My Music And Song's

Posts Tagged ‘Band Member’

Album covers are conspicuous in their expression of the bands’ visual side. An album cover says “I’m a painting with words”. The cover may be symbolic, a summary of stage performances, propaganda-like, the artwork of a band member or simply designed to grab more sales.   Some are so simplistic in nature that two colors can say everything there is to be said. Whatever the message conveyed, album covers should artistically parallel the sound of the music.

When music first became available in a home listening format, it was engraved on large wax disks. Stored in compressed paper sleeves, the  artwork reflected the classical music popular at the time. Black and white printing was the only kind available.  At first, classical works of art were sketched and then printed on the covers. For example, the Venus de Milo was printed for Korsakov’s musical styling. As the technology of photography developed, a few select albums had photographs of classical art printed on them. People from that time would have been shocked at how the album cover would evolve.

During the 1940’s, some album covers were both photographic and printed in color.  Some covers were airbrushed paintings, or pastel drawings. The popularity of these impressionistic photographs quickly waned, as the album cover gave way to color photographs. Many of the new covers depicted the feel-good sounds of the albums, with people frolicking on the beaches or in fields. Other covers featured photographs of the artist or band itself, with the person or band performing on stage or simply in front of a microphone. A few albums today use the same concept.