They say you can't judge a book by its cover, but what about a Prince album?

Was there a particular album that you just knew was going to be great or awful the moment you looked at the cover? Were you right?

The last time a cover made me feel absolutely certain that the album would be brilliant was Lovesexy. (Honestly, I haven't really loved any of his album covers since.) On the flip side, Rave had me worried from the moment I picked it up in the record store.

What say U?

Peace, David

Yeah, check out "The Vault." His hair alone scared me away from that one!

IF i would've judged a prince album by its cover then i probably wouldn't have bought a single one of them. okay, maybe except for 'sign of the times' and 'around the world in a day', but the rest are just hideous..

both Diamonds & Pearls and the 0-(>-Album were as great as their Covers. I likes the Cover for NPS, too.

I actually really liked the cover for Rave. It looked quite fresh and new. In general I find that P has very poor artwork though. I think the best album cover was D & P. Even the non-hologram cover was sexy and chic.

As I work in books I generally do tend to judge books by their cover, as a jacket can make or break a book, sadly. I think with albums it's a different thing. People will buy an album on the strength of one single but not necessarily the cover, I think.

When someone first posted the TRC artwork, I wasn't sure, but once I heard the album I think it fits beautifully and I now think it's his best album cover in years.

But then, what do I know, I like the ONA piano CD cover too...

The only one that I'm not too fond of is Batman and only because it's not original. Other then that I loved them all including and especially the music.

booyah said:

TRC came this close to being great, IMHO. I love the original artwork that's on the cover, I'm just not very fond of the way it's used. Having the painting framed askew with a surprisingly frumpy Prince peeking around the corner just doesn't work for me. I like the piece much better on the back where it bleeds on all sides. But, back on the minus side, I don't really like that the front and back covers are more or less the same. Seems a bit unimaginative. Actually, I think the album surpasses the cover in this case.

I have always loved the stark beauty of the "Parade" album cover. The black and white photography always struck me as suitable for that album for some reason. The album artwork for "New Power Soul" is pretty ghetto.

I knew when i saw the Lovesexy cover the album was going to be something very bold and exciting.
He didn't disappoint.

XNY said:

Amen!!!

Sign O The Times because I saw all of His Instruments on DIsplay&I was like this is gonna Rock.that was a Tight Album Cover&everything went down just on the Cover.

I used to study the ATWIAD album all the time, so for me, it had the best impact, but for coolness, it has to be SOTT.

Around the World In A Day. If You didn't get it when you saw the album cover that this was NOT going to be purple rain 2, You were dense.

RIAA

'nuff said.

How much does the packaging influence your enjoyment of the music?

"Emancipation"- that packaging was so tacky, what with the Halloween colors. why not have had a picture of naked Mayte tied up in chains with Prince dressed up as an angel or prowler with a pair of bolt cutters creeping up with a wink to the camera/us?Something classy!

Between the demo-sound of "Emancipation" and the artwork, my brain thinks "cheap" when it comes to that cd!

"The Truth": it's this album's LACK of packaging that makes gives it a lot less stature,just thrown in to appease the justifiably mad people who waited 9 months for CB.I would take this album more seriously if Prince did.

"Prince": my local record store has a "staff picks" wall and a wise-ass always puts it up there because the cover is hysterical!! That cover alone probably repels sales.

"Dirty Mind" when I took this album to the counter in the 80's the girl at the till carried it over to her co-worker and they laughed at the photo. How Embarassing! Thanks Prince!

"Grafitti Bridge": Ingrid Chavez's decapitated head floating proves even in decapitation that everybody still wants to find Grafitti Bridge. Weird!

"Come": that cover is not worthy. He should have used the "Letitgo" single cover instead- that 'do is classic!

"Chaos and Disorder" just because this album is a kiss-off and a non-attempt at anything worthy, does it mean the cover has to be fugly too!

"Rave un2 the Joy Fantastic": holy crap.

"One Nite Alone Live": why coulldn't he have used one of the live shots with a guitar, bathed in colored light? Like the front of the book inside, or the ONA back page booklet photo? The box cover of ONAL doesn't SAY anything! "Here's me suckin' in my cheeks! Buy!"

"Rainbow Children", "Parade", "Hits 1", "Hits/B-Sides", "Around the World In A Day", and "Controversy" are good to great covers.
[This message was edited Tue Feb 11 14:20:35 PST 2003 by pimpytheclown]

I don't ever judge the music by the cover, but I really love the artwork for "around the world in a day", "rainbowchildren", "sign o' the times" and "1999".


I remember the when "lovesexy" first came out, man that was embarassing for me to buy, I've never been too fond of that cover.
And as someone else on here said, "emancipation" is tacky as hell, IMHO.
[This message was edited Tue Feb 11 14:28:07 PST 2003 by lovebizzare]

I can't believe the 1999 squad hasn't shown up. I was sure they'd have something to say about this topic.

Peace, David

livewire said:

Hey!I said somethin' about it!

I was typing my post while you were submitting yours.

And what's the general feeling on The Gold Experience? I loved the shiny metallic cover David Letterman showed the night P came on to perform "Dolphin." The cover as released was a big letdown.

Peace, David

livewire said:

Yeah, see how did "Gold Experience" artwork reflect the music? When I hear that album, all I see is orange,orange,orange, with blurred human images everywhere! It affects my view of that album. That crazy symbol was always a hinderance to making a good cover,too.The album title, as written, looks like a doodle on a high-school kid's notepad. Prince looks weird on the cover-he should have used that photo on the I hate U lyric page instead. I truly believe that that cover hurt it's sales. It made no impact on the shelf. Yeah, that shiny Letterman cover was more enticing only to have Dave point out "it will never be released". That part where Prince shot himself in the head was hilarious!They should have had Mayte aproach him with an IV and blood bag and Prince come to life and say, "Don't you know dead blood kills interferons?!" Like that moment could have gotten ANY weirder. Mayte's streamers were cool.

pimpytheclown said:

Parade was one of my favorites simply because it had pictures of the Revolution in it. I think it was Prince's way of saying "get a good look at them now because they won't be here tomorrow".

LittlePill said:

The inner record sleeve that is not part of the cd artwork was cool

Actually, the artwork for "Dream Factory" was already created with photos of the Revolution, so I think before they split up The Revolution was to be very much a continuing force!

Chaka mad

New Powersoul, right from the getgo, I knew it was going to be a tough ride.

I knew Lovesexy and Parade would be vital works of art.

"1999" had a Cool Hippie Vibe&Prince truly tapped into Pop Culture with the Backwards Revolution in the Mirrior.that Album Cover had a cool trip out vibe&you had to hear what was inside of it.I like that Football Symbol on the Cover.it's one of His Coolest Album Covers IMHO.

daydreamer said:

For *me* Prince's best covers are:

1. Parade
2. SOTT
3. Dirty Mind
4. ATWIAD
5. D&P

Otherwise his covers are quite awful and rarely reflect the quality of the work - IMHO

If I was to judge Prince's albums by their covers, I wouldn't have bought a lot of 'em, LOL!

Seriously, the guy has an extremely bad taste when it comes to album covers. The only ones I like are TRC, ATWIAD, SOTT and 1999.

There are some I truly despise: NPS (looks so cheap!), GB (that artwork!) and Emancipation (that artwork!)...

I hate the 1999 cover, but it kicks mo' ass than all the rest!!





edited b/c I unintentionally made a rhyme & I HATE that!!!
[This message was edited Wed Feb 12 7:27:21 PST 2003 by CalhounSq]

Best covers:
1. TheRainbowChildren
2. Parade
3. AroundTheWorld

Worst covers:
1. Chaos&Disorder
2. 1999
3. ForYou

True though that artwork rarely coincided with the way the album seduced me or not...
[This message was edited Wed Feb 12 7:35:07 PST 2003 by antuco]