What I've noticed from writing this blog is the relationship the music industry has with drugs and sex. For this post I wanted to look more into the use of drugs in the music industry and the effects it has had and continues to have. The idea of recreational drug use came from rock music, as I have hopefully expressed in previous posts, but is also present in techno/club music and rap music today.
Members of rock bands were known to be hard drinking, party-all-night characters who experimented with drugs, and as rock music became more popular and band members became more well known, fans of the music became influenced by the lifestyle. Like I said in my post about psychedelic art, some musicians encouraged fans to take drugs during concerts to add to the listening experience. The band Grateful Dead has become a kind of icon for this, being referenced in popular culture. For example, from the show Family Guy: http://youtu.be/dcynsJ8sWLI
Jerry Garcia from Grateful Dead said "For some people, taking LSD and going to Grateful Dead shows functions like a rite of passage..." (http://ehsanatphys.wetpaint.com/page/Music+%26+Pop+Culture). The point was to take hallucinogenic drugs and "trip" while listening to the music; a popular notion is that the best music was written by musicians when they were under the influence and when they got clean, the music wasn't as good. I personally don't understand this from my experience watching the film Tenacious D: The Pick of Destiny where "tripping" doesn't get them anywhere. This is a song Jack Black sings while suffering the effects of "magic mushrooms": http://youtu.be/n2WqYidC_0Y and a scene where the two characters get high with a bong fashioned from the devils horn and press record on a voice recorder to record what they play while under the influence: http://youtu.be/CPbSEW-xhdQ
Drugs in music was also seen as a way of rebelling against mainstream music. Marilyn Manson's song 'This is the New Shit" is perfect for explaining a desire to rebel against mainstream music. It's lyrics include "everything has been said before, there's nothing left to say anymore" which talks about the repetitive, shallow nature of mainstream music, it all sounds the same, its meaningless. "Sex sex sex" is rather self explanatory, "and don't forget the violence, blah blah blah got your lovey-dovey sad-and-lonely" talks more about the over-used themes of music. A smart lyric from the song is "stick your stupid slogan in" which talks about the commercial nature of mainstream music, to me the song is about how everything meaningful in music has been done and so music started to become vapid, the only goal was to make money not decent music.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Movie Score
After looking at music videos I realised music and moving image don't just come together for music videos, they blend together in films. Score is written by composers under the guidance of the director to enhance the dramatic narrative and emotional impact of the film, all performed by an ensemble of musicians. While songs are not considered part of the score they are used for the same reason, drama, mood, emotion and lyrical symbology. I went searching for some examples to understand why they chose certain music for certain scenes. I came across silent film which is perfect as back then they relied on music to build drama, I looked at Charlie Chaplin: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79i84xYelZI
The music is light and comical to match the exaggerated clown-like movements and facial expressions of the character. At the moment he notices the sleeping lion the music creates a shrill sound, as if to startle the audience like he is startled. It then strips down to low plucks of a guitar in time with his steps as he tip toes away.
Another example of the music reflecting the picture, it heightens in pitch at the drama.
My favourite part is when the man and women begin to interact, the music takes on a romantic, waltz-like tone, perhaps even feminine to imply a romantic interest.
The music is light and comical to match the exaggerated clown-like movements and facial expressions of the character. At the moment he notices the sleeping lion the music creates a shrill sound, as if to startle the audience like he is startled. It then strips down to low plucks of a guitar in time with his steps as he tip toes away.
Another example of the music reflecting the picture, it heightens in pitch at the drama.
My favourite part is when the man and women begin to interact, the music takes on a romantic, waltz-like tone, perhaps even feminine to imply a romantic interest.A more contemporary example of film score is Resident Evil. The music you hear in Charlie Chaplin is vastly different because not only would it not fit to the movements but the mismatched emotion and ambience would make it seem comical or stupid. Because the Resident Evil films are supernatural/action/thrillers the music had to reflect that. I listened to the score composed by Marco beltrami and Marilyn Manson. The main theme song of the film is: http://youtu.be/x8FhcOHXa-M which I feel sums it up well.
Manson translated his work on rock songs into score, so there are unmistakable heavy guitar elements with a melodic feel and droning sound textures (which are very important for the tension, all used to enhance a scene). He took three main elements from the film to incorporate into the music, one was a childish feel because of the Red Queen (The red hologram of a little girl that speaks for the super computer controlling the underground building). Manson is a fan of childrens music and so drew inspiration from imagining Alice (Alice in Wonderland) in the menacing world of Resident Evil filled with decay and biological warfare. The connection is clever, the main characters name is Alice and the super computer, a "homicidal bitch" as Alice refers to her in the second film, is called the Red Queen. For the introduction of the Red Queen, when she first appears, you can hear her theme song which is a childish waltz-like melody.When she comes in again later, when it is clear they have no way out, the theme takes on a darker, more menacing tone. The second element Manson took from the film was an extreme coldness from the sterile, biological side of the story. This is apparent throughout the whole film in the form of sound textures that act as ambient sound, however they verge on music the way they are played. The third element relates to the modern action vibe of the film, a fascist military element. The film is cut in a fast extreme way, is lit in an extreme way and this makes the action scenes the most exciting. The music in these scenes is very electronic, metallic, cold, emotionless, violent. Director Paul W. S. Anderson described it in a behind the scenes interview as violent and relentless like the zombies themselves, the zombies "keep coming and coming and coming... the music keeps going and going and going and it doesn't change." An example from the film of sound textures used to create tension and suspense, to create a cold, emotionless, ambience is http://youtu.be/LQG2buCXigM. The Red Queen's introduction can be seen here http://youtu.be/ssxFf0iCo8Q, it is a long clip but it is great to see and listen. If you want to skip to the action scene it is about 5 minutes and 50 seconds in.
Not Myself Tonight
When I was thinking about music videos it was hard to ignore the continous bombardment of sexual references and females in the role of sex object. Sexuality in music videos is most definately more for selling the music than expressing it's themes and emotions. Apart from perhaps rap and hip hop as lyrics from those genres are typically explicit in nature. When you look at artists such as Adele and Florence Welch you don't see too much exposed flesh and suggestive dancing because their music would not be classed as pop. Pop music has developed a look of sexuality unlike what you would have seen in the past, it has been taken to new heights. These days you see references not just to oral, vaginal and anal sex, but to homosexuality, BDSM, sex slavery, etc. In Miley Cyrus' music video for her song 'Can't Be Tamed' she is portrayed as an exotic bird in a cage, on display for people to stare at and admire and judge. 
From looking at her tight black outfit that reveals plenty of skin it is easy to tell she is a sexual object to be looked at. This is even more controversial because of her young age. She is spotlighted also. Close up shots of her body add to the sexual nature of the video:
Her bare thighs are an obvious sex symbol, it shows she has a beautiful form. The spectators in the background are level with her legs as if they are all gazing at them, suggesting they all desire her - both the men and the women.
This idea is extended by the group dancing, men and women in bird-like costumes move franticly together. It resembles, I hate to say it, an orgy. The bird-like costumes give it a primitive, animalistic feel aswell. This particular moment is very strongly representational of homosexual oral sex as Cyrus pushes another female dancer down her own body and leans her head back, eyes closed as if in sexual pleasure.
At this stage in the video she is lying on a bed of feathers in a tight silver outfit that pushes her breasts up and draws attention to them. Her eyes look right at you as she sings, commanding your attention.
This moment is fairly self explanatory; a birds-eye view of her lying down as if in the position of her lover. Her facial expressions as she sings suggest she is experiencing intense sexual pleasure. The displays of her beauty are perfectly acceptable as the song is about a strong, beautiful woman who knows who she is and won't change for anyone. However she contradicts herself by conforming to the music industry's projection of sex, sex does sell after all.
Throughout the video Aguilera is seen in various dog collars, including this first shot. In this shot she is dressed in robotic doll-like makeup, her eyes being closed symbolise that she is sleeping, when they open it is like she is activated and the sexual acts begin. So from the first shot she is portrayed as a pretty, submissive slave. 
She appears as different characters in BDSM situations, bound and gagged, wearing a leather face mask. She becomes a mute, mindless doll, at the mercy of those around her. This last image depicts a scene that suggests group sex, more obvious than the one in Miley Cyrus' video.
She becomes a 'kitty' character in black leather, like sexual role play, and imitates a licking gesture as if she is drinking from the bowl on the floor. This is a symbol of being low in rank. In the next image you can see a scene where she controls look-alike dolls of her to do sexual acts.
From looking at her tight black outfit that reveals plenty of skin it is easy to tell she is a sexual object to be looked at. This is even more controversial because of her young age. She is spotlighted also. Close up shots of her body add to the sexual nature of the video:
Her bare thighs are an obvious sex symbol, it shows she has a beautiful form. The spectators in the background are level with her legs as if they are all gazing at them, suggesting they all desire her - both the men and the women.
This idea is extended by the group dancing, men and women in bird-like costumes move franticly together. It resembles, I hate to say it, an orgy. The bird-like costumes give it a primitive, animalistic feel aswell. This particular moment is very strongly representational of homosexual oral sex as Cyrus pushes another female dancer down her own body and leans her head back, eyes closed as if in sexual pleasure.
At this stage in the video she is lying on a bed of feathers in a tight silver outfit that pushes her breasts up and draws attention to them. Her eyes look right at you as she sings, commanding your attention.
This moment is fairly self explanatory; a birds-eye view of her lying down as if in the position of her lover. Her facial expressions as she sings suggest she is experiencing intense sexual pleasure. The displays of her beauty are perfectly acceptable as the song is about a strong, beautiful woman who knows who she is and won't change for anyone. However she contradicts herself by conforming to the music industry's projection of sex, sex does sell after all.Link to video: http://youtu.be/sjSG6z_13-Q
A much more extreme example of the music industry's influence on pop music is Christina Aguilera's video clip for her song 'Not Myself Tonight'. Let me just say that to even view this video clip on youtube I had to sign in to verify that I was over 18 years old. This video incorporates heavy themes of sex, sex slavery, bondage, control, objectification and homosexuality. 
Throughout the video Aguilera is seen in various dog collars, including this first shot. In this shot she is dressed in robotic doll-like makeup, her eyes being closed symbolise that she is sleeping, when they open it is like she is activated and the sexual acts begin. So from the first shot she is portrayed as a pretty, submissive slave. 
She appears as different characters in BDSM situations, bound and gagged, wearing a leather face mask. She becomes a mute, mindless doll, at the mercy of those around her. This last image depicts a scene that suggests group sex, more obvious than the one in Miley Cyrus' video.
Again, homosexuality seems to be becoming the norm, these scenes between Aguilera and another bound slave suggest lesbian sex. The lyrics of this song talk about becoming a different person on the dance floor, it definately has a club nature. But when you read between the lines and watch the video the signs of mind control are strong. "When I wake up, I'll go back to the girl I used to be, but baby, not tonight," It is like she is saying when she wakes up to reality she will go back to being a normal, acceptable woman but tonight she is asleep, has no will.
Link to video: http://youtu.be/wt-tHcQR67Y
Music Videos - Predictable
Music videos function much the same way that cover art does, it promotes the artist and expresses the themes and sound of the music, the only difference is the performative nature of moving image. So I looked through different music videos to find a good example of imagery fitting to the sound and I came across 'Predictable' by the punk band Good Charlotte. The song is not very heavy, it actually has quite pretty guitar melodies and what sounds like violins. It is very typical of a punk rock band in terms of instruments however and the layers of guitars and the drums intensify near the end. The song as a whole (including lyrics) is rather emotional and dark which is expressed very well in the video. It starts off with the protagonist exiting a large house on a hill and walking onto a street. The opening scene was drawn by the bands guitarist Billy Martin, inspired by Tim Burton's film Edward Scissor Hands - a dark, warped, twisted world juxtaposed with perfect ideals - which coincides with the songs theme.
From the start of the video you know the protagonist (the singer) is a dark, emotional person as he leaves a big house all alone on a big hill. He is a loner who wears black clothing and keeps his arms crossed over his chest, it could mean he is in mourning of someone or something. Having his arms crossed is a sign that he wants to keep to himself, he is guarded. 
The first line of the song is "Something isn't right" which I think talks about the world the singer is in in general. He is walking through a street of perfect, neat, cared-for houses and sees people that "aren't right", they aren't "normal". They wear black clothes, have black eyes, have tattoos and solemn, almost angry expressions and even though they are obviously "not right" they are looking at the singer as if he is "not right".
Cross cut with the singer/protagonist walking down the street is the band performing the song in a dark, warped (very Tim Burton) room with buckets all over the floor to catch rain drops so you know it is run down, worn. The lighting has a blue tinge, like thunder lighting up the room through the windows. This gives a cold, stormy feel, like a metaphor for his inner turmoil.
From the start of the video you know the protagonist (the singer) is a dark, emotional person as he leaves a big house all alone on a big hill. He is a loner who wears black clothing and keeps his arms crossed over his chest, it could mean he is in mourning of someone or something. Having his arms crossed is a sign that he wants to keep to himself, he is guarded. 
The first line of the song is "Something isn't right" which I think talks about the world the singer is in in general. He is walking through a street of perfect, neat, cared-for houses and sees people that "aren't right", they aren't "normal". They wear black clothes, have black eyes, have tattoos and solemn, almost angry expressions and even though they are obviously "not right" they are looking at the singer as if he is "not right".
Cross cut with the singer/protagonist walking down the street is the band performing the song in a dark, warped (very Tim Burton) room with buckets all over the floor to catch rain drops so you know it is run down, worn. The lighting has a blue tinge, like thunder lighting up the room through the windows. This gives a cold, stormy feel, like a metaphor for his inner turmoil. The aesthetics in this video definately conform to the theme of the song and sound of the music but do they sell the band? Sell the music? I think what they have done is very smart because not only do these aesthetics appeal to kindred spirits - people who suffer dark emotions, who have had heartbreak, feel cold and broken etc - but it also grabs the attention of all Tim Burton fans, which is a big crowd.
Link to video: http://youtu.be/js8pCCxcVuc
Nirvana - Nevermind
For this post I wanted to find one album cover to look at and unpick. I looked through controversial covers, influential covers, symbolic covers and came across Nirvana's Nevermind album cover. 
I never really listened to Nirvana but I remember seeing this cover, I also never knew what it meant so I was excited to do some research and find out what a naked baby swimming underwater towards a dollar bill on a fish hook meant and how that relates to their music.
Nevermind turned a nation of teens onto alternative rock, the album is known as one of the best rock albums of all time. Their music has a definitive rock/grunge sound with influences like Led Zeppelin and the Pixies. While late lead singer Kurt Cobain has said his lyrics don't mean anything, are collected from poems, that they are not important, many songs were written to reference his personal experiences and emotions. For example in the song "Heart-Shaped Box" he conveys his relationship with Courtney Love through lyrical themes of pregnancy and the female anatomy. The band, as with most rock/grunge/metal bands, is also known for being anti-establishment which explains this cover. The idea for the cover came to Cobain and former drummer Dave Grohl after they watched a television program about water births. They took the idea to Robert Fisher who then looked for an image of a water birth to put on the cover, unfortunately the images he found were far too graphic to put on display and so sent a photographer to a pool for babies to take photos. After deciding on attaching a dollar bill to the fish hook the cover was done. The reception of the album cover wasn't all good though, there were concerns that the baby's penis was visible and that people would interpret the image as dangerously close to pedophilia.
(http://cnettv.cnet.com/making-nirvana-nevermind-album-cover/9742-1_53-6870.html)
There are many opinions about what the symbolism of this cover is. Maybe it doesn't have a meaning, maybe it's an inside joke. My interpretation of the newborn baby swimming towards a dollar bill, and I'm sure I'm right, is that from the moment we are born, money is God. Life is all about money and the quest for it, the need for it. The fact that the dollar bill is on a fish hook represents someone elses control over it, it is up to them whether we achieve it or not. These themes of lost innocence and materiality fit right in with Nirvana's musical and lyrical style. It is a little scary to look at yet it has humour.
I never really listened to Nirvana but I remember seeing this cover, I also never knew what it meant so I was excited to do some research and find out what a naked baby swimming underwater towards a dollar bill on a fish hook meant and how that relates to their music.Nevermind turned a nation of teens onto alternative rock, the album is known as one of the best rock albums of all time. Their music has a definitive rock/grunge sound with influences like Led Zeppelin and the Pixies. While late lead singer Kurt Cobain has said his lyrics don't mean anything, are collected from poems, that they are not important, many songs were written to reference his personal experiences and emotions. For example in the song "Heart-Shaped Box" he conveys his relationship with Courtney Love through lyrical themes of pregnancy and the female anatomy. The band, as with most rock/grunge/metal bands, is also known for being anti-establishment which explains this cover. The idea for the cover came to Cobain and former drummer Dave Grohl after they watched a television program about water births. They took the idea to Robert Fisher who then looked for an image of a water birth to put on the cover, unfortunately the images he found were far too graphic to put on display and so sent a photographer to a pool for babies to take photos. After deciding on attaching a dollar bill to the fish hook the cover was done. The reception of the album cover wasn't all good though, there were concerns that the baby's penis was visible and that people would interpret the image as dangerously close to pedophilia.
(http://cnettv.cnet.com/making-nirvana-nevermind-album-cover/9742-1_53-6870.html)
There are many opinions about what the symbolism of this cover is. Maybe it doesn't have a meaning, maybe it's an inside joke. My interpretation of the newborn baby swimming towards a dollar bill, and I'm sure I'm right, is that from the moment we are born, money is God. Life is all about money and the quest for it, the need for it. The fact that the dollar bill is on a fish hook represents someone elses control over it, it is up to them whether we achieve it or not. These themes of lost innocence and materiality fit right in with Nirvana's musical and lyrical style. It is a little scary to look at yet it has humour.
Psychedelic Art
Psychedelic art is any kind of artwork that is visually inspired by psychedelic experiences induced by drugs. The word psychedelic basically means the mind making something, like hallucinating. These days people refer to it as 'tripping'. Alton Kelley is an American artist who creates 60s psychedelic rock posters. Rick Griffin is well known for his psychedelic 60s poster illustrations, but he is also well known for doing cover art. Because he was born near Palos Verdes, his work is greatly influenced by the surfing culture of southern California. Stanley Mouse is best known for his 60s psychedelic rock concert poster art. All three of these artists have worked on covers for the band Grateful Dead.
'Kelley and Mouse combined sinous Art Nouveau lettering and outre images plucked from sources near and far to create the visual equivalent of an acid trip.'
'Kelley and Mouse combined sinous Art Nouveau lettering and outre images plucked from sources near and far to create the visual equivalent of an acid trip.'
The cover for Tanyet by The Ceyleib People was designed by Rick Griffin. It is unmistakably psychedelic, not only is is bright and colourful but it includes alien vegetation and a dark castle on a hill in a bubble like some unreachable, unreal place. The psychedelic artwork fits well with the bluesy rock of the music, with its use of sitars and flutes and violins.
The Grateful Dead was a rock band formed from 1965 to 1995. I can't think of any other style of art that would suit their music style. They are known for their unique sound which merges elements of rock, folk, bluegrass (a sub-genre of country music), blues, reggae, country, improvisational jazz, psychedelia, and space rock (a sub-genre of rock, e.g Pink Floyd). 
This artwork for Grateful Dead is iconic for psychedelic art, it has a skull and crossed bones, a blazing sun, bold red bird wings, mushrooms, and all the activity going on underneath the trees in the earth. It is very bright and colourful, and overloaded with imagery. This one is by Rick Griffin who the band met backstage at a concert and liked his style so gave him total artistic freedom in designing their cover. The text is intricate and 3D which I have noticed on alot of psychedelic artwork and the fact that this text is in darker colours created a nice visual contrast, if the text was bright aswell it would probably be an eye-sore.
This artwork for Grateful Dead is iconic for psychedelic art, it has a skull and crossed bones, a blazing sun, bold red bird wings, mushrooms, and all the activity going on underneath the trees in the earth. It is very bright and colourful, and overloaded with imagery. This one is by Rick Griffin who the band met backstage at a concert and liked his style so gave him total artistic freedom in designing their cover. The text is intricate and 3D which I have noticed on alot of psychedelic artwork and the fact that this text is in darker colours created a nice visual contrast, if the text was bright aswell it would probably be an eye-sore.I actually stumbled upon psychedelic art and wouldn't have thought to look at it for my blog but I'm glad I did because I have come to really like it, it is unlike anything else, except for the Art Nouveau references but I like Art Nouveau aswell. I think that psychedelic art is quite freeing because the point is that it is 'trippy' and so you can pretty much create anything. I also like the brave use of colour, psychedelic art is a place where you can go crazy (but obviously don't go overboard into tacky).
Shepard Fairey
"Long before I knew about art galleries or even street art, I was excited about album cover art, if only because it was the visual counterpart to the music on the records I loved... With my art i try to capture the same energy and spirit that makes music so powerful and democratic." - Shepard Fairey (http://obeygiant.com/headlines/revolutions-the-album-cover-art-of-shepard-fairey)
I originally came across Shepard Fairey when looking at street artists but was suprised and happy to find his work included many album covers.Fairey is most well known for his "Andre the Giant has a Posse" (OBEY) sticker campaign and hugely successful Hope poster of barack Obama. 
I was drawn to Fairey's work because of his great design/illustrative style with its minimal yet eye-catching colour schemes and bold type. Like in the Obama poster, he applies a cutout filter to people and prints them with only a few colours so they become simplistic yet outstanding. His text and backgrounds also conform to this simple style, taking on an almost geometrical look.
These covers are all for rock bands, yet you can tell that the first two are heavier than the third. The Suicide Machines' Battle Hymns shows a strong man in solid black and white weilding a hammer, with black engulfing a whole half of his face making him look dark and intimidating. The green of the background reminds me of army green which works with the word battle in the album title. When looking at the album title text it looks like the text used in the army aswell. So this album carries a sense of brute, bold force and strength. Sepultura's Nation cover has strong thick fists in the air, with silhouettes behind so you get the sense that there are many, like a nation or army rising up together. The colourful pattern in the background gives me the idea that there are emotions or thoughts or screams from all different kinds of people coming from all different directions. So even though the pattern is sharp, it has a riotous feeling. Switchfoot's New Way to be Human is much more softer in imagery, the bold red and black reflects the rock sound yet the beautiful pattern of the fingerprint is both intricate yet simple and delicate.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Trevor Brown
For the next few posts I am going to look at specific artists who are known for working on album covers and how the themes of their work relate to the themes of the music they design for. For this first one I wanted to respond to my last post on controversial album art because I found it really interesting. What I liked about the controversy was how it made me react; some artwork I looked at and found funny, others I looked at and felt sick, and the artwork I am used to looking at for research doesn't do that.
I found the artist Trevor Brown, an English artist whose work explores ideas around innocence and violence, paraphilias such as pedophilia, bondage, discipline, dominance, submission, sadism, masochism (BDSM), and other fetishes. The overall imagery also shows reference to Japanese pop art, as he currently lives in Japan.
Because of the extreme nature of these themes, the album that advertises Brown's art can't just be any album. The musical and lyrical themes should relate to Brown's themes, so I looked up the bands he has created cover art for:
Deicide:
The word deicide means the killing of a god, which is very appropriate for this death metal band whose lyrics revolve around anti-Christian themes. Without hearing the music, there are plenty of things to prove they are satanic, or atleast pretend to be. For example, they are inspired by bands with names like Destruction, Sodom, Venom, Mayhem, Possessed, Autopsy and Slayer, and they have song titles like 'Death to Jesus', 'Fuck Your God', 'Kill the Christian', and 'Behead the Prophet'.
This came up in my last post referring to religious controversy. Brown's original work was a disembowled Jesus without the bloodied white sheet to cover anything. This gruesome imagery definately coincides with Brown's personal work, it has a highly violent nature on a very touchy subject.
For a death metal band this kind of image is pretty typical though, so I was really interested in the fact that Brown also did cover art for the band Whitehouse:
Whitehouse are an English power electronics band who are well known for their controversial lyrics which portray sadistic sex, misogyny, serial murder, eating disorders, child abuse and other violent themes. Both Whitehouse and Trevor Brown explore the darker, sicker side of life so it seems like this is the perfect match. I actually like the use of the same character for both of these albums, not necessarily for what has been done to her but rather the implication that she is the personification of all of the above themes and the story of the band's musical and lyrical progression.
I am really glad I found this artist because his work is visually arresting, unusually pretty yet filled with dark, sadistic symbolism. I like that he does cover art for metal bands and electronic bands, it unconventional. He is a great example of album art expressing the ideas of the music, I don't think I could have found a better one.
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Controversy
Album art doesn't just effect the individual, it can have an effect on many, especially if it is controversial. So for this post I wanted to look at controversial album art and unpick what makes it an issue. There are different types of controversy, like:
Nudity and sexuality
Religion
Copy right
Being too macabre
These subjects can cause an album to be banned or censored.
Nudity is an obvious source of controversy, not just the traditional anti-feminist objectivity of women but also homosexuality and what verges on child pornography.
Some examples of nudity and sexuality on album covers are:
John Lennon and Yoko Ono's 1968 Unfinished Music No. 1: Two Virgins:
The cover features Lennon and Ono frontally nude and the back of the album shows them nude from the back. Because of the blatant nudity and apparent disregard for how it would be received, distributors opted to sell the album in plain brown wrappers instead, classing it as obscene.
Dead Kennedys 1985 Frankenchrist album:
This cover depicts a shriners parade, but the controversy for this album came from a poster of H. R. Giger's Landscape #XX or Penis landscape inside the cover. The picture is of rows of penises during intercourse:
Because of this image the band was brought to trial for distributing harmful matter to minors and while no convictions were made, their record label (Alternative Tentacles) was driven almost to bankruptcy.
Scorpians' 1976 Virgin Killer album:
The title is supposed to reference time as the killer of innocence, but obviously a fully nude prepubescent girl with cracked glass barely covering her pubic area is taking it too far. So because this image is potentially illegal under the Protection of Children Act 1978 the album was given a different cover in some countries.
Religion has always been a touchy subject, people can be easily offended by anything that challenges their beliefs or could negatively effect the beliefs of their children. Many album covers have been banned or censored because of religious slander, some examples of these are:
Dio's 1983 Holy Diver album:
This cover offended churches for obvious reasons, it clearly depicts a large god-like demon killing a preist. By now I have noticed that the album covers that are the most controversial appear to be from heavy metal or alternative metal/rock bands, bands known for being anti-establishment and explicit.
Aerosmith's 1997 Nine Lives album:
This cover was offensive to Hindus, the artwork was taken from Hindu imagery but changed by having a cat's head. The band didn't understand the offense of the dancing figure, they were unaware of the source of the artwork and so they and their record label apologized for it and changed it.
Deicide's 1995 Once Upon the Cross album:
The original cover for this album showed a disembowled Jesus which ofcourse would have been way too controversial for churches so the record label changed it to having a bloody sheet over him.
Another form of controversy is copy right, and this is one that causes the most recalls of albums.
An interesting one I found was Richard Prior's 1968 comedy album:
This cover was designed by Gary Burden, and after its release he said "As a result of the Richard Prior album cover, which I loved doing, I got two letters: One was a letter from the National Geographic Society's attorneys offering to sue me for defaming their publication. The second letter was a Grammy nomination for the best album cover."
(http://tokyo-zion-noiz.blogspot.com/2010/11/controversial-album-covers-ii-pt-1.html)
This is a good example of the success of controversy.
This is a good example of the success of controversy.
Finally, people can find macabre imagery too controversial, especially for children. The perfect example of macabre imagery is Cannibal Corpse's 1992 album Tomb of the Mutilated:
This extremely graphic image of a corpse performing cunnilingus on another is highly disturbing, and it is supposed to be. The album features concepts of necrophilia and sadism, reviewer Jack Murray said "It's a very clever idea concerning the rape and murder of a young girl with a large knife, and continuing to rape the corpse until orgasm."
But because of the explicit imagery a censored version was issued:
This alternative cover supposedly depicts a third corpse watching the other two with adoration.
What I've noticed from looking at this art is that it is quite old, what was unacceptable back then is just seen as normal now, so it will be interesting to see what will be normal in the future.
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
What's On The Cover?
Cover art is essentially for commercial purposes, to promote the product it is on like for a book, magazine, video game or DVD. But for a music album it has an aesthetic function, it is artistically connected to the music - the lyrical themes, messages and emotions of the music and generally the genre aswell. So because cover art has these two functions it means that what goes on an artist's cover has to be chosen carefully. It is the first thing you see on the album so it has to attract the viewer but also express what the music is about, it has to be able to sell the music.
"I love music so much and I had such ambition that I was willing to go way beyond what the hell they paid me for. I wanted people to look at the artwork and hear the music."
- Alex Steinweiss
Alex Steinweiss is known as the father of record design because he invented the album cover. He worked for Columbia Records and in 1940 pitched the idea to change from making plain brown covers to colourful artwork. His work featured bold typographic designs and modern, elegant illustrations. He tended to use metaphors and musical symbols rather than literal representations.
Paula Scher said "When you look at your music collection today on your iPod, you are looking at Alex Steinweiss's big idea."
A really great album cover is Lou Reed's Set the Twilight Reeling, designed by Stefan Sagmeister:
The image of this cover is eye-catching, which is what an album cover should be. The lyrics on the cover are very personal to the singer, so arranging them on his face is like a way of him expressing every emotion in that song all at once. We show our emotions and feelings through facial expressions so not only is this visually arresting but also very symbolic of the music.
The blue tint of his face adds to the emotion of the music and also makes his eyes darker so they stand out more which is good because it seems like he is staring you down and projecting his own emotions onto you, just like he does through his songs. So overall, this album cover really works because it stands out and expresses the emotion and themes of the artist's music.
The blue tint of his face adds to the emotion of the music and also makes his eyes darker so they stand out more which is good because it seems like he is staring you down and projecting his own emotions onto you, just like he does through his songs. So overall, this album cover really works because it stands out and expresses the emotion and themes of the artist's music.
A more cryptic album cover is A Perfect Circle's Mer de Noms, realised by Steven R. Gilmore:
The title of the album is french for 'sea of names' and the symbols translate to 'the waterfall of first names'. This is because many of the songs are dedicated to people the lead singer, Maynard James Keenan, knew with song titles like 'Judith' and 'Rose'. While that is a sentimental thought, the music in terms of sound is quite dark (hence the dark colours and fiery orange). The lyrical themes are also quite dark and poetic, in fact an in-joke from the singer can be seen in that without the space in between 'mer' and 'de' the title of the album can be roughly translated as 'Shit Names' (Merde Noms). What I really like about this cover is its seemingly simple grungy design yet fully symbolic meaning. The large centered logo is my favourite part because of its irony. A big part of their music is about being different and the divided circle is a great way of expressing the brokeness and depression the singer has felt in a simplistic way. The band name is 'A Perfect Circle' and is always accompanied by an imperfect circle, an imperfect whole.
The large recognisable logo is a sure way to sell to 'A Perfect Circle' fans.
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