When I was young(er) the cover of an album was almost as much a part of the album as the music contained within. The typeface, the image (whether it was of the band or some pseudo-surreal imagery commissioned by the record label) the visuals somehow came to represent the music, and the music echoed the visuals.
We were all too innocent to think about concepts like marketing and product placement back then (whenever then was) and if we adored a particular artist then they could do no wrong and even looked great when they knelt on the floor with a model of a tank provocatively planted between their legs - in fact Tanx was my favourite late T. Rex album and however slapdash and innuendo-heavy that cover was, I still look on it with fondness and can't separate it from the great music it represented in my mind, and the sense of expectation I felt when I saw the cover before I heard the album.
But now we are all grown up and know better than to associate the random workings of a record company art department with a band the art department may never have even met - don't we? Well, the answer in my case, is no, I'm afraid not.
If a record company creates a cover like the Feryal Öney one which prompted these thoughts (see 'Another CD Catch up' under New Releases) they can expect me to not even play it even if I got it for absolutely nothing, because I've convinced myself I know what it's going to sound like.
And, likewise, if I see an album with interesting artwork at a car boot sale for a quid I'll buy it expecting the contents to be of some value too. Needless to say, this isn't a full-proof way of acquiring a good record collection but it's proved fairly reliable over the years.
Now I've thought about this a bit more, I'd like to ask you all several questions on all this.
1. Favourite album cover(s) of all time
2. Favourite world music album cover
3. Cover that least reflected the music within.
4. Cover that best reflected the music within.
5. Cover you love even though you know you shouldn't.
6. Album you bought on the strength of its interesting cover and weren't disappointed.
7. Album you bought on the strength of its interesting cover and were disappointed.
8. Cover where an artist you'd previously had the utmost respect for disappointed you deeply.
9. LP cover you most often used for rolling joints on.
10. Cover which has the most interesting back-story which you happen to recall.
Feel free to improvise around the above themes or just answer as many or as few of the questions as you like or even add further album cover related questions.