il Buono, il Brutto, il AlbumArto
Take a band. Take its album cover highlights. Take its album cover lowlights.
Swish it all around in your mouth. Comment.
Obviously I chose to feature a very specific point in Michael Jackson's career. If I wanted to I could also feature album art from his adolescent years (including time spent with The 5) or album art from his latter bleachier years. But these images here reflect the Michael Jackson I know and love.
This is the cover to the "She's Out of My Life" single released in 1980, though the song itself is found on Off the Wall released in August of 1979 (see below). I don't know who gets credit for taking this picture, but it's raw and awesome. Here we see a tuxedoed Jackson channeling his inner Marvin Gaye during some life performance somewhere. According to Wikipedia (the source for all things absolute truth), Jackson couldn't get through the recording of this song without crying. I don't know if he was singing this song while the picture was being snapped, but look at the way he's pouring himself into that performance. He's belting out SOME kind of ultra-emotional ballad. It's also worth pointing out that I like a good concert shot where musicians play to the crowd instead of to the camera.
Here's the, uh, "brutto" of our set, the aforementioned Off the Wall. We have photographer Steve Harvey to thank for this (though cover "designer" Mike Salisbury should share part of the blame). Obviously there's the tux theme, which is fine. I don't mind a well-dressed performer. And I suppose it could be sort of clever to contrast the ritzy duds against a butt-ugly brick wall. But clever or not (not) it just looks dumb. Add to the dumbness the chalk-scrawl font. Add to the dumbness Michael Jackson trying to do the robot with his thumbs in his pockets. Multiply to the dumbness some sort of uncontextualized window or painting. It's possible this image continues around to the inside of the album (I believe the back is just a picture of his feet), but that doesn't matter unless these things were sold in stores inside-out.
Now we jump ahead a couple years to 1982 to gawk at the "The Girl is Mine" single. Thriller may have made Michael Jackson the king of the world, but here he looks as unkingly as possible. It's not a bad picture, and there are certainly many endearing qualities to it, but it's just overshadowed by a lot of awkwardness. See Paul McCartney. See him wearing three layers of clothing, all of which are too tight. See that charming-but-goofy smile only Brits can do. See him rubbing literal elbows with a coy Michael Jackson (who appears to have just gotten back from a Cubs game). See how Jackson was never able to remove his thumbs from his pockets. They're arguing about who gets a girl in the song, but does SHE have any say in the matter?
Take a band. Take its album cover highlights. Take its album cover lowlights.
Swish it all around in your mouth. Comment.
Obviously I chose to feature a very specific point in Michael Jackson's career. If I wanted to I could also feature album art from his adolescent years (including time spent with The 5) or album art from his latter bleachier years. But these images here reflect the Michael Jackson I know and love.
This is the cover to the "She's Out of My Life" single released in 1980, though the song itself is found on Off the Wall released in August of 1979 (see below). I don't know who gets credit for taking this picture, but it's raw and awesome. Here we see a tuxedoed Jackson channeling his inner Marvin Gaye during some life performance somewhere. According to Wikipedia (the source for all things absolute truth), Jackson couldn't get through the recording of this song without crying. I don't know if he was singing this song while the picture was being snapped, but look at the way he's pouring himself into that performance. He's belting out SOME kind of ultra-emotional ballad. It's also worth pointing out that I like a good concert shot where musicians play to the crowd instead of to the camera.
Here's the, uh, "brutto" of our set, the aforementioned Off the Wall. We have photographer Steve Harvey to thank for this (though cover "designer" Mike Salisbury should share part of the blame). Obviously there's the tux theme, which is fine. I don't mind a well-dressed performer. And I suppose it could be sort of clever to contrast the ritzy duds against a butt-ugly brick wall. But clever or not (not) it just looks dumb. Add to the dumbness the chalk-scrawl font. Add to the dumbness Michael Jackson trying to do the robot with his thumbs in his pockets. Multiply to the dumbness some sort of uncontextualized window or painting. It's possible this image continues around to the inside of the album (I believe the back is just a picture of his feet), but that doesn't matter unless these things were sold in stores inside-out.
Now we jump ahead a couple years to 1982 to gawk at the "The Girl is Mine" single. Thriller may have made Michael Jackson the king of the world, but here he looks as unkingly as possible. It's not a bad picture, and there are certainly many endearing qualities to it, but it's just overshadowed by a lot of awkwardness. See Paul McCartney. See him wearing three layers of clothing, all of which are too tight. See that charming-but-goofy smile only Brits can do. See him rubbing literal elbows with a coy Michael Jackson (who appears to have just gotten back from a Cubs game). See how Jackson was never able to remove his thumbs from his pockets. They're arguing about who gets a girl in the song, but does SHE have any say in the matter?