Music Conveyed Through Cover Art
Back when vinyl records weren’t just in the homes of hipsters or audiophiles, album artwork used to be front and center. Listeners would identify albums through their covers, and not just by hearing a song served out of context from a playlist made by an algorithm that thinks it knows your taste. Music used to be physical, something you could hold in your hands while you listen with your ears. As times have changed and the majority of listening happens over streaming platforms, album covers seemed to have taken a more minor role in the experience. Pushed aside, forgotten about.
The purpose of this gallery is to inspire listeners to connect to music not just through songs but through the entire artistic experience, including the album cover. I hope that after recollecting some of my favorite record covers across a wide range of genres, readers look more closely at the art behind the music. From Japanese Experimental to Neo-Kraut to Spiritual Jazz to Balearic Disco - the following albums have both beautiful cover work and are complete albums. So you’ll have plenty of time to enjoy the album art as you listen cover to cover.
Album Artwork Contextualizes Music
Music seems to be playing from everywhere - hotel lobbies, restaurants, bathrooms, gyms - which seems great for exposure. In reality, music gets pushed to the background. It’s always on, so it becomes secondary to your main focus. As listeners, let’s take the time to bring the experience of listening to music to the foreground. Observe the art with both your ears and your eyes. Does the album artwork seem to describe the music? Does it make you listen to the music from a different angle? And as artists, take the opportunity to explore the intersection of audio and visual. Album artwork itself can convey just as strong of a message as lyrics, and adds important dimensionality to your body of work.