Brigante Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 Coda has my least favourite cover art. Although it barely actually qualifies as 'cover art'! Then Presence. I get the concept and see how Storm & co. tried to realise it, but, well... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NealR2000 Posted June 8, 2015 Author Share Posted June 8, 2015 I didn't even include Coda in my original selection. To me, that was not a studio album in the true sense, and the cover "art" likely had no band input or much of a budget. Coda was nothing more than a collection of previous left-overs and a live track. Having said that, even Zeppelin's left-overs were better than most bands main product. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZeppMan93 Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 How the West Was Won or Coda. I can understand why they would use some natural formations for HTWWW to represent the title for the dvd, but in terms of Led Zeppelin, I don't get it. Coda wasn't that great either, but I can understand that too since they had a obligation for one more album and I doubt by that point they cared what the album cover looked like, was more about what was inside. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shejustsatisfies Posted June 9, 2015 Share Posted June 9, 2015 Coda, hard to believe it was Hipgnosis that designed it given they are pretty much the kings of classic rock album art. Maybe they were instructed to keep it minimal given the circumstances. Too bad no one told Gino Vannelli to keep it to a minimum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shejustsatisfies Posted June 9, 2015 Share Posted June 9, 2015 I also wanted to mention that Iron Maiden - Powerslave cover might be my favorite album cover of all time, it has to be one of the greatest covers in vinyl history. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nick2632 Posted June 9, 2015 Share Posted June 9, 2015 I also wanted to mention that Iron Maiden - Powerslave cover might be my favorite album cover of all time, it has to be one of the greatest covers in vinyl history. Powerslave has been my favorite album artwork since I first seen it when I was 14 years old, and one of my favorite albums! Derek Riggs is possibly the greatest album artist of all times in my opinion. Somewhere In Time is amazing too with all the tiny little details and references throughout it and it's funny he put "this is a very boring painting" on it. All of his artwork with Maiden was amazing. Too bad they had their problems, their artwork isn't nearly as good as it was back in the 80's. Maybe he designed their new album, highly doubtful but that would be cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redirtuo Posted June 9, 2015 Share Posted June 9, 2015 grrr all this iron maiden talk created a crappy run to the hills earworm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kirchzep27 Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 I will go with presence. I could see that being a group decision, page probably being interested in the mystery and allure of the object idea and maybe the artists idea of the object in those settings being an added idea, or way to present that idea. Zep were not a political band, so i never looked at the artwork and thought about questioning societal norms or something. The music was enough to be interested in, being more jam oriented, with a great studio sound. With the great achilles last stand on that album, i could see the object alone being a simple and effective album cover. Although its really just an issue when an album is new, as time goes on it doesnt really matter that much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
indigomoonbeam Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 The worst would have to be Coda for me, as it is so plain and unimaginative compared to the adventurous imagery used for their previous album cover efforts, though as pure typographical graphics go I like it. The DVD artwork is proper naff and first remasters box set headed uncomfortably into dubious territory; I gather it was mean't to be "tongue in cheek." The new remasters Super Deluxe box sets are a return to form, but I'm somewhat miffed they are not at least including individual sheets with the alternative image for each of the ITTOD covers in the Super Deluxe box set. Collectors who have a complete set of the original ITTOD covers must be well happy right now, as their value must be skyrocketing. Kicking myself I did not keep my one version with the inside sleeve with the impregnated ink. I wish LZ would produce a limited edition lithographic print set of all the ITTOD covers, it would look way cool... only problem is i could not afford it at the moment. Cheers, Indi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NealR2000 Posted June 17, 2015 Author Share Posted June 17, 2015 If we are also going to include all the post studio albums in this worst cover art debate, then without a doubt it has to be that absolutely terrible Early-Latter Days package where they are in space suits. What on earth is that all about? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IpMan Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 I have a very, very strange story to tell about this. In 1983 when I was a sophomore in HS I had a friend who was a very casual fan of the band, liked the music but had no clue regarding albums and the like. One day he tells me his friend has a LZ greatest hits package and he is making a tape for him. I tell my friend LZ does not have a greatest hits album but he insisted, so I asked him to describe the cover art as I figured he may have been mistaking TSRTS album for a greatest hits package. This is where it gets really weird. My friend explained in vivid detail the album artwork: Black cover, all four members on the cover WEARING SPACE SUITS with the space vantage Earth behind them and the LZ logo over their heads. This was summer 1983, more than 16 years before the album would be released. I told my friend there was no such album or album cover and chalked it up to him mixing up TSRTS album mixed with imagination. Just imagine my shock in 1999 when a greatest hits package with the exact same album cover described was released. Being the practical sort I chalked this up to this possibility: Either my friend at the time or his friend put together a mix tape of greatest hits and designed album art for it, this guy later becomes a graphic artist and is commissioned to do the artwork for the 1999 album and uses his idea from HS. Either way, strange but true story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
babysquid Posted June 18, 2015 Share Posted June 18, 2015 I really like the Presence artwork, I find it very interesting. I would agree that Coda is probabbly their weakest. As for those iron maiden covers, personally I've never liked them, they look like the sort of posters 12 year old kids like to me. Still not as bad as the art work for Marrilion's early albums. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
indigomoonbeam Posted June 19, 2015 Share Posted June 19, 2015 I have a very, very strange story to tell about this. In 1983 when I was a sophomore in HS I had a friend who was a very casual fan of the band, liked the music but had no clue regarding albums and the like. One day he tells me his friend has a LZ greatest hits package and he is making a tape for him. I tell my friend LZ does not have a greatest hits album but he insisted, so I asked him to describe the cover art as I figured he may have been mistaking TSRTS album for a greatest hits package. This is where it gets really weird. My friend explained in vivid detail the album artwork: Black cover, all four members on the cover WEARING SPACE SUITS with the space vantage Earth behind them and the LZ logo over their heads. This was summer 1983, more than 16 years before the album would be released. I told my friend there was no such album or album cover and chalked it up to him mixing up TSRTS album mixed with imagination. Just imagine my shock in 1999 when a greatest hits package with the exact same album cover described was released. Being the practical sort I chalked this up to this possibility: Either my friend at the time or his friend put together a mix tape of greatest hits and designed album art for it, this guy later becomes a graphic artist and is commissioned to do the artwork for the 1999 album and uses his idea from HS. Either way, strange but true story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jukkin Posted August 1, 2015 Share Posted August 1, 2015 I rate the Presence cover as it seems that there is a little bit of mystery to it. You have a 60's(?) middle class family sitting at the table with the object on it. The objest always reminded of the monolith in 2001, so densely black that no light can escape. The combination of the 'square' nuclear family and the object is really intriguing to me and I think is a great cover - designed by Jimmy like all the others? I also thought that the object was actually a kind of black hole in the sense that nothing was there, just a part of reality ripped out....if you see what I mean. In any event, I do find it a really interesting cover. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the chase Posted September 18, 2015 Share Posted September 18, 2015 Favorite to least favorite.. LZ -Coda1) Houses of The Holy2) In Through The Out Door3) Physical Graffiti4) Led Zeppelin5) The Fourth Album6) Presence7) The Song Remains The Same8) Coda9) Led Zeppelin 210) Led Zeppelin 3 .. But I love the back cover. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Only Way To Fly Posted September 18, 2015 Share Posted September 18, 2015 I love the mystery of the 4th LP - especially the concept that it be release with NO identification at all - that music released in 1971 (compared to all the other 1971 releases and many to come) is IMHO untouchable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dark Lord Posted September 20, 2015 Share Posted September 20, 2015 Coda is weak, but the cover of LZ II is my most disliked; truly cheesy. I find all of the post ITTOD cover art to be uninspired and not in keeping with the mysterious imagery that Zeppelin were known for. Presence is pretty average, but at least it doesn't involve space suits or crop circles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
searcher200 Posted September 21, 2015 Share Posted September 21, 2015 I thought Coda was a drop. I can understand Page was still hurting at the time, but that album doesn't do the greatest rock band justice. In through the outdoor I thought was great, just the title was hard to understand. Awesome album. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the chase Posted September 25, 2015 Share Posted September 25, 2015 Coda is weak, but the cover of LZ II is my most disliked; truly cheesy. I find all of the post ITTOD cover art to be uninspired and not in keeping with the mysterious imagery that Zeppelin were known for. Presence is pretty average, but at least it doesn't involve space suits or crop circles. It's nice to see you back Dark Lord. I like Coda's cover. The inside photos are great and outer is plain, but it works. The crop circle theme works for me too. I love the 4 CD Box Set cover. With Jimmy's interest in the unknown in mind, it all makes sense. For me it's a tossup between 2 and 3 for the worst. They're both pretty pointless. Page was real unhappy with 3. Going beyond Coda ... Early Days and Latter Days are both pretty bad. But I don't really count them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dark Lord Posted September 25, 2015 Share Posted September 25, 2015 It's nice to see you back Dark Lord. I like Coda's cover. The inside photos are great and outer is plain, but it works. The crop circle theme works for me too. I love the 4 CD Box Set cover. With Jimmy's interest in the unknown in mind, it all makes sense. For me it's a tossup between 2 and 3 for the worst. They're both pretty pointless. Page was real unhappy with 3. Going beyond Coda ... Early Days and Latter Days are both pretty bad. But I don't really count them.Thanks "the chase". The inner gatefold of Coda is pretty awesome; I agree. The crop circles are okay, but I felt that they were very topical around the time that Page used them, and that he just grabbed at the low hanging fruit. They offered a sense of mystery........but, not really. The space suits were truly hideous. Bands like Pink Floyd always had very mysterious art, which played to their image, and then along comes "The Endless River". Same sort of idea. This album and some of the Zeppelin art was not well thought out, and not in keeping with the imagery associated with the band. Strangely, I love LZ III; always have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Rover 75 Posted September 25, 2015 Share Posted September 25, 2015 Call me crazy, but I like the LZ II cover. I'd have to go with Coda also, I did like the LZ III cover as well, with the spinning wheel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveAJones Posted September 25, 2015 Share Posted September 25, 2015 Honorable mentions.Later Days,Band in space suits?It's my understanding tThose albums were to have been released as Led Zeppelin: Blast Off but the titles were changed to Early Days & Latter Days just before release. However, the cover art was not changed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveAJones Posted September 25, 2015 Share Posted September 25, 2015 I rate the Presence cover as it seems that there is a little bit of mystery to it. You have a 60's(?) middle class family sitting at the table with the object on it. The objest always reminded of the monolith in 2001, so densely black that no light can escape. The combination of the 'square' nuclear family and the object is really intriguing to me and I think is a great cover - designed by Jimmy like all the others? I also thought that the object was actually a kind of black hole in the sense that nothing was there, just a part of reality ripped out....if you see what I mean. In any event, I do find it a really interesting cover.Additionally, the picture on the front cover came from an old feature on an exhibition at Earls Court, the venue for their incredible 1975 UK concerts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
in_the_evening Posted September 25, 2015 Share Posted September 25, 2015 If we don't include Coda, I would go with LZ3. It's just so busy and looks like some school kid went wild when he was bored out of his mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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