Say all you want—you can’t go wrong with art. Even if it’s bad, you can still appreciate the effort, the amount of time and talent it took, and other aspects. Even getting to a point whereit’s so bad, it’s goodbecomes an art form in and of itself in that sense.Consider music album covers: there is a certain kind of approach to album cover art, yet folks still manage to create something that makes you scratch your head. For any reason. Calling it bad would be wrong because at least you can laugh about it, and bad doesn’t make you laugh. It’s still good. Right?So, with that said, scroll down to have some laughs at questionable album cover art, as seen onthe Bad Record Covers page.This post may includeaffiliate links.
Say all you want—you can’t go wrong with art. Even if it’s bad, you can still appreciate the effort, the amount of time and talent it took, and other aspects. Even getting to a point whereit’s so bad, it’s goodbecomes an art form in and of itself in that sense.
Consider music album covers: there is a certain kind of approach to album cover art, yet folks still manage to create something that makes you scratch your head. For any reason. Calling it bad would be wrong because at least you can laugh about it, and bad doesn’t make you laugh. It’s still good. Right?
So, with that said, scroll down to have some laughs at questionable album cover art, as seen onthe Bad Record Covers page.
This post may includeaffiliate links.
So, there’s this page onXas well asFacebookthat’s all about sharing, let’s just say, very questionable album art. It doesn’t have to be bad, it doesn’t have to be weird, heck, it even doesn’t have to be flat outare you seeing this [shirt]?But it can. And often is at least one of that, butbadis just a matter of taste.The page has been around for nearly 10 years now and amassed nearly 30,000 followers since its launch in December of 2013. However, two years ago, itannouncedthat the page had run its course and that it was fun while it lasted. There was a seemingly brief return as per nostalgia, sharing some of the older stuff and considering a resurrection of the page, but it’s been radio silence since then.
So, there’s this page onXas well asFacebookthat’s all about sharing, let’s just say, very questionable album art. It doesn’t have to be bad, it doesn’t have to be weird, heck, it even doesn’t have to be flat outare you seeing this [shirt]?But it can. And often is at least one of that, butbadis just a matter of taste.
The page has been around for nearly 10 years now and amassed nearly 30,000 followers since its launch in December of 2013. However, two years ago, itannouncedthat the page had run its course and that it was fun while it lasted. There was a seemingly brief return as per nostalgia, sharing some of the older stuff and considering a resurrection of the page, but it’s been radio silence since then.
So, what makes an album cover bad? Let’s flip this around and start from what makes it good.An article on Creative Reviewexplains that the music on the album as well as what the album looks like physically have a symbiotic and vital relationship. While a record becomes famous because of the music on it, there can’t be an album without a cover. And it doesn’t really have to be anything—it just has to be there. It’s the first contact people have when looking up songs.
So, what makes an album cover bad? Let’s flip this around and start from what makes it good.
An article on Creative Reviewexplains that the music on the album as well as what the album looks like physically have a symbiotic and vital relationship. While a record becomes famous because of the music on it, there can’t be an album without a cover. And it doesn’t really have to be anything—it just has to be there. It’s the first contact people have when looking up songs.
Folks on a “music nerds” subreddit—one for a music critic named Fantano—have raised this question. The general consensus is the above statement, but bad albums can have good art. However, because of the little attention bad albums get, the artwork gets forgotten just as fast. And good albums, even if their art is bad, tend to still make it memorable.
One Redditor in the same threadpointed outthat Radiohead’sThe Bendersalbum is great, but the album cover art isoof. They’ve seen bad albums with better cover art than that.Others, however, were quick to joke about it and it’s a question of if it’s actually that bad or just a little bit. One thing’s for sure—The Bendersdoes have a very meme-like aesthetic.
One Redditor in the same threadpointed outthat Radiohead’sThe Bendersalbum is great, but the album cover art isoof. They’ve seen bad albums with better cover art than that.
Others, however, were quick to joke about it and it’s a question of if it’s actually that bad or just a little bit. One thing’s for sure—The Bendersdoes have a very meme-like aesthetic.
The conclusion most reach when it comes to what makes album art bad is the sheer fact of it being not fit for what the album is. It can be too weird, cringe or cursed, plain or uninspired, poorly photographed or crafted, inappropriate for what the album stands for (thematically or content-wise) or, if it doesn’t fit any other criteria, it’s all a matter of taste. And that includes poor taste, but that already alludes to the above.
And that’s pretty much what Bad Record Covers is all about. You’ve gotinappropriate wording,Christian cringe,sponsored albums,trying to be relatable,being too self-aware,just being too much in general, andyou don’t even know how funny this one really is. A lot of it is religious, family, or a product of its time. The rest is something that we all wish we could have listened to in order to bring context as to why we’re laughing.
Another side of what might make album art bad (or good, depending on how you look at it) is the controversy that it spurs. And there area lot of examples in history.These can include album covers that display explicit nudity and sexuality, takes a taboo spin on religion, glorifies violence or flat out infringes on copyright. Other themes in album cover art that can get flak are politics, tobacco, cultural offense, plagiarism and indecency.
Another side of what might make album art bad (or good, depending on how you look at it) is the controversy that it spurs. And there area lot of examples in history.
These can include album covers that display explicit nudity and sexuality, takes a taboo spin on religion, glorifies violence or flat out infringes on copyright. Other themes in album cover art that can get flak are politics, tobacco, cultural offense, plagiarism and indecency.
Alice Cooper’sLove It to Death(1971)is one that stirred quite a bit of controversy as the original art featured Cooper himself sticking a finger out of his zipper, making it look like a part of him is exposed, but later versions airbrushed it out.
There are also more tame cases, like Richard Pryor’sself-titled album from 1968which featured Pryor himself in the style of a National Geographic cover. He later got 2 letters about it—one from NG suing him for defamation and the other from the Grammy awards nominating the album for best cover.
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Your scrolling journey doesn’t have to end here, though, because we’ve gotmore bad album cover artwhere that came from. Or you can visit the Bad Record Covers page onXas well asFacebook.But if you’ve had enough of that, there’s something nobody should ever get enough of and that’s sharing your thoughts and stories in the comment section below!
Your scrolling journey doesn’t have to end here, though, because we’ve gotmore bad album cover artwhere that came from. Or you can visit the Bad Record Covers page onXas well asFacebook.
But if you’ve had enough of that, there’s something nobody should ever get enough of and that’s sharing your thoughts and stories in the comment section below!
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