#76 - License to Ill: Beastie Boys (1986)

I don’t know nuthin about no Beastie Boys. That said, that is one cool album cover.

What’s really interesting, though, is the full cover:

Some people thinks it looks kinda like a joint. And, of course, if you hold it up to a mirror, “3ATM3” says “eat me.” Great stuff, great stuff.

The idea was producer Rick Rubin’s. According to genius.com “after reading a biography about Led Zeppelin’s success, he saw that they had a private jet. Rick Rubin then thought about how the lives of Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, Big Bopper, and some of the original members of Lynyrd Skynyrd were taken by airplane crashes. What better way to announce a new band than crashing their jet into the side of a mountain? He also said that it was like a Mad Magazine Fold-In. Looking at the standard album cover and opening up the gatefold imitates that same feeling.” Man, the guy’s a genius!

The painting was by David Gambale, AKA World B. Omes. 

Not sure if he’s known for anything else.  His only other credit on discogs is for a parody!

Interestingly, the original was sold on Antiques Roadshow.

So, the Internets tell me they’re a white rap group from the 80s and 90s. In fact, they were the biggest selling rap group ever. They have no less than 7 platinum albums, and are in the Rock’n Roll HoF. Sorry, I tuned out at “white rap group.”

Yo, yo, yo

They were very diverse with their album covers. Here are a few more I like:

Surprisingly few parodies out there. Eminem, though did a very direct homage to the cover – and Los Beasty Ones – with his Kamikaze:

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#77 - Unknown Pleasures: Joy Division (1979)

Joy Division is one of my favorite bands of all time. Kind of hard to believe that they lasted less than 2 years, and that front man Ian Curtis was dead at age 23.

They were one of the first post-punk bands, and had a huge influence on numerous musicians that came after. Groups that have cited them include U2, the Cure, Radiohead, Nine Inch Nails, Interpol, and others. They would, of course, reform after Curtis’s suicide as New Order.

This is probably Joy Division’s best album, though it didn’t really make much of a splash when it was released in 1979. Since then, it’s often recognized as one of the most influential albums ever. “She’s Lost Control” is one song from it you might recognize.

The image is an interesting one. It was designed by Peter Saville and is “radio waves from pulsar CP 1919.” It actually became quite iconic.  

Peter gets his own treatment

Though quite simple, it’s also pretty powerful. A critic at the BBC described it quite well saying, “It speaks volumes. Its white on black lines reflect a pulse of power, a surge of bass, and raw angst. If the cover doesn't draw you in, the music will.”

Saville would design some more stuff for Joy Division and pretty much everything for New Order. He also designed the cover for the first group’s Closer, Les Bains Douche, and Preston 28 February 1980, all of which are pretty darn cool as well.

Saville has over 200 credits. Here’s a couple that are fairly well known:

And here's the band (Peter Hook, Ian, Bernard Sumner, Stephen Morris):

There are some good parodies out there (here’s a whole page dedicated to them):

... and lots and lots of merchandise:

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#78 - Blue: Joni Mitchell (1978)

It’s super simple, but it’s also super effective – and a lot more complex that it looks. I also think it’s very reflective of Joni and of the album.

The designer was Gary Burden, who you’ve seen here before. 

Gary and friend

His goal was to mimic a “ferro cyanotype from the 1880s.” I have no idea what he’s talking about, but it’s a wonderful effect.

I don’t think I mentioned it before, and I don’t think I have any of these as blog posts, but Burden did a ton of stuff for the other guy in that picture. Here are a few of my favorites:

The actual photo was taken by Tim Considine. A former child actor, he was Mike in My Three Sons, as well as Soldier Who Gets Slapped in Patton. Incredibly, this is his only visual credit on discogs.

Equally hard to believe, this is the only album cover that Joni didn’t make herself. Everything else was along the lines of these:

Indeed, she was a very talented person – painter, poet, and musician. She also did a fair amount of covers for her friends:

A couple of critics see her as the greatest female musician of all time. And if you just think of some of her hits – “Clouds,” “Both Sides, Now,” “Woodstock,” “Chelsea Morning” – you’d have to agree. Oh, she’s also won no less than 9 Grammys. I’m pretty sure I had every one of her albums as a teen and 20-something.

The album itself was ranked 30th all-time according to Rolling Stone. As with a lot of Joni’s stuff, it deals primarily with relationships, and is very confessional in nature. 

Indeed, her lovers over the years are quite a hall of fame in themselves – Graham Nash, James Taylor, David Crosby, Leonard Cohen, Jackson Browne, John Guerin, Sam Shepard, Jaco Pastorius … 

Two of my favorite people

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#79 - True Blue: Madonna (1986)

She’s b-a-c-k … This is actually her third album, coming right after last week’s #80. It was supposedly a major improvement, with more of an “adult sound.” Some critic said it took her from “pop tart to consummate artist.”

Robert Christgau, on the other hand, saw it as “pandering to the lowest common denominator of young listeners with ambiguous lyrics and over-promotion.” I would probably agree, though the only track I can identify on the whole thing is “Papa Don’t Preach.”

The photographer was Herb Ritts, a fashion & celeb type. 

It’s pretty emblematic of his work – black & white, classical, sculptural. He’s got almost 200 credits on discogs.com. Here are some of his more famous ones:

As for True Blue, Jeri Heiden worked with Ritts’ photos to come up with the final design. Here’s her take on it: “It was like she was floating—her clothing was not visible. She took on the appearance of a marble statue—Goddess like.”

Couple of other iconic Madonna covers:

And some general weirdness from the Material Girl herself:

As for parodies, I love this one from Vincent Flouret:

Do you remember him from last week? He actually did a whole series where he substituted his golden retriever for the Material girl (and got covered by the Met). Here's another of his I really liked:

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