If Queen album covers were refreshing pools of cool water on a hot summer day, which one would you most enjoy diving into?
I'd have to go with A Kind Of Magic. I love the richness of the black with colourful cartoon characters (I know some of you hate these). I just think it's a delicious package.
Although it's one of my least favourite albums, I'd go with 'The Miracle'. It was the first time I saw their faces & I thought it was brilliant the way their heads were joined together... Nice album cover...
Queen I - kind of blurry image. Doesn't really stand out. Not an image that makes you want to buy the album.
Queen II - a pose that become classic when it later became re-used in the video for BoRhap. Based on a photograph of Marlene Dietrich. Goes well with the mysterious, black and white theme of the album. Probably looked extra impressive on the big LP format. A good one.
Sheer Hear Attack - Another group shoot of the band. Kind of funny, and I personally think it's cool, but not really a stand-out album cover.
A Night At The Opera - the Queen Crest. Looks kind of smallish on CD size, probably better on LP size. A classic, but not something that grabs me.
A Day At The Races - same as ANATO, basically, except in different colors, and with the image altered slightly in a funny way.
News Of The World - the colors, font and image are typically 70s, but a very characteristic image and very recognizable. One of the best covers.
Jazz - This one I think is very ugly, but it is very recognizable, so perhaps commercially it is a good one.
The Game - another mugshot of the band, from the Crazy Little Thing video sessions, which commercially was a good idea perhaps, because CLTCL had already been a hit when the album came out. The silver color is kind of cool, but otherwise a forgettable cover.
Flash Gordon - very yellow. Very recognizable. BAM! It's there. Of course, ties in with the movie. But, artistically, not very interesting.
Hot Space - another very recognizable image. This one catches your attention when browsing through a wad of CDs or LPs. Very 80s also, but artistically more interesting than the Flash cover.
The Works - probably the least interesting of all covers, just a shot of the band, not even in an interesting pose. As if they had to do this in a hurry and didn't want to spend too much time on it, much like the album itself which only has 9 songs on it.
A Kind Of Magic - It ties in well with the theme and name of the album (magic) and is simply fun to look at.
The Miracle - this is, I think, one of their best. It's a mugshot of the band, but their faces blending together is technically and artistically interesting. Plus it conveys a certain messages: the members of the band not acting as indivuals, but as a unit, also shown in them sharing songwriting credits. It's also very recognizable and even something people will talk about, making this a winner.
Innuendo - a good image. Simple, but clean and efficient. Works better on LP format than on CD format though.
Made In Heaven - Nice image, conveys a message. I can stare at this one for a while and dream away.
zaiga wrote:
The Works - probably the least interesting of all covers, just a shot of the band, not even in an interesting pose. As if they had to do this in a hurry and didn't want to spend too much time on it, much like the album itself which only has 9 songs on it.
Hmm.. I always liked The Works cover. I think it's my favorite group shot.. It seems very classy. It was shot by a very old and famous Hollywood photographer whom I'm too lazy to find the name of right now.
That's the only 2004 mini-vinyl card sleeve I was slightly disappointed with, because I think they over-brightened the cover.
I personally like the covers of Queen and News of the World the best. The former for its ambiguity and color scheme, which are highly representative of the musical content. The latter...I just like. It's an interesting piece of artwork.
A Kind Of Magic cover is fab - it sums up the title nicely. When I was a little younger I managed to draw the front cover poster size. Although I never gave it any colour it didn't look too bad!
The Miracle, MIH and NOTW covers I like too.
1.Innuendo - great artwork of the whole sleeve, connected with the video as well; the photo of Queen inside the cover is one of their best
2.Made In Heaven - beautiful image, I think it's very meaningful
3.The Miracle - great idea
4.News Of The World - interesting and meaningful
The rest - not bad, but nothing special either