The Savage Animal 01.11.12 Album Art in Review [Winter 2012]
Posted by Mikey MiGo on 01.11.2012
Album covers in 2012? They DO exist. In this edition of The Savage Animal Mikey MiGo takes a look at some of the album covers from recent hit albums. Once you remember what the hell album covers were click the link for an update on Rockstar Wrestling, a review of “Hobo With A Shotgun”, a preview of “21 Jump Street”, a TNA rant, and More!
The thing about TNA is that it just sucks. There is no way to really sugar coat it without completely covering your eyes to the complete embarrassment that it is. The fact that TNA sucks… well, sucks. Since WCW and ECW fell around the turn of the Millenium, the WWE has had no real competition. In 2012, that hasn't changed one bit. You can say that MMA, more specifically UFC is now their competition but not really. They're more in competition with boxing if anything. The WWE stands alone as the only mainstream wrestling product worth knowing.
I'll get the entire "positive" portion out of the way…
The production quality is pretty slick. Outside of WWE, no one comes close to the visual presentation of TNA. It's not that TNA doesn't have a lot of talented wrestlers. They sure as hell do. Austin Aries, Motor City Machine Guns, AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, Christopher Daniels, and all of those X- Division/old school Ring of Honor guys are bad ass. There ARE some former WWE performers on the roster who still have a lot of worth and do contribute like Angle, Bully Ray, and Jarrett. The female wrestlers are really good… and hot. All of these great athletes put on great athletic performances, but it's not great enough to make anyone care.
That's the biggest problem I have with TNA. It doesn't, in ANY shape or form, make me want to emotionally invest in any of their storylines or matches. Their storylines and I think the tone of the show is really bland. It's easy to compare TNA to WCW because it's falling into the same trap. TNA, like WCW, had that "southern" feel to it. Mike Tenay and Taz suck as announcers. The writing feels disjointed. There is no soul to the show. It's a lot talented souls floating around adrift in a big sea of randomness. Occasionally something will be cool for a split second but you can ALWAYS rest assured knowing that it'll end up being fucked up. That's another problem. TNA fucks up everything.
Like I said, there IS talented "former WWE" guys, but there are others who have no place on a wrestling show. Do we NEED Sting? Do we NEED Hogan? Do we NEED Steiner? Flair? No. The ratings don't go up enough for it to be worth it at all. It's just a despirate grasp at relevance. You want to relevant? Give wrestling fans, die hards AND casuals, something to want to tune into every week.
It's not my job or any fan's job to fantasy book and tell TNA what to do. It's their vision to share. The problem is that their vision sucks. It mainly sucks because there doesn't seem to be a "vision" at all. That's another problem.
ALBUM ART IN REVIEW [WINTER 2012]
Album Covers? In 2012? Let's Take a Look!In 2012, the idea of "album art" has merely become a JPEG thumbnail image to represent a sound file. I'm an appreciator of displayable art, but we can't ignore the progress of how things are evolving. The old people around for vinyl were pissed when music evolved to the cassette because the art space went from a foot squared to smaller than an index card. Then things eventually went to CD. Now its mp3 and I'm sure it'll evolve into something else before too long. The point being…visual art will always be part of modern music.
I read a while back ago that Mos Def released a digital album, but still got his vision of album art out there by including a shirt with the art on it. I thought that was a great idea and I'm surprised it didn't take off. What's cooler than having people WEAR your album art? I think this idea and concept should be looked at again because there is really something there.
Until something innovative happen, here are some JPEGs of recent albums. I'm going to look at them, give my personal opinion. I'm not saying I'm right, but I'm definitely not wrong. It's all subjective. I've had a deep appreciation for art, layouts, and things of that nature. I'll try to use that experience to not sound completely stupid. Feel free to discuss…
Album: "21"
Artist: Adele
This is the biggest album of the past year. Adele really broke through big time with this album and the slew of hits from it. The cover of this album is a classy and candid black and white photograph of Adele. It's a very casual "captured moment" type of shot. I'm also a fan of the fact that there is no pure white. All of the "white" is a shade of grey. It's a good blend of shade and it's really easy to look at. The text on it is as simple as can be, but compliments the message nicely. Rating: 8.0
Album: "Camp"
Artist: Childish Gambino
Community actor Donald Glover released a hip hop album in November under the alias of "Childish Gambino". The singles, the videos, the talk show appearances, and everything I've seen or read from this project seems to be on fire. I don't see this guy's skills being kept quiet for too long. The album cover is simple as shit. It's a "letterbox" looking album cover. A simple white text with the info above and below a single image. It's a shot of the woods with a weird sun ray coming down. It's simplistic and all that. The picture might be a inside reference or a personal shout out, but to the average fan it's boring. Rating: 3.0
Album: "Mylo Xyloto"
Artist: Coldplay
Remember U2's "Pop" album with the nine different panels of graffiti/colorful/scribble looking art? If not, look at the newest Coldplay album cover and imagine it looking like at least four times cooler. I like the fact that the artist used a lot of color and I genuinely do dig the use of font and typography. It's just too similar to the classic U2 album. Can this band EVER stay away from U2 or Radiohead? Seriously… EVER? Yeesh! Rating: 7.0
Album: "The Dreamer/The Believer"
Artist: Common
This is a really cool cover. I used to really like looking at my dad's old album covers because there were times you didn't know who the artist was because the cover was some weird abstract image. Think about the weird rainbow/triangle thing Pink Floyd had. I get a vibe like that from this Common album. It's a weird abstract diamond looking image with some sort of weird explosive energy coming from it. The album titles are simple and his name is very nicely added to the top in a perfectly sized level. If this album is as good as the cover then I need to actually listen to it. Rating: 8.0
Album: "Take Care"
Artist: Drake
"The Canadian Johnny Bravo" is back with his second album. I still can't take "Jimmy From DeGrassi" serious at all. His horrible facial hair isn't helping either. He's already a creepy 45 year old at the ripe young age of twenty-whatever. The album cover is interesting though. The colors, the deep golds and greys, the lay out, and all of that is just really well done. It's a really good photograph. My issue is that if I cared enough to think about this album for more than this paragraph I'd be really bothered by not knowing what he's looking at inside that chalice cup thing. Is it Sprite? Is it blood? Is it maple syrup? Is it empty? So many questions… Rating: 7.0
Album: "Ceremonials"
Artist: Florence + The Machine
This is another solid image. It's a really artistic photograph with simplistic text put above and below. The top font is a weird cursive and the album title is some weird shaped letters. It's not bad. The photo is cool. She's REALLY pale, but it makes the red in her hair pop more. The weird soulful expression sums up the artist pretty well. This is a good cover, but it's forgettable. I like her music and stuff, but the art leaves much to be desired. Rating: 7.0
Album: "Torches"
Artist: Foster The People
The track "Pumped Up Kicks" has been making them pretty big, but it's been a steady rise for them lately. Obviously, an indie rock album. That's not a horrible thing, but it's in the ballpark. The cover is a really cool hand drawn image. It looks like a cross between "Where The Wild Things Are" and the cartoon drawings from the "Paranoid Anroid" Radiohead video. A few of the characters are holding touches… and a flash light. Interesting and fun cover. Rating: 7.5
Album: "The Great Escape Artist"
Artist: Janes Addiction
I've not heard anything from this new Janes Addiction album. I've always been a casual supporter of the band and have dug radio singles, but it's never been a band I've gone out of my way for. This is a really bad ass image. This was actually made. This is all miniatures and the character was actually designed and fabricated by Perry Farrell himself. That's cool shit. Lots of detail and time went into this one. It's much more than a classy photograph or a smooth graphic design. You can tell Perry's got an old school appreciation for album art. I'll have to check this album out… Rating: 8.5
Album: "The Path of Totality"
Artist: Korn
What can I say? I'm a teen of the late 90's/early 00's. I'm always going to be a fan of Korn. I'm more of a fan of their first five albums than their most recent five, but I'm not going to hate. The last album was pretty decent in relation to the others. I've still not listened to this album, but the cover isn't doing any favors for it. This album cover has a cool idea in theory. The dark clouds, the light coming from behind the big cut out "Korn" letters. Apparently it has a lot of do with solar eclipses or something. I read what Jonathan Davis and Munky were going for, but it just didn't translate to an exciting album cover. Rating: 5.0
Album: "Born This Way"
Artist: Lady Gaga
I'm not a huge Lady Gaga fan at all. I think she's one of the most overrated artists to come in a LONG time. She's got talent, but her image eclipses any potential for her to be a true musician. She's an entertainer and I get that, but it doesn't really feel like both. My negative opinion aside, this cover is pretty crazy. It looks like a bad graphic design project. Like a bad jokey fan art image. It's a motorcycle with Gaga's arms and head on the bike. How can you not look at this and remember it? THAT makes it a really successful cover. Rating: 9.0
Album: "Here And Now"
Artist: Nickelback
Fuck Nickelback. They suck and they're the worst band to break into the mainstream possibly EVER. That includes the boy bands and Hanson. The kings of mediocrity put out their seventh album in November. The album is a photograph of the Gastown Steam Clock in Vancouver. The clock is set to 11:21 because the album came out on November 21st. How dumb is that? Why not a calendar? Wouldn't that have made more sense? That said, it's a well crafted shot. I'll begrudgingly give it that much props… Rating: 7.0
Album: "El Camino"
Artist: The Black Keys
The cover isn't an "El Camino" at all, but rather a Chrysler Town & Country van. When the band first started they toured in a van like that one. They did a whole promotional thing where they were selling the van online. They left a phone number, made fake ads, and even launched a website. That's cool. It's a simple image, but it has a back story AND is interactive. The Black Keys win again! Rating: 7.5
What is YOUR favorite recent album cover?
ROCKSTAR WRESTLING UPDATE
Web Series Creator Shares The Preproduction Process.Well, I'm another week into preproduction of Rockstar Wrestling. It's been another busy week. On top of my normal blogging and columnist duties, video editing, shooting other projects, and my normal day-to-day stuff I snuck in another fifty plus hours of Rockstar Wrestling stuff.
This week I designed and edited another "studio set". It came a long really nicely. It's as cool as the "Lizard Layer Studio" that you can see Angelica Cade sitting in, but still different. The objective was to come up with a cool and fresh looking set for the two match announcing VJs to sit in and discuss the pending events. It sounds weird and tedious and I CAN confirm that. Spending hours on such small aspects is what I think will separate us from other professional wrestling productions out there.
I've exchanged emails with our representative at Sonicbids.com and we've EXTENDED THE SUBMISSION DEADLINE TO 2/1! Translation: Keep submitting music! As I type this, I've listened to all 861 bands that have submitted their music. There are some GREAT bands and artists out there and it's a pleasure to have them on board. So far we've gotten about 50 selected bands signed, sealed, and official. So what I'm saying is that if YOU or SOMEONE YOU KNOW makes music and wants to be part of this project them you have a few weeks left.
The immediate plan and needs are:
* Finish up the music submissions so I can finalize the programming and set list for Season One!
* Finish and finalize the casting of wrestlers/fighters and nonphysical performers. We have two or three spots left. If you're a trained professional wrestler from the Chicagoland area hit me up. Same goes for entertainers/fans interested in nonphysical roles.
* Continue organizing the production and ironing out as many production details as possible.
* Shoot a "Welcome to Rockstar Wrestling V.2" intro-mercial. In this edition we will introduce you to one or two more faces of Rockstar Wrestling, explain the concept and scheduling, and really just answer as much as we can while entertaining you.
"21 JUMP STREET"
I remember when I first heard about this movie. A lot of people were up in arms over Jonah Hill being involved with it. I really didn't care. This show aired riiiight before television shows took consciousness in my small child brain. I knew it from syndication, but it wasn't for me. So a action-comedy based on the show isn't going to irk me too much. I enjoy Jonah Hill's past work enough to give pretty much anything he's in a chance. I do notice this is his first notable release since his insane weight loss. I'm happy for him and hope he's good, but something seems weird about how fast he lost it. I think if we were exposed more to the loss process it would be different, but it was like "BAM! Look! He's skinny and he has a douchey hair style!". Whatever. I was still curious. Then people shat hard on the idea of Channing Tatum being involved, but he seems a lot cooler than the "pretty boy action movie and car movie" type of dude. He was good in "Date Night" so I'm a little more open-minded. The trailer made the movie look a lot better than you'd want to imagine. So many of these TV reimaginings and old school remakes are just complete shit. This looks different and fun. Rob Riggle showing up to work on any project is cool in my book. I'm also a big fan of Ellie Kemper from her work on "The Office". It looks edgy, funny, and enjoyable enough. In the least, I mildy anticipate this movie. It's not going to make or break my winter, but I'd imagine it'd be a decent movie. The only thing I worry about is the actual "student" characters being too annoying. I'm going to watch this for sure though…
RANDOM MOVIE REVIEW
"HOBO WITH A SHOTGUN"
Holy shit. That's all I can say. This movie is amazing. It's a "Grindhouse" movie in the same vein as the throwbacks that Tarintino and Rodriguez made a few years ago. Those movies were fun for what they were, QT's being a lot better. This was one of those fake trailers like "Machete" that got tacked on. It won a contest at SXSW and then eventually got made. They got Rutger Hauer playing a homeless guy down on his luck. The town he finds himself in is so horrible that he ends up snapping and indulging in some vigilante justice. I don't want to expose the plot TOO much because this movie needs to be experienced in the purest of minds. Going into it and not knowing exactly what to expect made for a pretty exciting ride. The gore and cheese of the movie is like the old grind house movies we all love. It reminded me of the original "Death Race 2000" movie in the sense that it just didn't give a fuck at all about how far it took things or how hokey certain scenes are. It's also a lot like an old blaxpoitation film. It had that old grainy and scratchy grit, the low budget crush, and a self serving practicality that would make Lloyd Kaufman applaud. I can't recommend this movie enough. It's not a movie that I'll rewatch a million times, but I know there are those who will hold his movie as one of their favorites. I can respect that. Either way, seeing this movie is a must but I warn it's not for the weak at heart or dim witted snobs. Enjoy! B+
THE BIG COMEDOWN
That's all for this week. It's fun to come back to an old idea like that. I'm surprised it's not been a regular issue every so often. I feel like I've missed a lot of really notable and interesting covers. I should figure out a cool idea. Maybe I'll start judging and critiquing random band's album arts like I do with random bands videos and random band's entire studio discography. Speaking of which, that's what's up next week. I'm going to listen to a discography of a random band I'm not accustomed to. Anyone have ideas for bands that have four to six studio albums? Anyone?... Anyone? Until next time… Have a Great Week!
