Tagged: agranddesign

Silverstein - Short Songs Release date: February 7, 2012 I've never heard these guys, but I can only assume that no matter how good they actually were, they were terrible. After all, they were on Victory during the label's great decline in the early 2000s. Whatever their quality, few things scream rock and roll more than broken guitars and a grungy sans serif.

Thrice - At: Guitar Center vinyl Release date: January 31, 2012 In contrast to Thrice's interesting covers like Vheissu , we have this dud. No matter - fanboys would buy their Ziplocked poop.

Blessed by a Broken Heart - Feel the Power Release date: January 24, 2012 I can't think of a reason not to feature this on A Grand Design. I mean... look at it.

Loincloth - Iron Balls of Steel Release date: January 17, 2012 It's good to know that as cheeky as these guys are, they are taking the high road with the album cover.

David Crowder Band - Give Us Rest Release date: January 10, 2012 The thing I would suggest Crowder to ramp up his marketability to normal people is not to go for the obvious Biblical reference in album titles. The sparrow is nice and rich with Christian allegory, so that area is covered, but he should angle the album towards the stoner crowd by naming it nonsensical, like "Porkins' Stovepipe". He already looks like he should be doing something weird anyways. Might as well [...]

Cage the Elephant - Live From the Vic in Chicago DVD Release date: January 3, 2012 I like the photo, but remember their previous AGD installment ? They're still doing the weird cross out and the "A" thing. Why does their designer keep making the same mistake?

Brand New - Your Favorite Weapon Release date: December 13, 2011 For a cover so "Nice Effort, Guys"-y, this is actually pretty interesting.

Austrian Death Machine - Jingle All the Way Release date: December 6, 2011 California is not amused.

Hot Chelle Rae - Whatever Release date: November 29, 2011 I'm trying to figure out who Chelle Rae is. It's not the ones with longer hair. That would be too obvious. It's not the guy in the upper left because he looks like a Martina or a Tiffany. It's probably the guy in the lower left, because he's the one with attitude and is the closest to the "Whatever" title. Chelle Raes are known for the use of that word. Airtight case.

Rammstein - Mein Land single/73 Release date: November 22, 2011 You have to admire a serious-type band that isn't afraid too goof-off a little. "Have to," as in it's morally demanded, or else vocalist Till Lindemann will go all du hast mich on you.

Sigur Rós - Inní Release date: November 15, 2011 That looks like an Outtí to me.

Rush - Time Machine 2011: Live in Cleveland Release date: November 8, 2011 Looks like another Hugh Symer . As someone living in Pittsburgh I have an obligation to baselessly disparage anything from Cleveland, so I'm going to say I don't like this album. Worse yet, because of some outdated districting borders, Pittsburgh is classified as a secondary market even though the population supports a primary market. So when it comes to tour routing my area gets passed up in favor of [...]

The Decemberists - Long Live the King Release date: November 1, 2011 Should I even bother with an "effort" comment?

Ozric Tentacles - Paper Monkeys Release date: October 25, 2011 Ozric was doing the bizarre instrumental-rock way before Battles was nary a discarded Helmet riff, making a huge success out of themselves yet barely making a blip on the indie rock radar. This album cover is a bit of a turning point for them in concerning that scene, as their previous covers aren't anything any Buzzgrinder reader would want to be caught dead with.

Tom Waits - Bad As Me Release date: October 18, 2011 Only Tom Waits could get away with a cover like this. Also, only Tom Waits can get away with playing the music Tom Waits plays.

William Shatner - Seeking Major Tom Release date: October 11, 2011 For an actor who is so tied with futuristic technology, this cover seems really Stone Aged. Actually, when you consider some of the scenes he used to be in, it doesn't seem all that out of place.

Lights - Siberia Release date: October 4, 2011 Even though it's neat that her real name is Lights and she has an interesting backstory, it would be nice if there was more thought put into this cover. But when you're riding the nu-electropop wave to death and you look and dress like her, you don't need much marketing. Add to that the fact that she's kinda-sorta Christian, yet is willing to turn the slut photo shoot dial to maybe a four or [...]

Pink Floyd - The Dark Side Of The Moon Immersion Box Set Release date: September 27, 2011 Not sure exactly what's going on here with the immersion theme. I think it means you have to immerse yourself in certain vapors to achieve the full experience. And it also means that the people that buy this are incurable fanboys buying unnecessary but in demand re-releases of classic albums.

Opeth - Heritage Release date: September 20, 2011 Travis Smith did Heritage's cover and wikipedia told me in a dream about the symbolism of the artwork. Opeth have been one of those death metal bands that it's sorta okay for non-metalheads to get into, kinda like Weezer was for the punk and indie rock kids—before Rivers and Co. jumped the shark .

Dream Theater - A Dramatic Turn of Events Release date: September 13, 2011 Another photo-weird installment by Hugh Syme. Question: is the tightrope walker precarious analogous to drummer Mike Portnoy's recent departure from the band or a veiled commentary on his brief work with Avenged Sevenfold ? It's probably the latter because...c'mon, Avenged Sevenfold.