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I think a lot of the problem is that most of this time period covers when album art was done in-house---not just at A&M, which had Peter Whorf, but at Columbia and RCA---a lot of albums that almost didn't need a label logo on the cover. You could tell from the layout , photo composition and font choices whose it was.Most of mine would be post-1972. Or if I had to, I'd default to picking ten of the A&M/CTi album covers, as I'm a fan of Pete Turner's photography. My criteria for favorites are ones that I would hang on my wall in LP frames. And as of right now, only one A&M (The Police -- Ghost in the Machine) is on the wall. Although it is in a themed grouping of red/black album covers, like the West Side Story film soundtrack, Rush's Hold Your Fire, Mancini's Mr Lucky, etc. The "classic era" A&M album covers...eh, not so much a fan of those. And some like the Whipped Cream cover are so dated and overused now that if I never saw it again in my life, it'd be no loss.
You are right about the Christmas A&M jackets. They do all look good and have the Christmas Spirit. I do not even look at Christmas releases of today.One from that period I really like is the reissued Ticket To Ride album cover with Karen & Richard on the yacht. It was shot on a very sunny day (compared to the original “Offering” cover that was shot on an overcast day and Karen looks like a nun for some reason). And it just gives those vibes of wanting to just relax and listen to the music. Even later on the photo for the Sing/Druscilla Penny 45 looks similar in style to the revised TTR and should’ve been used for an LP.
On cover from later is A Kind of Hush—-just the window pane with the front on the edges really stands out. Along with both Christmas Portrait & An Old-Fashioned Christmas. I really like those older Christmas album covers since the photographer or designer really tried to get the Christmas spirit on the cover before you opened the album like that Herb Alpert Christmas one and he’s Santa Claus. Modern Christmas covers I find I kind of done in a hurry and don’t really look Christmasy. They’ll photograph the artist in front of a winter scene or do something that looks Christmasy but isn’t. I guess it was more the time where it was before all this political correctness and the people weren’t worried about offending other people by saying “Merry Christmas” or overly doing the Christmas stuff, whereas now they think they might offend people.
That one is also a standout--I always liked that "cubed" style on the cover.Crystal Illusions is also a top for me as I feel it was a great cover as it gives a mystique as does the music of the title song.
Thanks Rudy.That one is also a standout--I always liked that "cubed" style on the cover.