The Third Eye

Forgive me, Elders of the Psychedelic Rock Scene, for I have sinned. Here’s my confession: I sometimes judge an album by its cover. I don’t always do this consciously. I’m drawn to albums with beautiful cover art when browsing Bandcamp for something to listen to and write about.

There may be more sophisticated ways of doing things. And it may also show that I’m not always the most discerning listener. Sometimes, albums with excellent cover art have great music, but not always. But as a visual representation of the contents within, album cover art can give me the initial intrigue to check something out.

The adage says, “Never judge a book by its cover.” Does the same go for records? Am I in the wrong here? It depends on who you ask, it turns out. 

I was curious about this, so I interviewed several musicians in the psychedelic/stoner rock underground. Their answers surprised me – sometimes reaffirming what I believed and other times challenging my beliefs.

Visual gateways

Album cover art is the first thing we see, providing a glimpse into the music’s style, mood, and themes. The artwork can create intrigue, capture attention, and evoke emotions, setting the stage for the listening experience. 

This was different in the pre-internet days, when you’d go to a CD or record store and didn’t have a chance to immediately listen to the album like we do today in our unlimited-streaming-everything era.

If you saw something in the store that interested you, you may buy the CD because the art was cool. Nowadays, we play a song or two off an album on Bandcamp to “try before we buy” or maybe listen to the whole album on Spotify, Apple Music, or another streaming service.

Album art also helps with collectability. Iconic covers become cultural symbols and are highly collectible. Think of classic covers like The Beatles’ Abbey Road or Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon. They’re ingrained in pop culture and immediately recognizable.

Think of all the t-shirts and merch sold with these two covers alone! You can find t-shirts of iconic rock art like this at Target or KOHL’s today and kids walking around who may not even be fans – they just like how it looks.

Looks can be deceiving

What do musicians think about this question? I interviewed a handful of them, and their answers varied significantly.

Alex Parkinson from Philly-based Mothman and The Thunderbirds agreed that album art is important because it serves as a first impression, but whether the art “compliments the tone of the music or subverts expectations is up to the music.” 

“Album art is definitely a factor for me when I look for new music, but not the end-all-be-all,” Alex told me. “After all, Infinity by Devin Townsend is one of my favorite albums ever, and the cover art is, uh, sure, something.”

Kevin Feazy from The Fierce And The Dead said cover art is part of the world-building for an album and can help the listener engage and immerse themselves. But he also said, “Don’t judge an album by its cover!” 

“It’s a bit hard because, like anything, album art tends to reflect the time it was made. So I have plenty of amazing albums with terrible art and vice versa,” Feazy continued. “However, I have checked out artists based on the visuals they present, and the cover is a big part of that. Just have to hope it’s not a sucker punch!”

Josh Schneider is co-owner of Desert Bloom PR, and he finds album art to be extremely important. “I like getting the whole package, and with vinyl being so popular, album art is more important,” Josh said. “I love it when multiple albums follow a theme. REZN’s art and Desert Records’ Legends of the Desert series are outstanding. Joshua Mathus is a great artist. Peder Bergstrand of Lowrider is also doing some amazing art for Blues Funeral.”

Schneider told me that art can impact an album and its sales. “I haven’t bought some albums on vinyl because I didn’t like the art,” he said. “It’s the first thing you see; first impressions are important. So much new music is released daily, and album art will draw me in to pay attention.”

There’s a caveat to this. Schneider told me he has put off listening to some records because he didn’t like the art, but the music turned out to be terrific. And it goes both ways. “There are albums with killer artwork I bought by chance, but then I didn’t care for the music,” he explained. Looks can be deceiving, right? 

Fleeting impressions

Jennifer Baron of The Garment District, who will release a new album in September, gave me the longest answers. She said she’s a highly visual person, so cover art is significant to her. “Cover art is something that I view as an extension of the sounds within that can expand and radiate outward onto the turntable and into a physical space,” she said.

Jennifer’s love of music and art goes back to childhood when her parent’s record collection provided some of her “favorite toys.” “My brother and I would get lost staring into albums by The Beach Boys, Leonard Cohen, Neil Young, and so many others, along with their collection of psychedelic show posters designed by Bonnie MacLean for The Filmore. My mom grew up with Bonnie’s sister and she used to mail them posters and postcards to their dorm room at Penn State University.”

In those eras, which inspire Jennifer’s music-making, she said many design movements fed off of each other aesthetically, formally, and thematically, with concurrent approaches in fashion, film, poetry, and performance art.

“When I think of some of my favorite albums, they go hand-in-hand with the artwork and are inextricably linked, like you can hear the music right when you see the cover and vice versa,” Jennifer said.

She said it’s also natural to form “fleeting impressions based on covert art.” “If I don’t know the artist or band beforehand, I might be more inclined to reach for the album if the cover draws me.”

Final Thoughts

Music tastes are subjective, like all art forms. The same goes for album cover art and whether not some of us are drawn to it or not. Judging an album by its cover may be something we instinctively do. Most of us are very visually oriented, and as Josh of Desert Bloom PR said, with so much music being released, deciding on what to click on among the plethora of albums available on Bandcamp may initially come down to how they look.

It should never be the be-all-end-all but merely a first impression. If the art sucks and the music is good, the music usually holds the trump card. I remember hating the cover of Nirvana’s iconic Nevermind album – the one with the naked baby, of course – but I bought it anyway because I knew it rocked.

Nevertheless, the answers provided above to my questions could hold some lessons for indie bands trying to get more plays. Cover art is an essential aspect of a new release that shouldn’t be overlooked. 

In the vast sea of new music online, a stunning cover that catches a potential fan’s eye could be the difference between a new listener or someone scrolling past. They say you should never judge a book (or album) by its cover, but let’s be honest – some of us do it whether we admit it or not.

Like what you read? Then consider supporting The Third Eye on Patreon.

Sign up for email updates from The Third Eye below: