The Savage Animal 08.12.09: Judging An Album By Its Cover

Posted by Mikey MiGo on 08.12.2009

Believe it or not, in a world of digital distribution the “album cover” still lives on. In this week’s edition of The Savage Animal, 411’s Mikey MiGo takes a look at and rates 10 different album covers from today’s top selling artists. From Fabolous to Marilyn Manson to Demi Lovato and Dream Theater, we judge a book by its cover.


I'm not sure if you knew this, but I'm really the mother of Michael Jackson's children. Granted, I'm a male which means I lack the proper equipment to birth a child. There's also the fact that I'd of been a teenager when the first one was born. Shit. I just ruined my case. If I were a teenage male, then that means I'd of been too old at the time for him to even give me a second look. I suggest to anyone plotting an evil scheme to not type your thoughts out without a delete key nearby.

For the two people who care about my third no-budget independent movie, here's a small update. There's not a whole lot left of the current project to shoot. There are a few bits and pieces left to pick up over the next week or so, but other than that all we really have is one shooting day left. I did some pre-editing with some of the footage we have so far. If all works as it will, it'll be close to two hours. I'm really not sure how that happened. My personal deadline for production is the end of the month. So by this time next month I'll be editing my balls off and stressing out to unspeakable proportions. Meanwhile, preproduction for the forth movie begins…

I finished up the entire series of "The Larry Sanders Show" the other day. I can honestly say that I don't think I watched one minute of the show when it was on. We even had HBO and a cheater box (remember those?) at the time it was on, but I still never watched it. Over the past month or so that I've been watching the six seasons of the show I've come to the conclusion that it's one of the best comedy series I have ever seen. Larry, Hank, Artie, Phil, Darlene, and all the characters made the show awesome. Then with guests/characters played by the likes of Jon Stewart, Sarah Silverman, Jeremy Piven, Roseanne, and others… it was gold. The timing, flow, and stories were all dead on. It's hard to think of many comedy series that are better or even AS good as "The Larry Sanders Show". If you know any, please give a shout out. Seriously.

How is Jimmy Fallon getting better guests than Conan? I watch both shows regularly, but if you'd of told me that I'd be enjoying Fallon more than Conan a year ago then I'd of probably shanked you with a Philips head screw driver. I'm a huge Conan fan. I have an old autographed picture of him hanging in my office as I type this. I want Conan to succeed, but I think the network will have to give him a bit more leeway in his antics. I know the 11:30 spot is supposed to be tamer than the 12:30 slot, but really… WHY? It's ELEVEN THIRTY! The kids should have been to sleep long ago. That's not saying that Fallon is any more "edgy". Fallon is like a modern minded Jay Leno. He's cheesy, practical, and borders on the likable/lame line more than he should. Still, he's fun to watch and the show has come together very nicely. I'm confident that Conan will get there again. I'm just impatient.

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CURRENT ALBUM COVERS (AUGUST 2009)
Like You Even Pay For Music Anymore…
Every music fan has their favorite album covers of all time. I've seen tons of people wearing shirts with old album covers on them. It's part of the imagery of modern music. Of course we used to have the big 12 inch LPs that would literally give us a frameable piece of artwork. From there it downsized to CDs. While old school folk bitched about it being so small, it was still something. In today's day and age we've hit a pretty hard wall when it comes to album art. Many people don't care, or at least have been programmed not to care, about having a physical representation of the music product of choice. Coming from a guy who keeps ticket stubs from last millennium, that's a heart break.

Still, for now, the album art is still alive. I used to look forward to a new album being released. I'd get the album as soon as I could, go home, put on headphones, listen, and read/look. If the album was good then having it in my hand was like a trophy of good taste. With the internet, the artist and their art are much more accessible. The mystery and illusion of your favorite musician is gone. I'm not complaining about that. While twitter, MySpace, and the like panders to their celebrity, it also shows many as human and less "god-like". It's really a double-sided sword. I've seen a lot of artists include a pdf file or something equivalent with their downloadable album, it's just not the same.

I don't think album covers will be gone completely any time soon, but it's a fading area. Before it fades into oblivion there's still some artists out there who have a few tricks up their creative sleeves. Most notably, just look at any TOOL album to be released. That's always good for a "wow. this is pretty awesome" experience. While it's not as grandeur as it used to be, there are still some sleepers out there that always impress me. I'm am art nerd, what can I say? With that, I pay attention to this kind of thing.

I took a look at the Top 200 selling albums. There are plenty of artists on the list that aren't to my musical liking and some that are. But it's not about me, it's about the masses. The masses, as mindless as they can be, apparently enjoy THESE albums more than any others. I just went down the list, occasionally picking one here and there. There's no order to this madness. This is just a critique of ten selected album covers that are currently on the charts. Feel free to disagree, but know that you're probably wrong.


Album: "Loso's Way"
Artist: Fabolous
Cover:

The 411: As of the time I write this column, "Loso's Way" is number one on the Billboard charts. Apparently this is a concept album and the Deluxe Edition(NOT featured above) has a thirty three minute movie to go with it. That's always cool. I'm a fan of concept albums and support artists who use other mediums to express their music. Sadly, without looking, I'm going to assume this "movie" is about "the streets" and involves drugs, cops, women, guns, and at least three jacked references to the movie "Scarface". (Mikey MiGo actually goes and looks it up.) Ha! I was right! It's based on "Carlito's Way". Generic. Just like this cover.
Rating: 3.0


Album: "The E.N.D."
Artist: Black Eye Peas
Cover:

The 411: For some reason a lot of people enjoy the music of "The Black Eye Peas". I am not one of those people and I'm content with that. I'd say their brand of "pop-hop" is like daggers to my ear drums only that would be insulting to daggers. This cover isn't anything special, but I kind of like it. The robotic/trippy face is nothing new, but aesthetically, it's done nicely. I even like the font they went with. It's got a retro spacey look to it. If I were a fan, I'd probably want to pick up a shirt with that text on it. I'm not a fan, but individually these artists seem better on their own. I know it's an acronym for "The Energy Never Dies", but I hope this really is "The END" for this group. Pretty decent cover though.
Rating: 6.0


Album: "Here We Go Again"
Artist: Demi Lovato
Cover:

The 411: This cover made me feel a little uncomfortable when I first saw it. It's like she's holding up one finger to tell the world "In just over ONE year, I'll be 18!" There's not much to say about this cover. It's "Generic Pop Cover #7". We've seen this cover before and we'll see it again. It's not a horrible cover. It's just unimaginative and bland, which from what I gather suites the music it's promoting. She seems cool though as a person. I saw her on a talk show and apparently she's a big fan of metal and had a cool personality. I have a feeling she's going to come out of her shell at any time and do something with some edge. In ten years, if she's still around, this cover will be looked back on with lots of humor. Like I said, she seemed cool so that's mainly wishful thinking.
Rating: 4.0


Album: "Relapse"
Artist: Eminem
Cover:

The 411: Continuing the trend of artists that I'm not a fan of is Eminem. Again, just not my cup of tea. I appreciate the guy's wit and talent, but I can't get into his music. For some reason I've noticed that MANY white rappers take huge gasps of breath between almost every line in a verse. I blame Eminem for that. It's not always there, but it's there enough to bug me for some reason. Whatever. To each their own. I actually like this cover a lot. The scatter of pills to make up his face is not only an interesting visual, but it matches up with the whole "Relapse" theme of the album. Probably one of the better popular album covers out there right now.
Rating: 7.5


Album: "21st Century Breakdown"
Artist: Green Day
Cover:

The 411: I really like this cover. So much that I won't even jump into witty banter about how Green Day unintentionally destroyed punk music. This isn't an "album cover", but more of "album art". Key word there being "art". The colors used here pop and the orange/red/yellow combo makes it comforting and draws you in. The design is like art-school graffiti, in which it's a little too precise to be "real". Nonetheless, I really like the lay out. It seems so simple, but it's still enthralling enough to find yourself staring at it for a little while.
Rating: 8.0


Album: "Horehound"
Artist: The Dead Weather
Cover:

The 411: This album seems to be growing on me. At first I wasn't big on Alison's vocals, but it's not as bad as my first impression. I still say "I Cut Like a Buffalo" is the best track though. It's like the perfect "Hipster-Pimp" song by all accounts. I like the visuals of the cover. Jack White is involved, so of course it has that "retro" vibe to it. You glance at it and it seems plain, but upon looking at it you start to lose focus. It's almost abstract, but not quite. Not being able to explain it makes me like it more.
Rating: 8.0


Album: "Monuments & Melodies"
Artist: Incubus
Cover:

The 411: Incubus and I have an odd relationship. I always said that old Incubus sounds like old Chili Peppers and new Chili Peppers sounds like new Incubus. I was a fan of Incubus during their more funky early years and then the next two big hit LPs. From there, I've downgraded myself from "fan" to "supporter". Yeah, this IS a "Greatest Hits" album so I'm not so "meh" about it. Despite that, the cover is still an original art piece. In fact, this specific artwork was drawn by singer Brandon Boyd. I should have known with the dude being an artist and all, but I liked this cover the same before that fact. I think it's a mermaid slam dunking on a hoop that's connected to a sea monster. Whatever your interpretation is, it's good stuff.
Rating: 7.5


Album: "The Ecstatic"
Artist: Mos Def
Cover:

The 411: It's not "Black on Both Sides" or even "The New Danger", but I think people are really sleeping on this album. The lyrics are strong as ever and it has really good production making it a great mid afternoon album to crank up while working on projects (like this very column for instance). The cover is simple. It's a red negative of a figure jumping from what appears to be from rooftop to rooftop. I appreciate the simplicity of it, but it still doesn't do it for me. The cover would have made for a way better back cover that front. It's an interesting piece, but it just feels like a still shot of something much more interesting going on.
Rating: 5.0


Album: "Black Coulds & Silver Linings"
Artist: Dream Theater
Cover:

The 411: I'm not too into Dream Theater. They have my respect for sure, but just not a band I ever really got into. Maybe I'll give them a proper "First Impression" in the near future. When skimming through the newer album covers, this one stood out like a sore thumb. This cover is insane! I'm a fan of abstract works, but this one is a mind fuck. Along with selected objects of symbolism, there's a child going through a door that takes him from a dark night to a bright blue day. Not only is this album art creative, but it's very well done. An interesting note about artist Hugh Syme is that he's actually played keyboard for RUSH from time to time along with designing pretty much all their album covers. Syme seems to of outdone himself here. This is my favorite and easily the best cover of today's list.
Rating: 9.0


Album: "The High End of Low"
Artist: Marilyn Manson
Cover:

The 411: I remember being creeped out a little by the "Smells Like Children" cover. Then with the controversial "Antichrist Superstar" and "Mechanical Animals" I was a big fan of the imagery that Manson used. Manson's imagery always had a "this is the last thing I see before the apocalypse" feel to it. Uneasy, edgy, controversial, and creepy were the best adjectives to describe it all. That changes with his most recent release. While I do consider it his best work musically since "Mechanical Animals", the artwork is a huge disappointment. I would assume there are a lot of pictures from this specific photo shoot that would have been better than this. It's like he's holding neon Frisbee over his head. The coloring and composition is fine, but for an album cover it doesn't do the music half the justice it deserves. I understand Manson is attempting to grow as an artist, like any good artist should, but this is lackluster. Something hand drawn by Manson would have been much cooler in this fan's opinion.
Rating: 6.0


What are some of your more recent favorite album covers? Please leave your obscure/"in the know" picks below.

Disagree with the Ratings? Comment away!

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RANDOM VIDEO(s) OF THE WEEK
"Who The EFF Is Jarvis Cocker?!"
"Further Complications" by Jarvis Cocker (Live 2008)

The 411:I have never heard of "Pulp" or Jarvis Cocker until about two weeks ago. I was watching Fallon and this is what I saw. For my tastes, it was a very strong first impression. The music is catchy and "funkified", while the vocals are spastic and pretty witty. In my book that's a win. Cocker's stage presence isn't over the top or anything, but stands pretty big and entertaining throughout. If this is any indication, this could be another artist to add to my collection and playlists.

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RANDOM MOVIE REVIEW IN 411 WORDS OR LESS
"REPO! THE GENETIC OPERA"
STARRING ALEXA VEGA, PAUL SORVINO, ANYTHONY STEWART HEAD, SARAH BRIGHTMAN, PARIS HILTON, BILL MOSLEY, OGRE, TERRANCE ZDUNICH, SARAH POWER
"Zydrate comes in a little glass vial!"… "A little glass vial?"… "A little glass vial!" If you read that to yourself and enjoyed it then there's a good chance you'd already seen this movie. It was released last year, but apparently hasn't done as well as hoped or it should have. There are certain rock musicals that I have a place for in my heart. I have experiences with "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" and because of that I can tolerate the movie. That being said I don't think I've watched it in about half a decade. Then there's a very guilty pleasure in "Hedwig and The Angry Inch". It's a bit uncomfortable for those who are too uncomfortable, but under the bizarre façade is a beautiful story. It's one of my favorites (Top 25ish) and I'd recommend it to anyone to view at least once. Then out of nowhere, I was bitch slapped with "Repo! The Genetic Opera". The movie is set in 2056 and focuses on how cosmetic and heavy surgeries have become a thing of high priced glamour. So much that Geneco, the company who pretty much runs shit, has gotten it legalized to REPOSSESS HUMAN ORGANS! The company is owned by a vile man(Sorivino) and with his two sons the ill tempered(Mosely) and the lady-killer(Orge),and the attention and surgery whore daughter(Hilton) basically do whatever they want. The Repo Man is sent out to take back organs of people who didn't keep up on their bills. There's a new drug called "zydrate" that eases the pain of surgery. The only way to get this drug is via grave robbers who extract it from corpses. Did I mention that like 90% of all dialogue is sung? Yeah. It's dark, twisted, creative as fuck, and probably the only movie besides "The Hangover" this year that has kept me talking about it. There's SOOOOO much going on in this movie that it's really hard to describe. To me, the graverobber(Zdunich) and Repoman(Head) own the movie. If you're weary about it being a musical or opera then you're in for a treat. It's just an awesome piece of art. I'm telling all my friends, family, and now you. SEE THIS MOVIE. BUY THE DVD.

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WRESTLING WITH PILLOWS
Looking Out From the Inside.
RAW was boring. I was well rested going into the show, but by the second hour I was fighting to stay awake. Then once it was over and I readjusted my brain, I was awake again. Things were just too lackluster and half assed. Sgt. Slaughter likes America more than Canada? Well, tickle me ah-fucking-mazed! The second the contract on a pole match was announced I KNEW the Miz was going to be involved. So much for storylines set in place LAST WEEK. It's disappointing because not only was it a COMPLETE WASTE OF TIME, I wanted to see Miz actually flourish on Smackdown. I am a huge Jericho fan, but lately he just feels so down tempo. I understand he's a cocky heel, but that doesn't mean he has to turn the volume down on his awesomeness. Mark Henry came to RAW and got over more than I can ever remember him being and now he's saddled with Hornswoggle? Come on! We swap THE BRIAN KENDRICK (and Ricky Ortiz) for Chris Masters and Eugene? If I were making this trade with basketball cards I'd have to hide my Beckett.

There was SOME good. I am a big fan of the slow burn feud of MVP vs. Swagger. Despite Bourne losing again this week, I like how he's featured and his work with Swagger has been impressive. People are going to bitch about Evan getting "berried", but they're STUPID. He's like a hundred and forty pounds tops. This makes him an underdog in the eyes of a casual onlooker. If he overcame every obstacle and won every match then that perception would be skewed. If anything, consider it him paying his dues. Nothing wrong with that. Other than that, after the tedious DX skits I laughed very hard at the superkick to the little girl. It was admittedly stupid, but it caught me off guard. I'd still rather see a heel Michaels or even a Michaels not attached to Triple H's hip.

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CHECK THIS OUT! [CHEAP PLUGS]
Things I do while not writing this column.

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That's all for this week. I had a few ideas last week about this week's column and none of them happened. In fact, I couldn't even remember what they were. I have to start keeping a list. Until next time… Have a Great Week!