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How much the cover of an album affects you?


Ormion

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Possibly a silly question.

 

I myself can be very affected by the cover of an album.

Although a great cover can't help a bad album, a great cover can make a good album even better.

 

There are many times that I bought a cd that I didn't have a clue about it only cause the cover spoke to my heart.

There are many bad albums that I gave many-many tries to like them only because the cover tell me to do it :D

 

Also the cover of the album plays an important role when it comes to the synaesthesia colour/s the music gives to me.

 

And some of my favorite albums are so connected with their covers that it's impossible to separate them. Every time I listen to a track from IFO the colours and shapes of the cover pop in my head. I can't help it!

 

So plz to all the labels out there plz stick to the good covers and most importantly plz try to match the style of the cover with the style of the music.

 

I wouldn't like to see IFO with a black and white cover, Orchid with a vampire-themed cover or a Kindzadza album with a naked chick on it. :D

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While the music is of coures the most important thing I do really enjoy a good cover.

I am the same in that the cover can influence my synaesthesia. I always saw the music on Technosommy - Synthetic Flesh as being really colourful while I always saw Dark Green on the tracks from Singularity.

 

I love the covers on ultimae too, I do think that often the best covers have gone with the best albums :ph34r:

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Not at all. I am a 100% music buff, and while I can appreciate the effort and work it takes to come up with a quality cover art, there is nothing that can enhance the music better than the music itself.

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Not at all. I am a 100% music buff, and while I can appreciate the effort and work it takes to come up with a quality cover art, there is nothing that can enhance the music better than the music itself.

Try acid! ;)

 

But yeah... I agree. Although, while browsing through discount bins in record stores, the coverart does help me pick out an album and look at it...

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Possibly a silly question.

It is a silly question.

Cover art is just a bonus for me, don't really care, but if it's nice that's good.

At the same time I wish I knew a great artist to do me a cover, so if you are one, PM me.

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not at all, if the music is good, but the cover sucks, i dont care

but it can help a shitty artist, cause some would be interested only because of the cover art

its only a plus if the music is awsome, otherwise, it doesnt change nothing to me

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Not at all. I am a 100% music buff, and while I can appreciate the effort and work it takes to come up with a quality cover art, there is nothing that can enhance the music better than the music itself.

Rino stole my words really, nothing to add.
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Rino stole my words really, nothing to add.

Said differently, it can be taken as an exclusion criteria: for example, if a cover shows zombies and bats all over the way, I know it's going to be dark music, and I skip.
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Said differently, it can be taken as an exclusion criteria: for example, if a cover shows zombies and bats all over the way, I know it's going to be dark music, and I skip.

You don't like dark music? :(

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I wouldn't say the cover affects how I hear the music, though it's nice when artists provide an image that goes well with the music (often I will just stare at the cover the first time I listen to a CD). It certainly makes a big difference to which new albums I check out on psyshop and saikosounds, though. Say what you like about not judging an album by its cover, but it's simply a fact that psytrance cover artwork gives a good impression of what kind of music lies within.

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Even though the mindsphere album's cover is REALLY bad, it's possible I'd still buy it because of the fantastic music.

 

Covers affect how I see the album. I feel like I create a connection with a cover and the music, subconsciously. Like Ormion said..

 

Also the cover of the album plays an important role when it comes to the synaesthesia colour/s the music gives to me.

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it affects me alot actually.

if an artist doesn't have enough taste to choose a decent (not spectacular) cover art for his/hers creation chances are low that he/she has a good taste to create good art! of course there are exceptions.

 

I can't agree more with ormion,

 

1 - Although a great cover can't help a bad album, a great cover can make a good album even better.

 

2 - There are many bad albums that I gave many-many tries to like them only because the cover tell me to do it :D

 

most importantly:

3 - Also the cover of the album plays an important role when it comes to the synaesthesia colour/s the music gives to me.

 

So plz to all the labels out there plz stick to the good covers and most importantly plz try to match the style of the cover with the style of the music.

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I really enjoy the entire art experience of a record

and while the cover doesn't directly change the music, I do have certain expectations for what I hear

associated with what I see on the cover. Especially when there is nice psychedelic artwork on the cover.

Just as an appreciator of the whole music experience in general, I'd say I really enjoy everything

from the music to the cover to the liner notes etc.

Bravo to the artists who strive to have representative art to match the style or mood they were looking to convey with the music

but by the same token, nothing taken away from the artists who do not put a premium on cover art.

Some albums I love a lot don't really have much in the cover department in my opinion (like the self titled 1200 Mics, or Alien Protein)

>2 of my all time faves btw.

Anyway - I don't think it's a silly topic - I enjoy all music / art / psy related discussion - its good for the mind.

and +1 for dark music - I'm really starting to love so much more and more of the darkpsy stuff.

Though I kinda dig tons of music these days - and really look forward to seeing how the music matches the art.

psyON

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But yeah... I agree. Although, while browsing through discount bins in record stores, the coverart does help me pick out an album and look at it...

The snaap is right. If browsing record shops i will look at the cover.. If ordering from internet i couldnt care less. After i bought it i ll look at it for 2 minutes after that it goes right in the closet.

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it affects me alot actually.

if an artist doesn't have enough taste to choose a decent (not spectacular) cover art for his/hers creation chances are low that he/she has a good taste to create good art! of course there are exceptions.

 

I can't agree more with ormion,

It's not that simple. There are cases of artists very good at music that have an horrible taste (as it is commonly acknowledged) when it comes to visual artwork. But, from my experience, not so many artists know exactly what they want for their cover and they need help. Thus the label should be blamed for a bad cover (most of the time).
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the label should be blamed for a bad cover (most of the time).

Indeed. Probably the case most of the time. Some times the labels just push something particular regardless of the sentiments of the artists.

And we all know that the labels (or at least label management) don't always have the best taste because they simply are not artists.

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It's not that simple. There are cases of artists very good at music that have an horrible taste (as it is commonly acknowledged) when it comes to visual artwork. But, from my experience, not so many artists know exactly what they want for their cover and they need help. Thus the label should be blamed for a bad cover (most of the time).

i do blame record labels because it's so obvious that some of labels always have quality cover arts and some always have crappy ones.

not only in music scene, but every where, the representation of someone's work matters. it's one of the important parts of it. even if you have a scientific achievement you'd better spend sometime on powerpoint making your presentation!!!! i don't care about the cover art if i get a good home recorded album on CD-r but if someone releases an album they'd better do more than photoshoping their own photo and copy pasting it on a crap background.

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When i buy music i actually rate the covers as a big part of why i buy it. to me music is an art and the covers that follow is art as well.

i've got a fetish for putting my albums on display so i have a whole wall filled with the covers of my albums, can't say that many of the covers match the quality of the music but like all things everything is an gamble and even if the music sucks i still get a prized piece to display. I mean, i even bought "Felix Da Housecat - Devin Dazzle & The neon fever; simply because i liked the art, it's happened with other albums as well.

 

 

E:

The way the Wall System Works right now is by double sticky tape to the wall, not very effective :(

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The snap is right

I'll Snappen that :lol::D See what I did, eh? ^_^

 

When i buy music i actually rate the covers as a big part of why i buy it. to me music is an art and the covers that follow is art as well.

 

i've got a fetish for putting my albums on display so i have a whole wall filled with the covers of my albums.

 

The way the Wall System Works right now is by double sticky tape to the wall, not very effective :(

Excacly! I love the artworks!! So to answer the initial question: A lot, but in the very end, it's all about the music.

 

I've said it before and I'll spray it again; Pics or STFU!

 

:blink: really? :lol: killa

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I'll Snappen that :lol::D See what I did, eh? ^_^

 

 

 

Excacly! I love the artworks!! So to answer the initial question: A lot, but in the very end, it's all about the music.

 

I've said it before and I'll spray it again; Pics or STFU!

 

:blink: really? :lol: killa

Yup' ill get to it, as i said before i just moved, although i got all my albums here, i haven't put them on the wall. the tapestry is different at this place so the albums keep falling down. I can only get my stickers and other stuff to stick on the side of my closet, i need to find a better system to showcase my cds.

 

But i think i got an old photo from my old apartment laying around somewhere, i may have to raid my computer at my mothers place :-/

i'd love to show it sometime - so for now i'm gonna shutup.

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I myself can be very affected by the cover of an album.

Although a great cover can't help a bad album, a great cover can make a good album even better.

 

Also the cover of the album plays an important role when it comes to the synaesthesia colour/s the music gives to me.

I agree 100 % and I often get annoyed when I listen to a great album where the cover of the album doesn't match the music. The problem is that the bad cover art gets in the way of the audio visual images in my mind.

 

My best example is Twisted's Unusual Suspects compilation. It's a great compilation, but the cover is so lame. As is the case with most Twisted covers post Demented when Twisted decided to change their graphical profile.

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They always say judge not the book by its cover. But, at least I know for me, I do that anyway depending if it's something I don't totally know about.

 

I don't really go to music stores (because most of those chain stores don't have anything good) and just pick up an album and buy it because of the cover or not. I would never solely by an album based on it's cover art. Though, some might come close. But the art is definitely tied into it. If I can listen to the tracks or at least some samples, and if I like it, then yeah I'll probably buy it. The better art it has, the more chances of it being bought by me unless the music is absolute crap or something I'm not really into (which there's plenty).

 

I think musicians/artists that put out music in album form need to make it pleasant for the whole experience; which includes the hardware. One may put out some good music but if the album and the booklet inside don't really have any connection with the person's music, then it's kind of a turn off (but if the music is really good, then I might buy it anyway). It's all about flow and it show flow into what you put on the album cover and such. At least, that's what I think anyway. I don't think it's too demanding to have that kind of continuity.

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