The Love That I Found Posted October 28, 2009 Share Posted October 28, 2009 One thing I always found fascinating, not just with Led Zeppelin but really all artists, is the idea that album covers can truly make a direct impression on how we literally perceive/enjoy an album's music. It's perhaps a concept that was much more "intended" and memorable in pop music's golden age (50's-80's) when the album itself was bigger and an actual physical piece of the whole experience of buying a new record. Although even today, covers still have to be released on CD's so technically it still applies even though it doesn't seem to resonate as much (to me personally). On one hand I personally like to think that I can completely and objectively "judge" how I like the music on an album strictly by its own merits. The album cover could be anything and it wouldn't change how I love or percieve the music inside. On the other hand, I also know I'm human. And I indeed can think of at least some albums where the cover itself is almost permanently placed alongside the music in my head and imagination whenever I hear its contents. I couldn't not think of the album cover while listening to the music if you paid me a million dollars. It's just too ingrained as a complimentary "mood-poster" or image to go along with the music when I hear it. So just for the fun of it I thought I'd see how my favorite Zeppelin "albums" (the music) match up with my favorite album covers which hold them. I wanted to see how closely the two lists might look. A nearly identical list might suggest that perhaps album covers are even more influencing to the music inside than I realize since they correlate so identically! Well here we go... Favorite Albums Ranking (roughly) Music/Content-Wise 1. In Through The Out Door 2. Houses Of The Holy 3. Led Zeppelin II 4. Led Zeppelin III 5. Physical Graffiti 6. Led Zeppelin IV 7. Led Zeppelin 8. Coda 9. Presence 10.The Song Remains The Same Favorite Albums Ranking - Cover Art Wise 1. In Through The Out Door 2. Led Zeppelin III 3. Led Zeppelin II 4. Led Zeppelin 5. Houses Of the Holy 6. Physical Graffiti 7. Presence 8. The Song Remains The Same 9. Coda 10.Led Zeppelin IV So what are the results in preference to the cover versus the music inside? Well, listing each album in final chronological order I find the following notes... Led Zeppelin - The cover seems to win here, ranking #4 on the list while the album itself comes in at #7. This wasn't too big of news to me because I do particularly like the classic-ness and recognizable impact of the first album cover. Of course for any of these albums I'd always take the music over the cover but, aesthetically, the cover (for at least this one) typically resonates in my image on a surface-level a bit more than the album's content. I guess that's the best way to put it... Led Zeppelin II - Definitely a direct correlation here between music and cover with "the Brown Bomber"! Exactly in fact! Both sit at #3 on each list. Neither the cover or the music stands above the other aesthetically. Both are simply knock-out, top of the rankings items in my mind... Led Zeppelin III - A slight aethestic edge to the memorable kaleidescope cover here for me but both cover and music are near the top of my rankings and not too divergent. Both album and cover are obviously great (for me). Led Zeppelin IV - Hmm... this is one I've always known I've had a gap between. In this case the music stands, aesthetically, much more classic and resonating than the cover. The cover is probably my least favorite of the band's although it doesn't mean it doesn't tie in to the imagery of the music itself. It's hard to seperate the two but, in preference terms, the music is far "prettier" and special than what the cover suggests, in my eyes... Houses Of the Holy - Somewhat the inverse of Led Zeppelin I except in this case the music standing a bit more memorable and beautiful aesthetically than how I feel about the cover itself. Indeed, the album itself is probably my second favorite so it was going to be hard for a cover to equal the beauty of the music inside! However, Houses Of the Holy still may be one of the greatest examples of the color of an album being almost inseperable to the "mood" of the music you hear. I believe it was either Robert or Jimmy who once said how Houses Of the Holy is truly an "orange" album whenever I hear it and I fully agree. It's the one album I can think of that doesn't even inspire "images" so much as it simply inspires a color! On the surface it seems a bit ridiculous to explain. What does one mean that an album sounds orange??? How can an album sound like a color? Yet, sure enough, this one totally does! At least for me... Physical Graffiti - A pretty equal fondness for both here. Both cover and music are almost identical in the middle of the rankings. I will say that the concept of the inner sleeves and paper insert providing images of the band through the cut-out windows of the album jacket is a memorable and inventive one and right up there with the In Through The Out Door concept or the Led Zeppelin III spinning wheel. Yet I also tried to factor in overall design of the colors and artwork itself on each album cover which for me is just "ok" for this one but not my favorite. Regardless, the music itself and concept of the cover is awesome and certainly memorable! The Song Remains The Same - A fairly even correlation between cover and music. No significant preference to one over the other aesthetically. Both are great. Both are memorable. Both are Zeppelin. But neither I play or recall in my mind's eye as much as the studio albums typically. The film I do have more memories and visual attachment to however! Presence - A slight edge to the cover, aesthetically, but nothing too divergent or noteworthy here. Neither are my very top favorites but certainly are great! In Through The Out Door - Both album and cover(s), if I had to pick, would have to be my top favorites. That probably isn't by accident. In other words, trying to pick a "favorite" album typically involves simple addition of several factors and this just seems to be the Zeppelin album where almost everything about it is just top of the scale for me. I truly love the flow, mood, atmosphere and songs on this final record. Likewise the cover concept, brown bag, alternate covers, viewpoints and subtleties of the alternate covers, the water-color inner sleeve etc etc are not only Zeppelin's funnest and most elaborate/collectible cover but arguably is unique to any cover anywhere! I find both the music and cover #1 on both my lists, if I had to pick. And is definitely an album, on top of it all, where the cover and lush bar scene imagery is almost seamlessly and beautifully ingrained in my head alongside the music whenever I hear it. Just an all around seamless and complimentary album on every level, artistically, musically, collectibly and perhaps most importantly, enjoyably! Coda - No great divergence here between cover and music for Led Zeppelin's enjoyable posthumus outtakes and unused tracks album. It's an album I do love, musically! Despite being one I admittedly don't play too frequently. The cover is nothing special to me aesthetically but isn't "bad". The music itself resonates with me first usually, a little bit above the cover. I personally enjoy adding Hey, Hey What I Can Do and Travelling Riverside Blues to this album in my "custom compilations" to give it even better and more fitting power as an "unused tracks" album. Well, there you have it! Only took me about 30 million words but I got here! Feel free to do the two lists yourself if you like and see how your love of the covers mirror or perhaps don't mirror your love for the great music within them. Or just feel free to tell me I'm crazy and must have too much time on my hands to do this kind of stuff... What can I say, I enjoy doing these things! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BonzoLikeDrumer Posted October 28, 2009 Share Posted October 28, 2009 One thing I always found fascinating, not just with Led Zeppelin but really all artists, is the idea that album covers can truly make a direct impression on how we literally perceive/enjoy an album's music. It's perhaps a concept that was much more "intended" and memorable in pop music's golden age (50's-80's) when the album itself was bigger and an actual physical piece of the whole experience of buying a new record. Although even today, covers still have to be released on CD's so technically it still applies even though it doesn't seem to resonate as much (to me personally). On one hand I personally like to think that I can completely and objectively "judge" how I like the music on an album strictly by its own merits. The album cover could be anything and it wouldn't change how I love or percieve the music inside. On the other hand, I also know I'm human. And I indeed can think of at least some albums where the cover itself is almost permanently placed alongside the music in my head and imagination whenever I hear its contents. I couldn't not think of the album cover while listening to the music if you paid me a million dollars. It's just too ingrained as a complimentary "mood-poster" or image to go along with the music when I hear it. So just for the fun of it I thought I'd see how my favorite Zeppelin "albums" (the music) match up with my favorite album covers which hold them. I wanted to see how closely the two lists might look. A nearly identical list might suggest that perhaps album covers are even more influencing to the music inside than I realize since they correlate so identically! Well here we go... Favorite Albums Ranking (roughly) Music/Content-Wise 1. In Through The Out Door 2. Houses Of The Holy 3. Led Zeppelin II 4. Led Zeppelin III 5. Physical Graffiti 6. Led Zeppelin IV 7. Led Zeppelin 8. Coda 9. Presence 10.The Song Remains The Same Favorite Albums Ranking - Cover Art Wise 1. In Through The Out Door 2. Led Zeppelin III 3. Led Zeppelin II 4. Led Zeppelin 5. Houses Of the Holy 6. Physical Graffiti 7. Presence 8. The Song Remains The Same 9. Coda 10.Led Zeppelin IV So what are the results in preference to the cover versus the music inside? Well, listing each album in final chronological order I find the following notes... Led Zeppelin - The cover seems to win here, ranking #4 on the list while the album itself comes in at #7. This wasn't too big of news to me because I do particularly like the classic-ness and recognizable impact of the first album cover. Of course for any of these albums I'd always take the music over the cover but, aesthetically, the cover (for at least this one) typically resonates in my image on a surface-level a bit more than the album's content. I guess that's the best way to put it... Led Zeppelin II - Definitely a direct correlation here between music and cover with "the Brown Bomber"! Exactly in fact! Both sit at #3 on each list. Neither the cover or the music stands above the other aesthetically. Both are simply knock-out, top of the rankings items in my mind... Led Zeppelin III - A slight aethestic edge to the memorable kaleidescope cover here for me but both cover and music are near the top of my rankings and not too divergent. Both album and cover are obviously great (for me). Led Zeppelin IV - Hmm... this is one I've always known I've had a gap between. In this case the music stands, aesthetically, much more classic and resonating than the cover. The cover is probably my least favorite of the band's although it doesn't mean it doesn't tie in to the imagery of the music itself. It's hard to seperate the two but, in preference terms, the music is far "prettier" and special than what the cover suggests, in my eyes... Houses Of the Holy - Somewhat the inverse of Led Zeppelin I except in this case the music standing a bit more memorable and beautiful aesthetically than how I feel about the cover itself. Indeed, the album itself is probably my second favorite so it was going to be hard for a cover to equal the beauty of the music inside! However, Houses Of the Holy still may be one of the greatest examples of the color of an album being almost inseperable to the "mood" of the music you hear. I believe it was either Robert or Jimmy who once said how Houses Of the Holy is truly an "orange" album whenever I hear it and I fully agree. It's the one album I can think of that doesn't even inspire "images" so much as it simply inspires a color! On the surface it seems a bit ridiculous to explain. What does one mean that an album sounds orange??? How can an album sound like a color? Yet, sure enough, this one totally does! At least for me... Physical Graffiti - A pretty equal fondness for both here. Both cover and music are almost identical in the middle of the rankings. I will say that the concept of the inner sleeves and paper insert providing images of the band through the cut-out windows of the album jacket is a memorable and inventive one and right up there with the In Through The Out Door concept or the Led Zeppelin III spinning wheel. Yet I also tried to factor in overall design of the colors and artwork itself on each album cover which for me is just "ok" for this one but not my favorite. Regardless, the music itself and concept of the cover is awesome and certainly memorable! The Song Remains The Same - A fairly even correlation between cover and music. No significant preference to one over the other aesthetically. Both are great. Both are memorable. Both are Zeppelin. But neither I play or recall in my mind's eye as much as the studio albums typically. The film I do have more memories and visual attachment to however! Presence - A slight edge to the cover, aesthetically, but nothing too divergent or noteworthy here. Neither are my very top favorites but certainly are great! In Through The Out Door - Both album and cover(s), if I had to pick, would have to be my top favorites. That probably isn't by accident. In other words, trying to pick a "favorite" album typically involves simple addition of several factors and this just seems to be the Zeppelin album where almost everything about it is just top of the scale for me. I truly love the flow, mood, atmosphere and songs on this final record. Likewise the cover concept, brown bag, alternate covers, viewpoints and subtleties of the alternate covers, the water-color inner sleeve etc etc are not only Zeppelin's funnest and most elaborate/collectible cover but arguably is unique to any cover anywhere! I find both the music and cover #1 on both my lists, if I had to pick. And is definitely an album, on top of it all, where the cover and lush bar scene imagery is almost seamlessly and beautifully ingrained in my head alongside the music whenever I hear it. Just an all around seamless and complimentary album on every level, artistically, musically, collectibly and perhaps most importantly, enjoyably! Coda - No great divergence here between cover and music for Led Zeppelin's enjoyable posthumus outtakes and unused tracks album. It's an album I do love, musically! Despite being one I admittedly don't play too frequently. The cover is nothing special to me aesthetically but isn't "bad". The music itself resonates with me first usually, a little bit above the cover. I personally enjoy adding Hey, Hey What I Can Do and Travelling Riverside Blues to this album in my "custom compilations" to give it even better and more fitting power as an "unused tracks" album. Well, there you have it! Only took me about 30 million words but I got here! Feel free to do the two lists yourself if you like and see how your love of the covers mirror or perhaps don't mirror your love for the great music within them. Or just feel free to tell me I'm crazy and must have too much time on my hands to do this kind of stuff... What can I say, I enjoy doing these things! OK, I'll put my $.02 in! Most (but not all) album cover's will in some way reflect on the name of the album it self, the exception's to this would be those band's that are commonly referred to now a day's as, "Art Rock" band's. That does not mean that every other band in history has followed some sort of predetermined way of designing there record cover's, it really depends on what the band wanted or how the person they hired to do the art work was feeling about the title they had given it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djzoso Posted October 29, 2009 Share Posted October 29, 2009 Led Zeppelin 1 to me is my favorite cover. it shows the crashing of the Hindenburg it's falling and all the events that lead to the crashing could represent the music in the album. The nice and steady take off of the Hidenburg could represent the softer and more laid back songs of the album, and the crash and burn could represent the heavy songs on the album Also the album could be a refrence to the band name Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BonzoLikeDrumer Posted October 29, 2009 Share Posted October 29, 2009 Led Zeppelin 1 to me is my favorite cover. it shows the crashing of the Hindenburg it's falling and all the events that lead to the crashing could represent the music in the album. The nice and steady take off of the Hidenburg could represent the softer and more laid back songs of the album, and the crash and burn could represent the heavy songs on the album Also the album could be a refrence to the band name From what I've heard they where out drinking with Keith Moon and he said, "why don't you call it The Led Zeppelin so if you bomb on your first night, you can say it went down like a led balloon!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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