Rock Spot: Never Judge An Album By Its Cover Part II
By WTJU Rock
This week we continue our look at album covers that are not to everybody’s taste. Starting with this:
Uncle Dave went for Steam:
Steam was not really a band. Producer-songwriter Paul Leka used the leftover 45 minutes of a session meant to produce a demo for another artist to record his song “Na Na Hey Hey (Kiss Him Goodbye),” which became a hit. The record was credited to the non-existent band Steam, and so some musicians were hired in to become that group. They did tour, and by most reports the shows were awful. I have seen a picture of that band, and I believe these are the same fellows on the front cover, which falls into the category of “Guys, if I wanted to see this…”
DJ Rocker Panels likes this album but not the artwork.
I love this record but oh man the album art on this gatefold(!) is just bad. I remember hearing the music and liking it. I played a song or two on my show and its fun, complex, and unique sound kept me coming back. I was in an unfamiliar record shop flipping through the stacks and this stopped me in my tracks as I didn’t recognize it. Not only is the weird art just hard to digest, the coloring and way the artists and album name are written are difficult to read. It took me a few moments to even comprehend that I knew the music! If that happens, that’s a bad album cover.
****************************************************
If you want to write for The Rock Spot, just do it! Reviews of shows, books, albums, films; opinion pieces; music your parents played that you secretly like; the music that changed your life. Send articles to anniedeblanco@gmail.com.
