Has anyone given a thought about the album artwork - that is, do the covers send any message to you? I thought about the artwork for all the studio albums (and Queen Rocks, since it houses No-One But You) and came up with a top 10 album covers and the reasons behind the places. If anyone has a different order and reasons I'd be appreciative of it. It's always nice to see what different aspects of the band mean to people.
The list
#10 - Queen Rocks (Reflective of the 'heavier' theme of the compilation because of the 'flaming' variation of the crest)
#9 - Innuendo (Nice illustration by Grandville, and the balls in the air metaphorically says about the band circa 1990/91)
#8 - Made in Heaven (A nice tranquil atmosphere like the album itself & a nice visual tribute to Freddie with the statue)
#7 - ADATR (The tweaking of the logo from the Opera cover shows the grandeur is willing to extend)
#6 - ANATO (The emblem embodies that 'pure Queen' element, and the blaze of colour against peaceful white is fab!)
#5 - AKOM (Grand in a cartoony way - a foreshadowing of the wackiness of the Magic Tour)
#4 - Hot Space (Captures the title for being hot and spacey - and excuse me for the yuppie moment - its just sooo 80s!)
#3 - SHA (Total rock 'n' roll. Roger is doing half devil horns, John with the beer bottle, and whole lounging about look)
#2 - The Miracle (Unbelievably avant-grande for 1989, and the magic is increased when you look at how it was made)
#1 - Queen II (The simplicity goes against the feel of the album, and the influence it had after - look at the videos for Bo Rhap and One Vision at their starts to see what I mean of course)
Where the hell is News Of The World. that's an amazing album sleeve. A prime example of how album art is lost when converted to CD. also Queen II is another fantastic LP sleeve. I only wish that Sheer Heart Attack was a gatefold sleeve.
Hot Space's cover is amazing!
I love all of the covers except "The Works"...even though the photography was done by the legendary George Hurrell...it's just boring. Not crazy about AKOM cover either.
Funny those are my two least favorite Queen albums too!
Innuendo's cover was a return to the '70's enigmatic album art...and I knew I was in for a treat just by the artwork before I got it home and played it. And when I heard the opening to "Innuendo" I jumped around shouting YES! Queen is BACK!
Sadly, I was unaware of Freddies illness.
Queen 1 - A little shoddy and uninteresting - could have been better.
Queen 2 - Much better - glossy and professional and laterly iconic - of course.
SHA - My own favourite. The lads covered in vaseline then dowsed in water..nice!
ANATO - Classy, actually quite alot like a programme for covent garden at the time.
ADATR - Classy again, the perfect mirror for Opera - like the music.
NOTW - However unoriginal this is an interesting cover with terrifying robot. Not nearly as much fun as a CD as someone said.
JAZZ - Again not particularly original - Roger saw the design on a wall in Berlin. None the less, Iconic and interesting - don't look at it for too long else you'll get a headache. Great studio shot inside the gatefold too - again completely lost as a CD.
LIVE KILLERS - Nice shot but clearly a composite as Brian May is badly positioned and has been rather amateurishly coloured in! - Give em a break though, it was 20 years before photo shop!
THE GAME - Glossy silver monochrome and....boring actually.
FLASH - Fun, bright yellow - nice inner sleave too.
HOT SPACE - Bright, multicoloured and lots of fun. Wonder if then band chose their individual colours.
WORKS - Nice classic monochrome shot of group but a little dull. After growing the cock duster why did Fred insist on always having his mug on the front eh?
AKOM - Maybe I'm biased as this is the one Queen album I don't like but the cover's just cheap and nasty. Don't like the cartoon idea at all.
MIRACLE - Original true - but a little freaky. Not fond of this.
INNUENDO - Again not original artwork but fine use of 19th century cartoon art to set a mood somehow matched by the music.
MIH - Mawkishly sentimental. Nasty. and the stamp ? made in heaven ? patronising and frankly plain stupid.