second booklet was made to look like an old manuscript and had the lyrics for all of the songs accompanied by little drawings and doodles.

Beck

Beck's 2006 album is great musically, while artistically it was a blank slate...literally. Apart from a sticker with his name on it, the album cover was nothing more than blank graph paper. This was because... 

Where's the cover art?

...Beck invited his fans to create their own unique album cover! His thinking was that no two covers would be alike and in order to accommodate this, there were six sheets of stickers with different graphics and logos.

I've never had the heart to use the stickers, but it's still cool to look at them every once and a while

Mansun

You all know Mansun are a favorite band of mine for their music, but I also have always enjoyed the artwork for these two following albums.  Their second album, 1998's epic Six, is one of the lost masterpieces of the 1990s; a quasi-prog rock album with layer upon layer of complexity that somehow was categorized as BritPop when it came out!  The striking album cover is full of clues and references to the music contained within, as well as items of personal meaning to the members of the band.

The album was set up to be listened to like two-sided vinyl, complete with an interlude track halfway through. The booklet has lots of great photos of the band as well as the lyrics to the songs and is more like a theatre program than an album booklet.

Finally, I've always liked the painting on the rear cover of the booklet...the other half of the day for the cover's central figure (and it also happens to be a reference to my favorite song on the album, "Television.")

Mansun's fourth and final album, Kleptomania, was released in 2004 (after the band split up) due to fan pressure from a petition that was signed and submitted to Paul Draper and EMI/Parlophone. It was a 3CD set, with the first CD containing the final album, the 2nd CD containing popular singles and B-sides, and the third CD made up of rarities and demos. I just really like the presentation of the package, from the clear slipcase to the way the black and white lettering looks when the case is unfolded. The booklet is again a thing of beauty with notes about each song from Paul as well as lots of great photos and a potted history of the band.

The Bluetones

Last but not least, the second album from another favorite band of mine; this is probably also my favorite album of theirs. In keeping with the theme of the title, the booklet for 1998's Return to the Last Chance Saloon is hidden behind mini saloon doors which need to be opened before you can get at all of the lyrics and recording info. Neat!

Miniature saloon doors!

There you have it, some examples of what I think are great album packaging and art from the CD era. There are many more within my collection and I have a feeling I'll be doing at least one more post like this as I happen to go through and pull some of those albums out in the future, but these were the examples that came instantly to mind when I thought of doing this post. I hope you enjoyed it and would love to know what you consider some examples of great CD-era album art from your own collection.  Please share in the comments below!

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Family Records: A Vinyl History Tour of My Youth (Part 2 of 2)

Carrying on, here's Part 2 of a trip down memory lane as I go through the records my parents had that I grew up listening to and absorbing. I got a fantastic response to Part 1 and it was great to open up conversations with friends and fellow music fans on various message boards and social networks as they shared their own memories. Some of them were the same age as me, some are my parents' age, some are older...many enjoyed the same records, many enjoyed completely different artists and genres, but one thing that seemed to be common amongst all of us was the powerful and joyful impact that music had, captivating us as children and developing into a lifelong passion that never waned, but instead intensified and grew as we all continue to get older. I was struck by how much commonality we all had with the simple question I posed, "which records did you grow up listening to?" For me, as fun as it was to take my own trip into the past, it was just as enjoyable to read everyone else's memories and engage in the discussion (if you'd like to read it, here's the main thread).

So here is Part 2!

THE ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND

One of my favorite bands ever. My dad is a huge fan and that definitely rubbed off on me. Duane Allman and Dickey Betts were and continue to be huge influences on my guitar playing and several of the cuts on these albums were among my favorites to suss out when I was learning to play. Later on, he (and later on, I) would have all of their classic albums on cassette and later on, CD, but when I was growing up it was just these two records. Luckily, they're two of the best.

At Fillmore East (released 1971)

There's not much that can be said about this album that hasn't already been written countless times before. It is one of the greatest live albums and finds the original band at the height of their powers...sadly, they wouldn't make it to the end of the year intact, losing founding brother and spiritual leader Duane Allman in a motorcycle crash late in '71. This is one of those albums that has been played so many times by both my dad and me that it's a wonder the records haven't split from overuse! One of my bibles for learning how to play guitar, and I always loved those smoky pictures of the band onstage in the gatefold, bathed in red light and looking so cool.

Brothers and Sisters (released 1973)

Probably their biggest album, commercially, and the first after Berry Oakley died only a year (almost to the day) after Duane did, in 1972 (although Berry appears on a few songs here). I remember hearing "Ramblin' Man" and "Jessica" from this album on the radio a lot as a kid, and one of the bands that used to play at my high school used to jam on "Southbound." I always liked to spend some time as a kid trying to pick out the band members on the inner gatefold, and the insert with the dedication to Berry always struck me as a nice touch.

CREAM

Eric Clapton was, amongst all of my guitar heroes, the one who captivated me with his technique and tone just a little bit more than anyone else when I was a budding guitarist, while the sound Cream got with all three of them masters of their instruments, improvising over the loose framework of their songs just blew me away.  I remember hearing these albums (as well as their Wheels of Fire and Disraeli Gears albums on cassette) in my dad's office when he'd be listening to them and soon enough, I was listening to them on my own as well.

Fresh Cream (released 1966)

The debut album and a great (and underrated) slice of electric British blues. I remember having a hard time reconciling the fact that Eric on the front cover was the same guy I was hearing play all this cheesy radio stuff when I was a kid in the 1980s and 90s. Quite a few of these songs ended up being tried out in the bands I started playing in as a high schooler (ie "I'm So Glad," "Spoonful," etc).

Goodbye (released 1969)

Their final album and one of my favorites. I remember thinking the front and back covers were neat with the band in those silver suits with top hats and canes.  The inner gatefold was simultaneously ominous (and final) with all of those tombstones, yet bright and eye-popping with all of those colors. Musically, I did (and still do) love the juxtaposition of the three high-octane live cuts with the three strange and unique studio cuts.

Best of Cream (released 1969)

The first post-split compilation album. I've never understood what the vegetables had to do with Cream, but it's still an interesting album cover. I always liked the back photo with the band looking menacing at the height of their psychedelic look: long hair, mustaches, and Eric's necklace made out of what look to be tiger's teeth...not to mention that amazing wallpaper! This was a great album because it had some cuts that were on the UK version of Fresh Cream and hadn't been released in the US to that point.

CROSBY, STILLS, NASH, and YOUNG (and their assorted projects)

Even though I tend to favor much of the heavier rock from the 1960s and 70s, I also have a HUGE soft spot for gorgeous melodies, vocal harmonies, and well written and played songs. Since my parents did also, I've always loved CSNY and their pre-CSNY projects. My tastes when it comes to them tend to stop around 1974 but I love everything up to and including that year. As an avid singer, some of my favorite moments, now and then, involve singing along to these songs and trying a different harmony part each time.

The Byrds Greatest Hits (released 1967) and Retrospective: The Best of Buffalo Springfield (released 1969)

I'm a huge Byrds fan, loving everything they did up to 1968 before they went full-blown country, which I don't care for. This greatest hits album collected everything up to what I consider to be their best album, 1967's Younger Than Yesterday (although the following album, 1968's The Notorious Byrd Brothers, is excellent as well). I always loved their jangly sound and the way they mixed the folk, rock, and pop elements with nice harmonies into a really unique sound. As for Buffalo Springfield, I was always fascinated by the dichotomy between Young and Stills in the band...both wrote great songs (Young's "Mr Soul" and "Rock and Roll Woman," Stills' "Bluebird" and "For What It's Worth," for example) that sounded like their writers, but still had the overall band sound.

Everybody Knows This is Nowhere (released 1969)

What a great album. Apart from a couple of weak songs, everything on this album is a classic and songs like "Cinnamon Girl" (that riff!), "Down By the River," and "Cowgirl in the Sand" blew me away as a teenager and were three songs we definitely played a lot when I was in bands.

Crosby, Stills, and Nash (released 1969)

Now we get to when they all got together! For years, I always thought that the guy looking out the screen door on the back cover (not pictured) was Neil Young (it's not...it's their drummer Dallas Taylor). This album is just gorgeous and has some of my all-time favorite songs on it, like "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes," "Wooden Ships," "Pre-Road Downs"...honestly, I don't think there's a bad track on here. The furry coats they're wearing in the gatefold picture always looked funny to me, but it's cool that it still has the fold-out lyric sheet with those quintessentially 1960s drawings on it.

Deja Vu (released 1970)

With Neil Young brought into the fold now, they release what I think is their best album. It features songs by all four of them and I'm not sure you can have a better opening track than "Carry On." The transition from the chugging acoustic to that grooving electric bit in the second half, all with fantastic vocal harmonies, is spine tingling even to this day. I always liked the photos inside this one, too, and I remember thinking it was pretty cool that Jerry Garcia and John Sebastian not only guested on a couple of tracks, but were pictured in the inner collage.

4-Way Street (released 1971)

A mammoth double live album that showcases both the acoustic singer/songwriter side and the full-band electric side of CSNY. Just great stuff on this one and I spent many hours as a teenager cruising around listening to this one once I got it on CD. Dad's vinyl copy still has the original lyric sheet.

DAVID BOWIE

I love Bowie, always have. I remember hearing loads of his tunes on the radio but, strangely enough, this was the only record of his I remember listening to as a kid!

Aladdin Sane (released 1973)

A bonafide classic and one of my favorite Bowie albums. Here, he's toughened up and dirtied the glam rock from the Ziggy days and released a really cohesive collection of songs. "Panic in Detroit," "The Jean Genie," "Cracked Actor," and "Watch That Man" were favorites as a kid. Later on, I realized that apart from his decent Stones cover ("Let's Spend the Night Together"), the entire album was great. The cover always weirded me out when I was younger, but the inner sleeve with the lightning bolt from his face emblazoned across it is a neat touch.

THE DOORS

The Doors (released 1967)

Again, I'm a big Doors fan, they were a band I remember hearing on the radio all of the time as a kid, but this was the only record of theirs I remember spinning as a kid.  The long organ and guitar solo in "Light My Fire" always mesmerized me and tunes like "Soul Kitchen," "20th Century Fox," "The Crystal Ship," and "The End" were pure psychedelia and really atmospheric pieces for a kid who grew up twenty years too late to have experienced it the first time around.

AEROSMITH

Aerosmith are huge here in New England since they're native sons, hailing from Boston (and in fact, a few of them grew up in my native New Hampshire). I've never held them in as high regard as a lot of people do, but their first three albums are excellent and I've always liked them. When I was growing up, I couldn't believe the same guys who kicked ass on these records were the ones peddling slick, lame AOR hit singles in the late 1980s and early 1990s.  Some of the riffs on these records are fantastic ("Walk This Way," anyone?) and I have all of these now on CD.

Aerosmith (released 1973), Get Your Wings (released 1974), Toys in the Attic (released 1975)

SIMON AND GARFUNKEL

I liked some of their songs from the radio but wasn't terribly into them. However, one of my childhood friends REALLY got into them when we hit high school, so I had a look through my folks' collection after he turned me on to them and found these albums. I remember really liking a lot of the lesser-known tracks and I still enjoy many of these songs.

Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme (released 1966), Sounds of Silence (released 1966), Greatest Hits (released 1972)

JANIS JOPLIN

Joplin In Concert (released 1972)

What a voice! Again, always heard the songs on the radio but this was the only album my parents had on vinyl. Luckily, it's a blistering document of Joplin with three different incarnations of her band. The heavy and psychedelic sound of Big Brother and the Holding Company gives way to her jazzier Kozmic Blues Band before finishing up with the funkier Full Tilt Boogie Band she was using when she died.

BILLY JOEL

I consider Billy Joel a guilty pleasure of mine, although I don't really know why since he's got loads of huge songs and albums and is well-regarded in the music world. Maybe it's just because he doesn't jibe with the rest of what I listen to, so I feel like people are surprised when I reveal I'm a huge fan. I remember hearing tons of these songs on the radio as a kid, especially in the car with my mum since she's a big fan. Once I found out we had these records, I listened to them all the time. The Stranger (released 1977) is his greatest album, I think...it's certainly my favorite. 52nd Street (released 1978) is nearly as great. Later on in high school when my best friend revealed he was a huge fan, too, we shared a love for all of Billy's albums on CD, but these two were where I first started. I do have to say, also, that I vastly preferred his 70s sound to what he was putting out during my school years (ie Storm Front and River of Dreams, event though eventually I realized those were pretty good albums, too).

JEFFERSON AIRPLANE

The Worst of Jefferson Airplane (released 1970)

Another band that I really like, but mainly their singles I'd heard on the radio. Still a great collection of their best tunes on this album, and as a kid I always got a kick out of how they called their greatest hits album the "worst."

PAUL McCARTNEY

Obviously, as a huge Beatles fan, I also like their solo work, none more so than Paul's. This was the only record of his we had, Pipes of Peace (released 1983). It's not one of his best albums but there are a few decent tracks on it. I do remember wondering why it wasn't as good as his Beatles stuff and the Wings stuff I always heard on the radio!

GENESIS

A Trick of the Tail (released 1976)

I didn't become a fan of old school Genesis until later in life (in my 20s) because all I knew of them from a kid were the slick AOR songs they played on the radio in the 1980s. My mum was a huge fan of them and Phil Collins' stuff then as well, so I never got into this record until my dad played me the title track and I realized this was very different from what they later became. It's now one of my favorite albums of theirs. The artwork looks great, much better on a full-sized album than on the CD I now have.

PETER FRAMPTON

I always liked Frampton and I remember my dad had a copy of Frampton Comes Alive! that I used to hear him playing a lot (I couldn't find it when I was putting this piece together...I'll have to ask him where it is). This was one of Peter's albums that came before it, Wind of Change (released in 1972). I liked this record, especially "All I Want to Be (Is By Your Side)," but I didn't really appreciate it (or the rest of his solo stuff) until I got older and realized how great a guitarist and writer he was.

That wraps up my journey back in time to when I was a kid learning all about music and soaking it all in, figuring out what I liked and, later on, how I could incorporate it into my own musical style. I hope you've all enjoyed it and that it's inspired take some time to look back on where you came from in terms of music and it's importance in your life. At the very least, I hope it inspires you to dig through your records and see what gems you may have forgotten about!

As always, please feel free to comment or share your own memories in the comments section below!

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