The Art of the Album: 10 Album Covers that Made Me Say, "Whoa," Part Three

Albums 5, 6, and 7.

Muse By Clio has a regular feature I always click on: Art of the Album - 10 Great Album Covers. Each weekly column has a guest writer, usually someone directly or indirectly in the ad business.

Here’s the third installment of this series on fabulous album covers.

Beck - GameBoy Variations - (Ghettochip Malfunction “Hell Yes” EP)

(2004)

It’s the early aughts. The iTunes store is not even a year old. But I’m already hooked. Tired of delving into strangers’ music files via Limewire and picking up who-knows-what kind of cyber-transmitted disease, I am overjoyed I can cleanly (both virus-wise and legal-wise) download music.

iTunes’ New Releases area serves up Beck’s latest EP. I love Beck. And I’m looking forward to my brain kick-flipping around to some clever free-association lyrics.

The cover art only stokes that fire. Simple line drawing. Guy in full headbang mode. Stacked Marshall amps. Wait… What’s he got plugged in there? A GameBoy?!

Brilliant!

Playing all four of the 30-second samples, I quickly figure out they’re all done in 8-bit. Beck had pushed the envelope, building on the Moog synthesizer trend of the ‘90s (Moog Cookbook) and morphing it into 8-bit. I bought the songs “Ghettochip Malfunction” (Hell Yes) and “Bit Rate Variations in B-Flat” (Girl) immediately. I also bought his full-length CD “Guero” and realized the four cuts on the EP are 8-bit versions of songs found on that album. And to be honest, I like the 8-bit versions better.

This EP was my first introduction to music made solely from 8-bit technology. Today, you can find your favorite songs in 8-bit, too.

The Police - Ghost In The Machine

(1981)

I’ll admit it. For years, this cover confused the hell out of me. Looking like some alien digital readout, I always tried to decipher what it said. That was my mistake.

I didn’t fully get it until I saw this cover done in a different color scheme (white on a blue background). Now I can’t unsee it and I can’t believe I went that long without recognizing it.

The Rolling Stones - Some Girls

(1978)

I could pick several Stones albums. The sideshow freaks of “Exile on Main Street.” The bizarre layers of “Let It Bleed.” The tattooed faces of Mick on the outside and Keith on the inside of “Tattoo You.” But I’ll go with “Some Girls.” This was, in a way, my first intro to the band. I didn’t own the album until later, but it was released at a time when I was searching for more musical depth. Of course, I heard always heard the band’s name bandied about with The Beatles. And the year of its release, they hosted SNL.

The bright colors and the re-creation of a wig advertisement certainly grabs the eyeballs. And the band members sprinkled about in pseudo drag, complete with prices and song titles adds humor. I especially love the different typography for each wig/face combination. All of which adds up to an irresistible outrageousness.

495 words. Including these.