Monday, March 30, 2009

Rush - A Farewell to Kings



One of Rush's absolute best albums with vintage cuts they still play live these days such as "Xanadu," "Cindererlla Man" and of course "Closer to the Heart." The album cover is just as memorable, even if there's a Twilight Zone capacity to it... i.e. Burgess Meredith in "Time Enough at Last." Somehow there's always time for an apocalypse in metal and hard rock...

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Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Men at work-Business as usual

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I remember being in seventh grade and seeing a bulletin board full of a project done by eighth graders. This would have been the 82-83 school year. It was art projects and they had to draw or paint an album cover. So is was all the current pop stuff of the day. The ones I remember seeing were Rick Springfield's "Success hasn't spoiled me yet", Survivor's "Eye of the tiger", Steve Miller Band's "Abracadabra" and the one above from Men at work. The drawings of "Business as usual" all looked a lot like the real thing. This impressed me then, but later I came to the realization that middle-schoolers could draw it because it was such a simple cover. It's basic and even dated, but I still like it. My opinion might be based on nostalgia more than anything, but that happens sometimes too.

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Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Iron Maiden, Brave New World



If there were a museum for metal album covers, Iron Maiden would have a special exhibit … or probably even its own wing. Some of this honor derives from their use of one of the most memorable—and most consistently featured—mascots in rock, Eddie.

Artist Derek Riggs gets the credit for creating Eddie and for representing him on the band’s covers for 20 years, from the eponymous debut in 1980 through Brave New World from 2000.

Sadly, however, Iron Maiden and Riggs fell out after he painted the top half of the cover featured here. He stopped designing original work for the band—and it shows, with the sub-par Eddie figures on releases like the most recent A Matter of Life and Death.

So we celebrate this cover, in which Eddie’s all-seeing gaze towers over a futuristic London, presumably as it might appear in the world of Aldous Huxley’s novel of the same name.

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Leeches of Lore-s/t

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I know that whenever I think of mythical kingdoms and castles that I always feel that they need some brightly colored, gigantic leeched to make them complete. Maybe not, but I like this cover for it's odd slightly odd take on the fantasy concept. Reminds me more of a late 70's/early 80's book cover than it does an album cover.

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Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Nashville Pussy - Let Them Eat Pussy



Okay, yeah, this cover is just as rude as it gets, but I've always loved this album, more so for Nashville Pussy's greasy cowpunk played at a monster velocity. It just so happens the over-the-top cunnilingus depiction makes the package that much more fun!

Even in CD form, this boundary-crossing picture unravels to a gatefold alternate picture, and though Ruyter Suys and former bassist Corey Parks are pretty much covered down below, you get more than a glimpse of the goodies upwards, particularly Corey, who had quite the wild child reputation during her tenure in the band.

Does it seem impossible that a band called Nashville Pussy with such a perverted album cover could get a Best Metal Performance Grammy nomination in 1999 for the song "Fried Chicken and Coffee?" Believe it.

Eat my dust, or...

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