what is it?, it looks like something under a microscope, anyone know?

filetgumbo said:

Same here. That cover is one of the best jobs he's ever done with his albums in terms of art..

vainandy said:

I'm starting to understand your disdain for records like "Parade" - you have obviously never listened to any real music outside the mainstream music marketplace - as those records come all the time in digipaks (yes, they are called "digipaks", not "damn cardboard"). And most of us prefer our releases in this format. 50% of my records wouldn't fit in you CD holder either. There are studies that prove that the teen audience tends to eschew albums released in digipak format for the same reasons you have stated above, lowering their overall sales considerably. Thus mainstream record labels do not generally favour this format.

And no, manufacturing "the cardboard" is not cheaper than jewelcases. Manufacturing a special package like the one with "Musicology" is definitely not cheaper than producing a standard jewelcase with the 4-colour insert. The reason why Prince has switched over to digipaks is because he prefers it, not because it's "cheaper". Why else would most "deluxe editions" come in digipaks? Because it's a luxury format. And yes, it looks far more pleasant - you consumer whores, you.

nvrmind edit
[Edited 3/16/05 1:17am]

Novabreaker said:

I luv u Novabreaker, I get so tired of people calling P cheap, I just learned something from u.

The Musicology CD art was bad. Real bad.

The digipak format does not bother me, but I can understand the complaints about it because it is easy to damage and will not hold up well over years and years of use. Imagine if your Purple Rain CD was a digipak -- it would be destroyed by now, eh? (Not to say that we're all going to pop Musicology in the ol' CD player as much as we did Purple Rain over the last 20 years, but still...) That digipak format does have a more "friendly," "earthy" feel than a standard plastic jewel case...but I will say this -- at least the digipak for TRC and NEWS included a method to close and seal the packaging. With Musicology, you just hope it stays shut and the CD booklet doesn't fall out.

Then there's the screenprinting on the CD -- looks very cheaply done at a really low line screen, and the cream-ish color from the album cover drifts towards pink on the CD screenprinting, too.

Typestyler went out of fashion in 1989 -- but the "musicology" text on the album cover looks like it's been revived from Macintosh System 6.

The lyric book...don't even get me started. The first page or two uses the Egyptian-looking Herculanum typeface for the lyrics, then it changes to an extended version of crappy Helvetica or Arial and just looks like a giant mistake. And could the band look any more like stuffed corpses in the group shot? Prince esta muerto...sure looks like it. Thankfully, with a digipak that doesn't close and has no pocket, the chances of losing the booklet altogether are considerably higher.

Aside from those rants, I will say that some associated artwork for the album was quite nice -- the label on the "Musicology" vinyl that was used in the video and on the music club's website intro (back in April or so of 2004) was cool. The CD single for Cinnamon girl (both the enhanced single that used art from the video and the other slimline jewelcase version that had the black background with Prince in a red suit) was also nice.

You obviously know absolutely nothing about me. I haven't listened to mainstream music since the early 1980s.

I grew up in the vinyl era (the big black CDs). I have not only tons of albums and 45s but 12 Inch Singles probably make up the majority of my music collection. These are the big black CDs that have one song on one side and one song on the other side. People around here know of 12 Inches because Prince made some and a lot of other artists made remixes on 12 Inches during the 1980s. I have tons of 12 Inches by artists that never made a single album and only released 12 Inches.

By the time vinyl completely faded out and CDs took over, maxi-singles became the format of 12 Inch Singles. On the maxi-singles, sometimes five or six remixes would be on there. Maxi-singles sometimes came in the thin cases like CDRs come in now or the cardboard cases like "Musicology" came in.

90% of CDs that I own are from artists from the 1970s and 1980s so they come in the plastic cases. The only current music I buy is from an old artist that still makes new music so I could give less than a damn about all the new current CD packaging out there.

I have deluxe editions of Rick James' "Street Songs" and Diana Ross' "Diana" and they are far from a luxury. Yes, they have tons of pictures and info but for someone with as large a music collection as I have, I would prefer CD packaging that fits the slots for some organization. Who wants to be digging through cardboad slung on a shelf for a half an hour when it can all be organized and found quickly in holders?

vainandy said:

You obviously haven't got much of an idea what mainstream music is.

From

yyour profile

All good music, but definitely mainstream.



And there you go again. You really didn't know then that a very big portion of non-mainstream music is "still" released exclusively on vinyl? It has far from died in the underground end of things. Many labels release just vinyl, because they and their customers prefer it.



That's understandable. But if you're going to argue that "those damn carboard covers look so unprofessional", some people - including irritating twats like me - are definitely going to latch on you.



Fine.



Most music lovers?

Novabreaker said:

What kind of moron would defend jewel cases? They are one of the shoddiest, shittiest products known to man . . .made from the cheapest, easiest to crack plastic ever. How many times have you unwrapped a new cd, and had the hinge fall off the very first time you opened the cover?? Yet another example of why the major companies should just go eat shit . . .

Digipaks are at least kinda reminiscent of old skool vinyl sleeves--and I've never had any problem with them warping.

And never mind the bland artwork, the Musicology package design with that asinine flap and no slot for the booklet. . .should never have been approved.

Doozer said:

Totally agree.

The cover shot of Prince is okay, but it looks way better on either a plain
white background (as it was shot) or even better on a dark brown background
like the inside of the booklet. The 'creeping vine on a brick wall' background
just isn't very good in that dull light grey color. Also, apart from the
annoying typographical things already mentioned, I thought it was annoying
that the titles used the word 'Eye' while the body type used the usual image
of an eye instead... just lazy and inconsistent.

trashoblanco said:

Other than the horrible front cover, this is my main complaint about the Musicology CD. Why would anyone think it was a good idea to just lay the booklet inside of the case?

BorisFishpaw said:

LAZY -- A good word to describe it. Of course, none of us know how hands-on Prince was in the designing process, and if he said "give me cream colored vines behind my photo" no one was probably going to argue much with him. But, the other items mentioned such as the type problems are pure production issues where care simply was not taken.

Sign o the times is my favourite prince cover. Its fuckin cool.
exodus cover bites tho

What the f*uck is going on in here?

Anyway, I think the booklet is alright, but the cover itself is crap.

Actually, Prince's covers have always been a bit hit and miss.
I think his good cover / bad cover ratio is pretty 50/50.

And I agree (typo issues aside) the inside of the booklet is WAY better
than the cover.

Why didn't they put in a little pocket where we could place the booklet on the Digipak?I've seen one artist in particular do it and it looks nice.

The profile asks for "favorite" artists, it does not ask for "favorite underground artists". I was into a ton of underground house music in the late 1980s and early 1990s but I definately would not consider it my "favorite".

As far as vinyl being in existance, of course I knew that. What do you think club DJs are mixing with? For the general public, as a whole, new vinyl is very hard to find. A lot of record stores will special order it, if it is available. Other than that, it is extinct.

As far as a true music lover preferring a cardboard cover over a case, the cover has absolutely nothing to do with the music. Maybe to a serious collector it might mean something but too a serious music lover, it means nothing. As I said before, I like an organized collection and cases fit into slots and can be read quickly. Also, if there is an empty slot, you know that someone has swiped one of your CDs. If my collection wasn't so large, I could care less about organization.

BorisFishpaw said:

Right -- They've been good or bad, with little middle ground. I offer my reviews:

For You - Cool dust cover and groovy 1978 feel...for what it was and when it was made, I give it credit.

Prince - Blah. Where did they shoot that photo, the local newsroom where they do the weather on the blue screen? Failing grade, sorry.

Dirty Mind - Frickin' right on.

Controversy - A bit goofy but appropriate for the album. I say "good" despite the fact that he's never looked more like Morris Day than in that cover photo.

1999 - Way cool hand-drawn art from Prince himself.

Purple Rain - A-OK

Around the World in a Day - Possibly the most fitting album cover art ever for a Prince album. Use of sections of the large painting on the single LPs was really cool.

Parade - I could do without the shot of his flathead screwdriver bellybutton, but it's elegant and appropriate for the UTCM soundtrack.

SOTT - In a head-to-head race with ATWIAD for the most appropriate and beautiful cover art for a Prince album.

Lovesexy - Not a fan of naked unibrow men, but okay -- it's all about rebirth, and our little man looks like he's on those flowers, especially considering we're talking about pre-Photoshop days here. Good cover.

Batman - Doesn't even count as a Prince album cover.

Graffiti Bridge - The worst P album cover art since his self-titled LP. Looks like a photo collage project from grade school. The hand-lettering by Margo Chase is cool, but it's lost in all the other crap. Is that a frickin' floating hand for Pete's sake?

Diamonds and Pearls - Hologram was inventive and got lots of attention. For that I say "good job."

0(+> - The cheese factory is open for business again. What high school theatre did they get the props from for the video for 7?

The Hits/B-Sides - Nice duotone photography. Simple and cool.

Come - Sorry, not a fan of that. Blame it on the hair and the mustache that practically wraps around the back of his head.

The Gold Experience - Aside from the fact that it looks like they just didn't know what the hell to do with the symbol besides but a black drop shadow the size of Montana on it, I think it was well done. Nice photography treatments.

Chaos and Disorder - Well, the art fits the album, but the back cover is better than the front, I think. The WB logo in the tear...a little silly.

Emancipation - *some* of the photo illustrations are cool, but not most. The last spread of the lyric book would have made a better cover.

The Vault - Bad on purpose, I do believe.

Crystal Ball - It was supposed to look like a bootleg, but it was way worse.

New Power Soul - I've seen better drawings on the photos of the models you see in the lipstick aisle of the grocery store.

Rave - The blue foil was actually very cool. The outfit and the hair were anything but.

TRC - Cool and appropriate.

NEWS - The unique packaging saves the day -- I say cool.

Musicology - See my post above. Bad. Real bad.

vainandy said:

Cool.



Club DJs mix these days?



That is actually true. To be honest, I tend to buy shitloads of releases just because they come in a fancy package. Usually good music inside, but the decision to purchase them initially must have come from the fancy packaging. I'm such a whore.



All charges have been dropped. The prosecution withdraws. Defeated.