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The Album Cover Is Dead?

I don't think so, but Peter Saville does...

  • by Andy Day
  • Sunday, August 17, 2008
  • filed in: Indie
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In today's Independent on Sunday legendary album cover designer Peter Saville has pronounced that album art is dead.

Saville is famous for the iconic artwork of New Order and Joy Division who he worked with extensively, he has also designed album covers for Pulp, Suede and Roxy Music.

“We have a social disaster on our hands,” he said, speaking from his studio this weekend, “The things that pop music was there to do for us have all been done... there's nothing to rail against now.

“When I was 15, in the North-west of England ... the record cover was like a picture window to another world. Seeing an Andy Warhol illustration on a Velvet Underground album was a revelation ... It was the art of our generation ... true pop art.”

But is Saville really only speaking for his generation? After all most 15 year olds in the North-west of England today won't be aware that they're missing out on Andy Warhol's artwork, as it's available to view in the mass media and on t-shirts in Afflecks Palace. The rate at which most 15 year olds in 2008 are consuming images in the media is beyond anything Saville would have dreamed of as a teenager in Manchester.

Is the artwork of bands to be consumed elsewhere, rather than packaged around a 12 inch disc of black plastic? Will classic album artwork of the future be all the surrounding marketing of an LP, its TV advert, its website, its promo videos?

Or will the 5cm squared artwork included on your iPod when you view the album details of your favourite tune be all there is left, a postage stamp size footnote of music history?

For now, album artwork is still alive and well. To prove my point, here's 10 album covers from this year that manage to encapsulate the sound of an album with imagery. Check 'em out and if you don't agree or you want to suggest something better then leave a comment.
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(35)
  • I dont see why the death of the CD should be seen as the death of album artwork as well. I think the Santogold cover shows perfectly how good artwork still exists in 2008. And whats wrong if it only appears in a square inch display on an iPod? It’s still there. It’s still good to look at. Embrace the future.

    ~ by JG 8/17/2008

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  • The artwork appears all over the place anyway, not just on your ipod. Peter is from the age of touch and smell.

    ~ by divxdavex 8/17/2008

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  • The artwork had to be nothing less then austonishing 20 years ago, when there wasn’t such a thing as digital promotion. Artwork made a big part of a record’’s marketing, and so, maybe, the influx of great art could be explained. My favorite from 2008 is Viva la Viva by Coldplay and Nude with Boots from the Melvins (totally badass cover!)

    ~ by Tibi 8/17/2008

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  • I reckon it still has to be astonishing, but there’s always been really lazy album art. Anything with the artist just posing, logo and album title is boring.

    ~ by Abdi 8/17/2008

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  • Hi. Yeah. Don’t know what your creds. as an art critic are, but that’’s not a renaissance" painting. try again.

    ~ by Nigel Mellish. 8/17/2008

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    • And your creds as an art critic are...?

      ~ by Andy's mum 8/17/2008

    • yeah, that’s a romantic painting, not the renaissance period

      ~ by Erik 8/17/2008

    • Art critic or not, Nigel here obviously knows more about Renaissance art than Andys mum or the author. The painting is Liberty Leading the People by Eugne Delacroix. Its about the French Revolution. Don’t trust my "creds"? Look it up. p.s. I do really like the album cover.

      ~ by J 8/18/2008

    • Yeah, sorry about that. Looking at it now I don’t know why I put renaissance. I fired the cover descriptions off pretty quickly and was probably thinking revolution! Thanks for correcting me :)

      ~ by Andy 8/18/2008

  • the album cover is DEAD.

    ~ by STEVE MCQ 8/17/2008

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  • Ah what the heck does Peter know anyways! He’ll be alright! RD www.anondo.alturl.com

    ~ by Ron Delta 8/17/2008

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  • Art is alive and well - its a different media now

    ~ by Dre 8/17/2008

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  • The Coldplay cover is based on a painting from the French Revolution. Guns, top hats, and the modern French flag weren’t exactly staples of renaissance painting.

    ~ by Art 8/17/2008

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    • Yeah, I didn’t put much research into my cover descriptions. I hope you can forgive me.

      ~ by Andy 8/18/2008

  • There is nothing iconic about any of these album covers you posted. Santogold? Are you kidding me? It screams of post-Napster lets make this cool for alt kids Capitol records bullshit.

    ~ by SW 8/17/2008

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    • I wasn’t going for iconic. I was just illustrating that this year that have been decent covers and that album art isn’’t dead yet.

      ~ by Andy 8/18/2008

  • shouldnt music be about sound not packaging?

    ~ by commonsense 8/17/2008

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  • The simple reason that album art will continue to feature despite the ever changing modes of listening is that most people recognize albums through associated imagery first and its music second. What it comes down to is the dominance of the eye over the ear. Album art provides a simple and effective signifier. Its just basic semiotics people!

    ~ by Rory 8/17/2008

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  • Hi, it seems to me that there are good covers nowadays, but what i dont see, is an unifier concept behind them, like the ones you can see in Savilles covers(using modern art elements to represent the spirit of the post punk era, trying to achieve the visual equivalent of the album concept), but thats because Saville had huge control over his work, so he could afford such luxuries. I think thats the true meaning of the #8220;album cover death#8221;. The death of a way of producing this media

    ~ by Cristián 8/17/2008

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  • I dont think album covers are going to die anytime soon, as long as we have to use our eyes, its going to stick around. Maybe the current technology could lead to a more typographical solution(a type logo perhaps), i.e. the cover flow vs the alphabetic list on an ipod. Cover flow is fun for a while, but alphabetic list kick his butt in the long run.

    ~ by Cristián 8/17/2008

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  • Finally check out Vaughan Oliver album covers for 4AD, IMHO, the best album cover designer. Btw, its just my opinion, but i dont really see any beauty in Santagold#8217;’s cover, probably because i havent heard them, which is a huge part of appreciating an album cover. (Sorry about any ortographical or grammatical mistakes, im not very good with english ;P)

    ~ by Cristián 8/17/2008

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    • ^^ exactly this. vaughn oliver and peter saville are the reasons i became a designer in the first place.

      ~ by franko 8/18/2008

  • iPhone: CoverFlow. Need I say more?

    ~ by MCSOKO 8/17/2008

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  • I don’t think the author is aware that vinyls are still bought. They may not be as popular as the CD (at this moment) but people around here by vinyl all the time. Shoot, I bought 4 last week and I’’m waiting for 2 records to come in this week (hopefully.) Vinyl point aside, it’’s still on itunes, ipods, other mp3 players, cd booklets, etc.

    ~ by Anon 8/17/2008

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    • I am very aware that albums are still bought in vinyl format. I am in fact supporting your opinion and saying Peter Saville is a little premature on his pronouncement on the death of album covers.

      ~ by Andy 8/18/2008

  • Not only was your article dull and poorly written, but most of those album covers you used as examples are hideous and unmemorable. I can think of twenty examples of 2008 album art that are better than what you chose.

    ~ by Mark 8/18/2008

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    • Thanks Mark. Almost as dull as your comment? Or duller? Oh and by the way I’m miles better and more interesting than you are, so there.

      ~ by Andy 8/18/2008

    • you could take in SOME constructive critism from Mark, as some of those examples you have chosen are quite horrendus, and well honestly, work against your argument.

      ~ by alex 8/18/2008

  • graffiti’d renaissance painting" FFS its not a renaissance painting

    ~ by him 8/18/2008

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  • Good way to get you thinking on a Monday morning... but andy do you really need to justify your artticle? And that many times? Makes you sound weak.

    ~ by anonanonanon 8/18/2008

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  • Just keeping it real.

    ~ by Andy 8/18/2008

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  • art work,art work just buy their cd not some compressed substandard convenient format.

    ~ by bite on this 8/18/2008

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  • That N*E*R*D album art is pure garbage, not only because it’s become a television for both zune and sneakers, but because it’’s boring and looks like it was put together by a rolling 13 year old with a basic knowledge of photoshop and clip art. It is the opposite of interesting. It is boring, mundane, wanky and entirely up it’’s own asshole. The rest of the choices, fine enough.

    ~ by Louie 8/25/2008

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  • Still tons of great album covers being made. Have to assume that Peter Saville isn’t looking hard enough.

    ~ by comehomenow 9/2/2008

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  • Santogold’s album is not original in the slightest, infact I did a vomiting glitter 2 years ago. Ah well

    ~ by Tristan 9/8/2008

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