The vinyl record is booming, and we're not complaining about it here. Press shortages, overwhelmed factories, panicking record stores, consumers wandering from empty shelves to specialized websites: everyone wants them!
Posterity on 31.5 cm2
Among the arguments for this improbable return to grace, here's a significant one: the album cover. On 31.5 cm2, the artist has ample opportunity to express their universe, often magnified by the creativity of a painter, photographer, or graphic designer brought in for support. From Sticky Fingers to Dark Side Of The Moon, and Sgt. Pepper's, some of these creations have literally become legendary, bringing art into millions of homes. It's safe to say the CD can't claim the same.
Big Bang my ass
Under these conditions, how can we, in 2016, be offered covers as ugly as David Bowie's Blackstar or DIIV's Is The Is Are? For the former, who has accustomed us to higher standards (see the history of his covers by NME), the culprit – designer Jonathan Barnbrook, already responsible for the hoax that was The Next Day in 2013 – had to come up with a rather far-fetched retroactive justification: "The idea of mortality is there, and of course the idea of a black hole absorbing everything, the Big Bang, the beginning of the universe, if there is an end to the universe." And if Bowie hadn't died, what would he have said, Jonathan? That it was a nod to Star Wars?
2nd year of kindergarten
In the case of the latter, DIIV, aka Zachary Cole Smith, catapulted to indie darling status with genuine bits of Brooklyn and heroin, it turns out that the cover wasn't designed by his little nephew currently in 2nd year of kindergarten, but by 3 different artists who compiled their talent to vomit up this mess. Honestly, I take my hat off to them.
The recipe for a successful cover
What makes a successful cover? In my humble opinion, it's a cover that perfectly matches the music it contains, but which can also exist without it. It's a graphic creation serving the music; the inverse is simply not possible. So yes, we want a photo of Bowie to complete the discographic photo album in which we see him aging gracefully. Yes, we want creativity, madness, humor, risk, relevance, not pompous graphic design that is terribly lacking in inspiration! Yes, we want artists to take this subject seriously, otherwise there's no point in releasing their record on vinyl.
And ultimately, to determine if a cover is successful, perhaps all you need to ask yourself is one question: would you hang it on your wall?
