Prince's album covers are pretty piss poor in my opinon they always seem like an afterthought I think he just let the music do the talking my best and worst are as follows. what are yours?

1.Around the world in a day (best)

2. Prince (worst)

http://prince.org/msg/7/419357

luv4u said:

http://prince.org/msg/7/419357

Fair but l/a ain't been around that long and very few topics are completely original. So I'll bite.

Best: Most come from the Golden Age -- Sign O' The Times, Parade, 1999, Controversy
There have been a few before (Prince) and after (The Gold Experience). I didn't like The Rainbow Children cover when it came out but it grew on me.

Worst: Some of the NPG/post-WB releases were awful. I didn't like the cover for Come. Some didn't like Emancipation and I can see why.

There are plenty of covers in the middle, but For You is an underrated album cover. Perfectly captures the end of the 70's.

namepeace said:

luv4u said:

http://prince.org/msg/7/419357

Fair but l/a ain't been around that long and very few topics are completely original. So I'll bite.

Best: Most come from the Golden Age -- Sign O' The Times, Parade, 1999, Controversy
There have been a few before (Prince) and after (The Gold Experience). I didn't like The Rainbow Children cover when it came out but it grew on me.

Worst: Some of the NPG/post-WB releases were awful. I didn't like the cover for Come. Some didn't like Emancipation and I can see why.

There are plenty of covers in the middle, but For You is an underrated album cover. Perfectly captures the end of the 70's.

I think 1999 is terrible looks like a 6 year old made it in my opinion of course.

lonelyalien said:

namepeace said:

Fair but l/a ain't been around that long and very few topics are completely original. So I'll bite.

Best: Most come from the Golden Age -- Sign O' The Times, Parade, 1999, Controversy
There have been a few before (Prince) and after (The Gold Experience). I didn't like The Rainbow Children cover when it came out but it grew on me.

Worst: Some of the NPG/post-WB releases were awful. I didn't like the cover for Come. Some didn't like Emancipation and I can see why.

There are plenty of covers in the middle, but For You is an underrated album cover. Perfectly captures the end of the 70's.

I think 1999 is terrible looks like a 6 year old made it in my opinion of course.

I find it hilarious

Top 5:

1) Purple Rain - It's Prince on a motorcycle looking like the coolest cat ever and uses a sexy font that has become iconic.


2) Dirty Mind - Great outfit, great background, great photograph.

3) Lovesexy - Just because he had the balls to do it. It's a cover that says "Here I am, and I'm beautiful. Deal with it". Mind you I would have been super embarrased by it if my friends had seen it in my collection when I was 16 years old.

4) Sign O' The Times - Because it sets the tone for the album without you even being quite sure of what it is.

5) Diamonds & Pearls (non-hologram version) - Classy in blue, very timeless.

.

Worst 5:

5) Rave Un2 The Joy Fantastic - The Purple Rain cover worked because P has a great outfit and the sleeve used a great font. This is the exact polar opposite of that.

4) Come - Beacuse P should never, ever, look like 90's Michael Jackson in a photograph. Why does he look so elongated?

3) The Chocolate Invasion - When someone tries to draw a sexy woman but accidentally makes then look like a male long distance marathon runner with a yellow afro.

2) 20Ten - Who is that dude on the front? That ain't P. Looks like fan art, not an album cover.

1) The Gold Experience - Because no album cover should ever look like Goats Head Soup. The nadir of Prince album covers.

ShaggyDog said:

Top 5:

3) Lovesexy - . . . It's a cover that says "Here I am, and I'm beautiful. Deal with it". Mind you I would have been super embarrased by it if my friends had seen it in my collection when I was 16 years old.

Try being a teenager in the South walking up to the counter with the record in your hands at 17 years old.

Worst 5:

3) The Chocolate Invasion - When someone tries to draw a sexy woman but accidentally makes then look like a male long distance marathon runner with a yellow afro.

1) The Gold Experience - Because no album cover should ever look like Goats Head Soup. The nadir of Prince album covers.

Hilarious, though I don't think TGE was that bad.

ThatWhiteDude said:

lonelyalien said:

I think 1999 is terrible looks like a 6 year old made it in my opinion of course.

I find it hilarious

Yeah, really never liked that cover at all. And it doesn't feel representative of the music - unlike some of the photos inside/from that era.

lonelyalien said:

Prince's album covers are pretty piss poor in my opinon they always seem like an afterthought I think he just let the music do the talking my best and worst are as follows. what are yours?

1.Around the world in a day (best)

2. Prince (worst)

I actually think Prince is good definately not the worst. It is better than NPS

Musicology might be closets to the worse. I really didn't care for the Come album cover(the photography is good) but not as a cover

Crystal Ball is diabolical.

I like Love Symbol Album cover. 7 video still n the symbol. Cool!

jaawwnn said:

ShaggyDog said:

jaawwnn said:

Crystal Ball is diabolical.

Crystal Ball's cover is so bad it's as if my brain doesn't actually recognise its existence. It's like a piece of genetic placeholder art they put in and forget to get around to inserting the real one.

It may have been Prince's idea to look like a bootleg. Except, of course, the artwork on many bootlegs is stunning and superior to his official releases.

Best are the album covers with Prince himself, on

1. Lovesexy
2. Parade
3. Controversy
4. Dirty Mind
5. Diamonds & Pearls (the Blue cover)

Worst, are the cartoon album covers

1, 2, 3, the Phase 1+2 and AOA

4. Emancipation
5. 20Ten

Btw I love everything about COME, and the cover art to COME, is fantastic imo...

Grey colour and black & white cover-pics, so stylish so great... and of course the music is magical, imho...

I just the slave albums deeply, 1993-1995.....

leecaldon said:

ShaggyDog said:

jaawwnn said: Crystal Ball's cover is so bad it's as if my brain doesn't actually recognise its existence. It's like a piece of genetic placeholder art they put in and forget to get around to inserting the real one.

It may have been Prince's idea to look like a bootleg. Except, of course, the artwork on many bootlegs is stunning and superior to his official releases.

In case it's allowed,

- could you please, maybe, post some examples of "stunning cover arts" to CB??

Don't laugh at me, but I can't recall seeing just 1 cover art to CB, at all.....

thedance said:

leecaldon said:

It may have been Prince's idea to look like a bootleg. Except, of course, the artwork on many bootlegs is stunning and superior to his official releases.

In case it's allowed,

- could you please, maybe, post some examples of "stunning cover arts" to CB??

Don't laugh at me, but I can't recall seeing just 1 cover art to CB, at all.....

I didn't mean Crystal Ball bootlegs - I meant Prince bootlegs. If I owned any, which obviously I, um, don't, of course, some of them look better than almost anything Prince did in his career.

^ ok I see.. thanks at least.. for your reply..


Link:

http://www.crystalballcd.com/






^ HERE is the link for the official CD artwork to Crystal Ball,


(I guess made by Prince himself?)

OldFriends4Sale said:

lonelyalien said:

Prince's album covers are pretty piss poor in my opinon they always seem like an afterthought I think he just let the music do the talking my best and worst are as follows. what are yours?

1.Around the world in a day (best)

2. Prince (worst)

I actually think Prince is good definately not the worst. It is better than NPS

Musicology might be closets to the worse. I really didn't care for the Come album cover(the photography is good) but not as a cover

.

The version of 'Musicology' they gave away at the concerts, yowser that WAS bad! Though the commercial release with his picture on it ain't much better.

.

'The Truth' cover from the cassette version - horrendous.

.

'Plectrumelectrum' cover turns my stomach.

.

Agree 'NewPower Soul' reeks like dog dirt in the sun.

.

Let's talk best...

.

Hundalasiliah!! 'Lovesexy' is tops.

.

Agree 'Around the World in a Day' is boss, also 'Parade' and 'Grafitti Bridge' are favorites.

.

And 'Batman'

BEST

Sign O' The Times, Around The World In A Day, Purple Rain, 1999, Controversy = basically his classic period.

WORST

Expectation, Musicology, Rave, Emancipation, Chaos And Disorder, Rainbow Children... hell, pretty much all the rest...

Best: For U, Lovesexy, LoveSymbol, Come, NewPowerSoul, TRC, 3121, AOA

Worst: The Truth

CAL3 said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

I actually think Prince is good definately not the worst. It is better than NPS

Musicology might be closets to the worse. I really didn't care for the Come album cover(the photography is good) but not as a cover

.

The version of 'Musicology' they gave away at the concerts, yowser that WAS bad! Though the commercial release with his picture on it ain't much better.

.

'The Truth' cover from the cassette version - horrendous.

.

'Plectrumelectrum' cover turns my stomach.

.

Agree 'NewPower Soul' reeks like dog dirt in the sun.

.

Let's talk best...

.

Hundalasiliah!! 'Lovesexy' is tops.

.

Agree 'Around the World in a Day' is boss, also 'Parade' and 'Grafitti Bridge' are favorites.

.

And 'Batman'

It is hard for me to look at Plectrumelectrum

Batman had some really cool photoshoots

CAL3 said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

I actually think Prince is good definately not the worst. It is better than NPS

Musicology might be closets to the worse. I really didn't care for the Come album cover(the photography is good) but not as a cover

.

The version of 'Musicology' they gave away at the concerts, yowser that WAS bad! Though the commercial release with his picture on it ain't much better.

.

'The Truth' cover from the cassette version - horrendous.

.

'Plectrumelectrum' cover turns my stomach.

.

Agree 'NewPower Soul' reeks like dog dirt in the sun.

.

Let's talk best...

.

Hundalasiliah!! 'Lovesexy' is tops.

.

Agree 'Around the World in a Day' is boss, also 'Parade' and 'Grafitti Bridge' are favorites.

.

And 'Batman'

Compared to the others you mentioned, I quite like NPS.

leecaldon said:

Best: Lovesexy - Prince at his most daring, beautiful, exposed, unique, and over the top.

.

Worst: I'm going to go for The Vault, not because it's nexessarily the worst cover, but for me it is the worst case of a very cool photograph photoshopped to all hell. If they had left it in its original state, it could have been one of the best covers.