Album covers...most and least favorite (can include compilations)

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Song4uman

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Favorite album cover is the 90's version of the Japanese release of "Anthology".
Least Favorite cover is "A Kind of Hush"...although there are a few that would be up there...

Jonathan
 
My favorite would be the color photo used on The Ultimate Collection similar to the b&w photo on Lovelines. Least favorite is Offering.
 
What about inner-sleeve photos?

My thoughts:

The inner-sleeve in the A Kind Of Hush LP, if it couldn't make the cover of that one, I wish it could have been used for the front portrait of Horizon...

There's that "surprise" photo inside CarpenterS! --If only you could see how that picture looks uncannily like me and MY sister! (And in that decade, on top of that!)

I like the little icons that adorn A Song For You, too! --Now that fits in with that theme of their "Epic Masterpiece"...!

Lastly, there's the inside-gate-fold in The Singles, 1969-1973: Sepia-tone & all, that leaves a fond impression, if in only the duo was easy to market as a "brother & sister" act by that time...

Otherwise, to stick w/ Album Covers, as in FRONT: My vote goes to Now And Then! The driving in the car in front of the Neville Ave. house says more 'n' mere words can!


-- Dave
 
My favourite would be the Lovelines cover. I loved the photo as well as the bossed effect around the outside of it.

My least favourite? Singles 1969-1973. The bland, plain brown cover, with a logo the same shade and only definable by its outline, did nothing for me and it wouldn't have stood out at all on record shelves, with the logo barely noticeable. I would have thought for the hits album they would have come up with something a bit more eyecatching and colourful, especially after 'A Song For You' and 'Now And Then'. Even the lovely picture inside was spoiled by its sepia tone to match the whole brown theme.
 
My preference for album covers in general is a picture of the performers, so that is my main criterion. And I am partial to an actual photograph, rather than an artist's rendering.
  • Favorite: Horizon, hands down! To me, it is one of the most beautiful pictures of Karen. It also conveys emotion, as she certainly did with her singing.
  • Favorite runner-up: As Time Goes By. Again, I find it to be a great picture of Karen.
I was disappointed by the album cover for Passage, only because it doesn't feature the typical Carpenters logo; otherwise, it's very colorful and eye-catching.
 
I personally love A Song For You's cover; its very simple with the heart, but the shade of red is very attractive and eye-catching.

Passage is probably my least favorite -- I mean, no picture, not even the great logo?! The design itself isn't bad, but it should have been handled a different way than it was.

I love Now and Then and Horizon too, they both a have a kind of darker, more mysterious edge to them. And I LOVE Karen's drawn picture in the inner sleeve of N&T, even though alot of people thinks it looks stupid.
 
Fave: As Time Goes By
Least: (tie) Offering and Close To You...where my heros look like two wet rats in really bad prom outfits :wink:
 
As someone who purchased the Carpenters' albums as they were released, I can tell you I was almost relieved at the Passage album cover. I'm in Richard Carpenter's camp about how badly they were marketed, and those album covers just emphasized the fact. Horizon was a nice change also, album cover and musically - I had hoped that was a turning point. Then came Kind of Hush and I was basically disappointed again. Other than I Need to be in Love and You I was not impressed.
 
I have wondered in the last few years why pictures like the Rolling Stone cover or the album cover on As Time Goes By weren't used as covers....they are so much less "mushy"...
 
As someone who purchased the Carpenters' albums as they were released, I can tell you I was almost relieved at the Passage album cover. I'm in Richard Carpenter's camp about how badly they were marketed, and those album covers just emphasized the fact. Horizon was a nice change also, album cover and musically - I had hoped that was a turning point. Then came Kind of Hush and I was basically disappointed again. Other than I Need to be in Love and You I was not impressed.
My feelings, exactly (though I would have preferred a photo somewhere on the "Passage" album cover). My least-favorite cover is "A Kind of Hush" (the graphics are neat, the photos not so much so). As bad as the "Close to You" cover is, I can't bring myself to say I hated it because as a kid, I loved it and stared at it for hours. So sentimentality wins out. My favorite is the "Horizon" cover. Like you, I thought the tide was turning ... and then it didn't.
 
Maybe I'm dazzled by metallics, but two of my favorite Carpenters covers feature metallic colors and no photos. They would be SINGLES 1974-178, the UK/Canadian comp with the gold cover, and LOVE SONGS with the silver logo. I thought both of those were very "classy", and I've always loved that CᴬᴿᴾᴱᴺᵀᴱᴿS logo.

carpsingles7478.jpg
carplovesongs.jpg


Harry
 
Favorite cover: "Ticket to Ride". They aren't sitting cheek to cheek, and they look relaxed and cool. And like siblings....not a couple.

Least favorite cover: "Made In America". As Paul Grein stated in Goldmine, they look like sexless eunuchs. :)
The inside sleeve should have been the cover. That photo is PERFECT.
 
Maybe I'm dazzled by metallics, but two of my favorite Carpenters covers feature metallic colors and no photos. They would be SINGLES 1974-178, the UK/Canadian comp with the gold cover, and LOVE SONGS with the silver logo. I thought both of those were very "classy", and I've always loved that CᴬᴿᴾᴱᴺᵀᴱᴿS logo.

carpsingles7478.jpg
carplovesongs.jpg


Harry

Wow. The Carpenters go to Xanadu! ("Singles" cover above.) :D
I always liked the "Love Songs" design, too. Simple and elegant. And I usually don't care for covers that list song titles.
 
I don't mind the "Hush" cover...but I think the inside jacket is one of the worst pictures of Karen ever....
 
...so I guess I shouldn't have put the cover as my least favorite....or maybe it is.....I am feeling indecisive right now....
 
I always felt "Made In America" had an ultra-cool cover.Nobody can deny that it's a work of art.Next to MIA,"Horizon" would probably be the best cover.Again,it's got that "cool" presentation,and Karen looks very good in that pic.(It was taken in late 1974-the last period where Karen looked really good).

"Voice Of The Heart" would be the next pick.That close-up shot(from Karen's solo album pics) made a great cover
 
"Voice Of The Heart" would be the next pick.That close-up shot(from Karen's solo album pics) made a great cover

Karen was so excited about this particular shot and the album's artwork in general, I think seeing herself made up with this new hip East Coast image was a wonderful boost of confidence for her. Her new look certainly matched the mood and style of the album.

It's quite bittersweet then, that this shot, taken for an album she loved and was so excited over, but which those closest to her panned her for, was dragged out, dusted off and relegated to the cover of her first posthumous album. I often wonder what Karen would have made of that.
 
At this point I can see a significance between Singles 1969-1973, and--well, the Bible!

This seems to have been significant to me by a recently-recorded Pat Boone album--yes, Pat recently made a New Album, at what's to HIM a Ripe Old Age, of EIGHTY!

That is, the inside cover is designed like the Bible... (Can't really find a good pic I can put here, Online...)

And entitled none-other than Legacy, which is a collection of Gospel music, as opposed to the Rock 'N' Roll, Pop Music, Torch Music, Love Songs, Country Songs that have more vastly dominated his career... (And yes, personally said so, that this will truly be his LAST record album! --Oh, CD, I mean!)




-- Dave
 
Well not necessarily the popular choice, but I go for 'Passage', due to nostalgia. I liked the break from the standard. For traditional imagery I like 'As Time Goes By' then 'Horizon'. Karen looks lovely and wistful in both.
 
Christmas Portrait. Whimsy and warmth collide and coalesce. Why set it aside? It's one of their albums. It's Christmas. Hope. A time by all means significant. I do love Horizon. Almost right, and yes I love Offering. The contrasts in the pics mirror those in the music! It's change, hope, doubt, future, past, anything possible. Yes, frowns last awhile, but only so long, and so too smiles, have their life spans and ends.
 
This is easy...

Favorite: "Horizon": This is the one time when A&M got it right. Karen is absolutely gorgeous on it and Richard looks like a handsome young guy too. The "soft lens" approach is inspired.

Least Favorite: "Close To You" - Oh, holy husband and wife! What was A&M thinking? It puts across the totally wrong image. Everything about it is completely wrong. It got no worse than this. I couldn't get any worse than this.

Ed
 
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