I like Alicia Keys, but this No One song wore off fast and I can't stand it, especially at the end with all that chanting. I hope the rest of the CD is good and the pic is okay. She is a pretty lady.

lastdecember said:

Only song I can listen to is the single.

The production sounds like they were trying to mimic Hilary Duff's Dignity, but didn't get it right.
[Edited 10/26/07 13:37pm]

VoicesCarry said:

No i doubt that, Hilary used so many different producers and that the album had a totally fresh new feel, Britneys is good on another level, the project is mostly from one person so the album isnt diverse in material or mood, Hilarys is all over which is why its still to me the best POP album this year and in awhile. Britneys is good to me but not something that is very different.

lastdecember said:

I don't think anyone won't buy a cd because they don't like the cover art.. i'm really just concern about what's on the inside.. it's just a thread to discuss what people think about the art

banks said:

I think they're trying very hard to soften her image, to make her appear more feminine in the traditional sense.

PDogz said:

.... That's exactly what i thought... coupled with the fact that she's now talking about how she can understand why some thought she might be gay

banks said:

Yeah, I can understand why some thought that too! Just like I can understand why some people might think that water is wet, or why some people might think that fire is hot, or...

banks said:

I've seen it too many times when i was doing music retail, you'd be surprised at what drives people to do things, i have heard some classic comments on why not to buy an album. My favorite would be in and around 1996, two girls were arguing over the Aaliyah One in a million cd cover, one girl was saying i cant buy this because of her hair over one eye and the other girl was saying, dont worry the other eye is glass.

lastdecember said:

oh please, stop smoking crack. do you really think folks judge the music based on the cover art? No...so stop thinking folks can't appreciate or judge an album's cover based on its own artistic merit.

album covers used to be considered a work of art. now its dismissed as unnecessary . well, if a hack of an artist like alicia keys (and some non-hacks like chaka khan) feel thats the case then fine..but you best be ready to accept the criticism that comes from your third grade quality work.

I like it and I can't wait to get the CD

sosgemini said:

Yeah maybe when ALBUMS existed but they dont, who the hell cares what a cd looks like at this point, most people download shit anyway so in a few years you wont even have covers

Album cover art contributes a surprisingly lot to what kind of aesthetic judgements people make on the music itself. Paradoxally, the influence of the included visuals seem to make more impact with people who consider themselves more interested in musical genres that operate outside the mainstream criteria for valuing the quality of recordings.

That's especially the case with instrumental music. If you produce music in a genre where the sales are marginal, the cover art will often ultimately contribute the final part whether the album will do well with the sales expectations for the product, or not.

Even with mainstream recordings, like those by Alicia Keys, the cover art can act as an important "clue" for the listener to, for instance, to concentrate on the "retro" aspects of the music. The listener will more likely search actively for those kind of sounds in the mix, and usually form their views on the quality of the whole product according to how cohesive those "retro" etc. aspects of the music appear to be to the listener himself. They are then judged next to the other kind of tones, say "more modern" qualities, the music itself can offer.

In short, music is full of potential connotative aspects that ultimately vary from listener to listener - therefore album cover art is the most important medium available that can be utilized for giving some mutual guidelines for the group of people who've purchased the album.

And even shorter: good-looking chick on the cover means more sales.

PDogz said:

lastdecember said:

it apple felt it important enough to display the cover each time a song is played its still important. it's still a visual component to the tune.

and albums do still exist. while sales may be wanning right now it doesnt make it an extinct artform. its just out of flavor at the moment. look at the 30 minute sitcom during the early 80's and right now. its out of favor but someone will come up with a way to bring it back. in the early 80's it was Cosby. Tomorrow? somebody new...

banks said:

Reminds me of Candi Station

I Like IT!!

sosgemini said:

i understand what youre saying its just i dont think % wise people really care about covers like they did at a time when you really had to put more thought into it (vinyl days). Though i think it would be great to see vinyl make its return because it would mean artists would have to do shorter albums, its not going to happen, mainly because there are no more music retail stores at this point, and if you think Best Buy or Circuit City are gonna clear floor space to throw in albums, no way, those 2 outlets are going to be shrinking their CD capacities 20-30% next year. As far as apple, its something for them to display mainly because people need to see what an artist looks like to buy it, its not for art.

lastdecember, i disagree. i think eventually liner notes will be displayed page by page on the screens of mp3 devices. i think the cover art already does display on some devices.

Cinnie said:

I just think in the digital medium things like liner notes are going to slowly disappear, meaning many people are not even going to care about downloading them,printing them out etc..

lastdecember said:

I didn't say anything about printing them out.

I'm talking about a

Digital Display

Cinnie said:

still the same thing, people will have use memory in their mp3's iPods and thats not going to happen with the majority of people.

Why is no one pointing out that it looks like a picture of a statue? That's a sixteenth century Venetian page boy carved into stone, I'm sure of it.

lastdecember said:

digitalllll display

Cinnie said:

People are not going to sit there and look at a supersmall screen to see who wrote some wack ass song or what the words are, i just dont see it happening at all, whether its available or not, its useless and will disappear. The digital media will mark the end of alot of things.

lastdecember said:

point taken

lastdecember said:

there are your run of the mill music purchasers and then there are musical connoisseurs. the connoisseurs will always be interested in things like cover, lyrics and musicians...nothings changed.

sosgemini said:

Sorry but it has changed, greatly and it was changing quite awhile ago. The connoisseurs are shrinking at this point because the things they enjoy will be eliminated, music to your or me and others may have been the "soundtrack" to our existence but thats not its purpose now to others, mainly because there are so many other things to focus on for people that didnt exist say 15-20 years ago. Their will always be the Music connoisseurs but when they are outweighed to a point where they are no longer valuable then things will be eliminated whether we enjoy them or not.

lastdecember said:

dude, there will always be people who will appreciate a good album cover...and there will always be people making fun of ugly sh*t. and there will always be music lovers...

i know you consider yourself an "insider" and i really don't wanna start a debate over what comes down to opinions but...COME ON NOW!!! You can't believe this bs.

sosgemini said:

Its not BS, do you honestly think that a majority of people that buy music now really care about covers,liner notes etc..sorry but i dont have that kind of faith in people and what music needs to them now

Horrendous font on Miss Keyes Cover...here are some more her cover reminded me of



I could not help throwing in the P.Diddy one
[Edited 10/28/07 15:19pm]