Comments on: Album Cover Challenge

Album Cover Challenge

soundofsuburbia — Sun, 12 Oct 2003 05:40:18 -0800

Album Cover Challenge. The challenge is this: there are sixty album covers - some better known than others, but none willfully obscure - from which the artist and title information has been removed. Can you identify all the albums and provide the missing information? [via Travelers Diagram]

By: soundofsuburbia

soundofsuburbia — Sun, 12 Oct 2003 05:42:43 -0800

You have to contact Meg @ me(ish) to get the answers, though... Still, I thought this was great fun for a sunday afternoon.

By: swordfishtrombones

swordfishtrombones — Sun, 12 Oct 2003 05:47:57 -0800

great link. I think I got less than half of them, though. Removing all title stuff really makes you focus on the artwork: some of them are really gems.

By: squealy

squealy — Sun, 12 Oct 2003 06:10:56 -0800

Is there a booby prize?

By: ashbury

ashbury — Sun, 12 Oct 2003 06:20:47 -0800

I thought I would do well. I was wrong. And yes, there are some absolutely beautiful covers there. Over the years I've had a few books that featured album artwork. It's pretty cool stuff. Thanks for the link.

By: riffola

riffola — Sun, 12 Oct 2003 07:21:26 -0800

I got 6 out of 10. (The first two especially.)

By: riffola

riffola — Sun, 12 Oct 2003 07:22:00 -0800

Oops I meant 6 out of 60.

By: Quartermass

Quartermass — Sun, 12 Oct 2003 07:37:05 -0800

Anyone wanna work on this? Here's what I have off the top of my head (Now going through my collection to get the rest) 1 2 3 4 5 REM – Automatic for the People 6 Cranberries – Everyone else is doing it, so why can't we? 7 Red Hot Chili Peppers - Californication 8 Smashing Pumpkins – Mellon collie and the infinite sadness. 9 10 11 Blur - Blur 12 13 14 Beastie Boys – Ill Communication 15 Janet Jackson – Rhythm Nation 16 17 Foo Fighters – Color and the Shape 18 19 20 21 The Strokes – Room on Fire 22 23 Pink Floyd – The Wall 24 25 26 27 Neil Young – After the Gold Rush 28 29 30 The Smiths – Hatful of Hollow 31 32 33 34 35 The Beach Boys – Pet Sounds 36 Green Day – Nimrod 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 The Beatles – white album 53 54 55 Pearl Jam – VS. 56 57 58 59 60

By: riffola

riffola — Sun, 12 Oct 2003 07:48:17 -0800

1. Bon Jovi - Bounce 2. Def Leppard - X 53. Metallica - Black album

By: UKnowForKids

UKnowForKids — Sun, 12 Oct 2003 07:52:16 -0800

Is 53 that Metallica album, or Spinal Tap's Smell the Glove?

By: UKnowForKids

UKnowForKids — Sun, 12 Oct 2003 07:52:43 -0800

...because it's like, how much more black could it be, and the answer is none. None more black.

By: mmoncur

mmoncur — Sun, 12 Oct 2003 07:58:30 -0800

9. Prodigy - The Fat of the Land 40. Christina Aguilera - Stripped

By: PenDevil

PenDevil — Sun, 12 Oct 2003 08:00:09 -0800

10. Eels - Beautiful Freak 12. Incubus - Morning View 30. Suede - Dog Man Star 51. Dizzee Rascal - Boy in da Corner 58. The Roots - Things Fall Apart 60. Tricky - Blowback

By: dodgygeezer

dodgygeezer — Sun, 12 Oct 2003 08:04:17 -0800

1 Bon Jovi 2 Def Leppard 3 4 5 Automatic for the people REM 6 Cranberries 7 Californication - Red Hot Chilli Peppers 8 Mellon Collie - Smashing Pumpkins 9 Prodigy - Fat of the Land 10 Eels - Beautiful Freak 11 Blur - Blur 12 13 Feeder 14 Beastie Boys - Ill Communication 15 Janet Jackson - Rhythm Nation 16 Oasis - Masterplan 17 Foo Fighters 18 Muse 19 20 Athlete 21 The strokes 22 23 Pink Floyd - The Wall 24 David Grey 25 Fleetwood Mac 26 Stevie Wonder 27 Neil Young - After the Gold Rush 28 29 30 Suede - Dog Man Star

By: mosch

mosch — Sun, 12 Oct 2003 08:05:24 -0800

Quartermass, you have the answers to 36 and 37 listed as number 35 and 36. 40 is Christina Aguilera -- Stripped 58 is The Roots -- Things Fall Apart

By: jpoulos

jpoulos — Sun, 12 Oct 2003 08:07:23 -0800

This is fun. I'm waiting for the answers, but I got about 24 or 25 right. 25. Fleetwood Mac - The Very Best of Fleetwood Mac 26. Stevie Wonder - Songs in the Key of Life 32. ELO - Out of the Blue 45. Boards of Canada - Music Has the Right to Children 49. 10,000 Maniacs - Blind Man's Zoo

By: dodgygeezer

dodgygeezer — Sun, 12 Oct 2003 08:10:56 -0800

31 Smiths - Hatful of Hollow 32 ELO 33 34 Marillion - Anoraknophobia 35 Queen Adreena (i think) 36 Beach Boys - Pet Sounds 37 Green Day - Nimrod 38 Manic Street Preachers 39 40 Xtina 41 42 John Martyn (?) 43 Joni Mitchell - Hissing of Summer Lawns 44 Japan 45 Boards of Canada - Music Has the Right To Children 46 47 Take That -n Take That and Party 48 49 10,000 Maniacs 50 51 52 Beatles - White Album 53 Prince - Black Album 54 55 Erasure - The Circus 56 Pearl Jam 57 The Streets 58 59 The Housemartins - London 0 Hull 4 60 Tricky

By: dodgygeezer

dodgygeezer — Sun, 12 Oct 2003 08:21:52 -0800

Ooops, 35 isn't Queen Adreena at all. And 51 is Dizee Rascal - Boy in the Corner and 42 is Solid Air by John Martyn Actually I've just realised I own about 15 of these records.

By: kozad

kozad — Sun, 12 Oct 2003 08:37:50 -0800

Not having heard much pop music in the Seventies and Eighties, I was kind of lost. Beautiful artwork, though.

By: channey

channey — Sun, 12 Oct 2003 08:58:18 -0800

To build on dodgy's list: 04 Jet - Get Born 12 Incubus - Morning View 29 Back To Mine - Everything But the Girl 48 Ani Difranco - Evolve

By: spartacusroosevelt

spartacusroosevelt — Sun, 12 Oct 2003 09:15:11 -0800

54 is Ozzy's Ozmosis, everyone else has pegged all of them I knew.

By: DBAPaul

DBAPaul — Sun, 12 Oct 2003 09:27:20 -0800

I reloaded # 52 several times thinking the cover image wasn't loading. Then I realized that it was the White Album - duh. All in all I got 2 out of the 60, I feel so old.

By: cadastral

cadastral — Sun, 12 Oct 2003 09:33:13 -0800

26 Stevie Wonder - Songs in the Key of Life 51 Dizzee Rascal - Boy In da Corner (an unbelievably good album) 57 the Streets - Original Pirate Material

By: srboisvert

srboisvert — Sun, 12 Oct 2003 09:34:24 -0800

You mean music comes in packaging? What you talkin'bout Willis?

By: Quartermass

Quartermass — Sun, 12 Oct 2003 09:40:02 -0800

Here is where we are at now. #46 is driving me crazy (I know it!!!) and I recognize the cover for #19 as being advertised in this months or last month's MOJO. 1 Bon Jovi – Bounce 2 Def Leopard - x 3 4 Jet - Get Born 5 REM – Automatic for the People 6 Cranberries – Everyone else is doing it, so why can't we? 7 Red Hot Chili Peppers - Californication 8 Smashing Pumpkins – Mellon collie and the infinite sadness. 9 Prodigy – Fat of the Land 10 Eels – Beautiful Freak 11 Blur - Blur 12 Incubus – Morning View 13 Feeder – Echo Park 14 Beastie Boys – Ill Communication 15 Janet Jackson – Rhythm Nation 16 Oasis – Master Plan 17 Foo Fighters – Color and the Shape 18 Muse – Absolution 19 20 Athlete – Vehicles and Animals 21 The Strokes – Room on Fire 22 23 Pink Floyd – The Wall 24 David Grey – A New Day at Midnight 25 Fleetwood Mac – The Very Best of 26Stevie Wonder - Songs in the Key of Life 27 Neil Young – After the Gold Rush 28 29 Everything but the Girl – Back to Mine 30 Suede – Dog Man Star 31The Smiths – Hatful of Hollow 32 ELO - Out of the Blue 33 34 Marillion - Anoraknophobia 35 36 The Beach Boys – Pet Sounds 37 Green Day – Nimrod 38 Manic Street Preachers – This is My Truth, Tell Me Yours 39 40 Christina Agulera - Stripped 41 42 John Martyn – Solid Air 43 Joni Mitchell - Hissing of Summer Lawns 44 45 Boards of Canada - Music Has the Right to Children 46 47 Take That -n Take That and Party 48 Ani Difranco - Evolve 49 10,000 Maniacs - Blind Man's Zoo 50 51Dizzee Rascal - Boy in da Corner 52 The Beatles – white album 53 Metallica or Prince – black album (or Spinal Tap) 54 55. Erasure - The Circus 56 Pearl Jam – VS 57 The Streets – Original Pirate Material 58 The Roots - Things Fall Apart 59 60 Tricky - Blowback

By: soundofsuburbia

soundofsuburbia — Sun, 12 Oct 2003 10:18:00 -0800

46 is Ride: "Going Blank Again" And, no, I don't know the answers!

By: punilux

punilux — Sun, 12 Oct 2003 10:21:02 -0800

28 - Bob Marley & The Wailers, Trenchtown Rock 44 - Japan - Gentlemen Take Polaroids 59 - Housemartins - London 0 Hull 4

By: dobbs

dobbs — Sun, 12 Oct 2003 10:25:35 -0800

ugh. what's the point of her having a contest if you folks are just going to put the answers here? she obviously spent a lot of time putting together the project and y'all just spoiled it.

By: mr_crash_davis

mr_crash_davis — Sun, 12 Oct 2003 10:28:39 -0800

Looking at the thumbnail sheet, I was sure 53 was AC/DC Back In Black, but then when I loaded the large image it didn't appear to be completely black. There's some sort of grayness going on at the top left and right corners. Maybe that's just a reflection, though.

By: afro

afro — Sun, 12 Oct 2003 10:44:34 -0800

35 - The Delgados - The Great Eastern

By: cadastral

cadastral — Sun, 12 Oct 2003 10:47:17 -0800

ugh. what's the point of her having a contest if you folks are just going to put the answers here? You were one of those kids who didn't share their measurements in Chemistry lab, weren't you? Pondering the information as a group, and drawing from a very diverse pool of interests and specialties is what this turned into... I'm inclined to enjoy that more than "lone gunman music nerd" mode where pale skinny boys can fantasize about some alternate universe utopia where breeding rights are predicated on scores produced in online music quizzes.

By: skoosh

skoosh — Sun, 12 Oct 2003 10:48:38 -0800

People are putting a few answers up in the comments section of the linked page, so I don't think we're spoiling too much here. One of the comments is troubling me, though - Is #53 Metallica's "Black Album", or Black Sabbath's Masters of Reality? It's too close for me to call. On preview: Or Back In Black?

By: Blue Stone

Blue Stone — Sun, 12 Oct 2003 10:52:35 -0800

MetaCheat - Let's Spoil The Fun ;)

By: Badmichelle

Badmichelle — Sun, 12 Oct 2003 11:08:24 -0800

I'm with Dobbs here -- posting the answers here, before me(ish) reveals them on his/her site kinda spoils the fun of it... I managed to get 43 out of 60, with only a few side-steps to allmusic.com for some correct spellings. peace out.

By: effer27

effer27 — Sun, 12 Oct 2003 11:15:28 -0800

12 of 60. New the artists on more, but not the titles. mmmf, still fun!

By: filchyboy

filchyboy — Sun, 12 Oct 2003 11:31:02 -0800

53 is none of those mentioned so far.

By: Blue Stone

Blue Stone — Sun, 12 Oct 2003 11:43:49 -0800

What kind of name is "Athlete" for a band, for chrissakes?

By: donth

donth — Sun, 12 Oct 2003 11:55:06 -0800

Has anyone tried looking at the Photoshop preview images? (I don't have Photoshop.)

By: Quartermass

Quartermass — Sun, 12 Oct 2003 12:59:58 -0800

Spoil the fun? Umm, if it was one guy posting everything on a "i know more than you" kick, that would be spoiling the fun. As for this, there are still large gaps in the list. How would any one person be able to "guess" all of those album covers? Is there a new type of search engine available that I am unaware of? The only one to spoil the fun was dobbs. Sorry.

By: punilux

punilux — Sun, 12 Oct 2003 13:23:39 -0800

I've found it interesting for another reason; cover art is something I really miss about vinyl albums. With a 12" sleeve to pore over, the cover was a supplement to the music inside. Who can forget those Roger Dean gatefolds, for example? It's hard now to even make out the lyrics on a CD sleeve, let alone appreciate the subtleties of the cover.

By: dodgygeezer

dodgygeezer — Sun, 12 Oct 2003 13:38:01 -0800

I've just seen 22 advertised on telly. It's Echoes - The Einaudi Collection by Ludovico Einaudi. The guy seems to have some kind of Richard Clayderman thing going on. As for controversial 53, Metallica is out because there's no snake on there. AC/DC is certainly out as I've just double-checked with my wife (who has been a fan since the days of Bon Scott) and she confirms the album was never in an entirely black cover - it had the logo in white. I love cover art too and it's the only thing I miss about vinyl. I loved the stuff Hypgnosis did and Vaughan Oliver's stuff for 4AD. And you've got to love all that over the top metal stuff like Iron Maiden and Motorhead. Oooohh, and Designer's Republic too.

By: dobbs

dobbs — Sun, 12 Oct 2003 14:32:59 -0800

Well, "Spoil the Fun" is my middle name, so...

By: me3dia

me3dia — Sun, 12 Oct 2003 16:39:17 -0800

53 is most definitely AC/DC's "Back in Black" -- there's no white logo on it, dodgygeezer, because the logo was removed. The location of the black square at top center of the cover (as evidenced by the slight reflection that's been covered up) confirms it.

By: quonsar

quonsar — Sun, 12 Oct 2003 18:04:08 -0800

bah. aside from the white album, i 'recognized' only one - and was wrong at that. #8 i had pegged as Blind Faith. i suck.

By: ashbury

ashbury — Sun, 12 Oct 2003 19:04:27 -0800

Ha, I KNEW it!!! Hey everybody! quonsar sucks!!! This is the best news I've heard all day. OK, the line up starts right behind me...no pushing or shoving, let's be cool and we'll all get a turn.

By: jimmy

jimmy — Sun, 12 Oct 2003 19:32:39 -0800

19. damien rice - o 59. the housemartins - london o hull 4

By: ZachsMind

ZachsMind — Sun, 12 Oct 2003 20:30:50 -0800

I only got 15, 23, and 52 right, before looking at everyone else's answers. Then again I wasn't trying too hard. The argument introduced by Dobbs does bring up an interesting point. When we have any kind of competition where each indivdiual works on their own, or tries to outdo others, no one individual is as strong, or as smart, or as successful, as if a whole bunch of people band together and cheat. This is after all what the country of America is founded upon: united we stand, and divided we fall.

By: jokeefe

jokeefe — Sun, 12 Oct 2003 20:50:58 -0800

One of the comments is troubling me, though - Is #53 Metallica's "Black Album", or Black Sabbath's Masters of Reality? It's too close for me to call. On preview: Or Back In Black? I thought it was Smell the Glove...

By: jokeefe

jokeefe — Sun, 12 Oct 2003 20:53:46 -0800

I, too, suck at this. I recognized about six of the covers, and they were all, except for Tricky's Blowback, released during the 1970s. I think this must mean that I spent far too much time as a teenager gazing, stoned, at album art. It's just not the same with CDs.

By: skoosh

skoosh — Sun, 12 Oct 2003 21:42:00 -0800

no one individual is as strong, or as smart, or as successful, as if a whole bunch of people band together and cheat. Ahem. Let me quote from meish's own contest announcement: There's no prize, except for a perfect score (all artists and all album titles, as written on the original cover), but feel free to post your workings and results below [in the comments section]. In other words, nothing is at stake here. It's just for fun. And Meish is encouraging people to guess in public. She's practically asking us to work together. We're not ruining anything by working cooperatively, and it's not cheating if the game-master wants you to do it. So can we all just relax and concentrate on what #33 is already?

By: BackwardsHatClub

BackwardsHatClub — Sun, 12 Oct 2003 21:53:41 -0800

I figured you granola loving MeFi hippies would be all over Damien Rice - O (number 19) apparently me and Jimmy are the only ones up on that.

By: arto

arto — Mon, 13 Oct 2003 00:33:33 -0800

I'm pretty sure the earliest released of several possibilities for #53 is the Velvet Underground's "White Light/White Heat" (which one book I read swears has a black skull on a black background--different inks, y'see--but no such thing is visible on my vinyl copy. But then I'm sure my copy is some sort of reissue, as the Velvets only sold about seven records before they broke up.) (Enter the invisible spirit of Triumph the Insult Comic Dog: "You are such a HUGE NERD!")

By: skoosh

skoosh — Mon, 13 Oct 2003 06:38:24 -0800

Here are the blanks from Quartermass' list, with subsequent answers filled in: 3 19 Damien Rice - O 22 28 Bob Marley & The Wailers - Trenchtown Rock 33 35 The Delgados - The Great Eastern 39 41 44 Japan - Gentlemen Take Polaroids 46 Ride - Going Blank Again 50 54 59 Housemartins - London 0 Hull 4 And of course, #53 - possibly Prince, Spinal Tap, AC/DC, Metallica, or The Velvet Underground. Spinal Tap is out because Smell The Glove is not an actual album; Metallica is out because of the absence of the snake. AC/DC and VU's covers both have small icons on them, which make them both problematic. The best answer, therefore, is Prince's Black Album.

By: dodgygeezer

dodgygeezer — Mon, 13 Oct 2003 12:22:14 -0800

there's no white logo on it, dodgygeezer, because the logo was removed You are, of course, absolutely right and I now feel like a right plonker. In my defence I will point out that at least the Pink Floyd and Muse covers don't need to have anything erased and so it's possible the black one is similarly bare. While Smell The Glove is certainly fictional, This Is Spinal Tap is very real - it came in a featureless black gatefold sleeve and featured all the songs from the film. Having said that I'm now with the AC\DC camp on this one if only because it's the best and most popular of all the possibles.

By: Quartermass

Quartermass — Mon, 13 Oct 2003 13:38:28 -0800

1 Bon Jovi – Bounce 2 Def Leopard - x 3 4 Jet - Get Born 5 REM – Automatic for the People 6 Cranberries – Everyone else is doing it, so why can't we? 7 Red Hot Chili Peppers - Californication 8 Smashing Pumpkins – Mellon collie and the infinite sadness. 9 Prodigy – Fat of the Land 10 Eels – Beautiful Freak 11 Blur - Blur 12 Incubus – Morning View 13 Feeder – Echo Park 14 Beastie Boys – Ill Communication 15 Janet Jackson – Rhythm Nation 16 Oasis – Master Plan 17 Foo Fighters – Color and the Shape 18 Muse – Absolution 19 Damien Rice - O 20 Athlete – Vehicles and Animals 21 The Strokes – Room on Fire 22Echoes - The Einaudi Collection by Ludovico Einaudi. 23 Pink Floyd – The Wall 24 David Grey – A New Day at Midnight 25 Fleetwood Mac – The Very Best of 26Stevie Wonder - Songs in the Key of Life 27 Neil Young – After the Gold Rush 28 Bob Marley & The Wailers, Trenchtown Rock 29 Everything but the Girl – Back to Mine 30 Suede – Dog Man Star 31The Smiths – Hatful of Hollow 32 ELO - Out of the Blue 33 34 Marillion - Anoraknophobia 35The Delgados - The Great Eastern 36 The Beach Boys – Pet Sounds 37 Green Day – Nimrod 38 Manic Street Preachers – This is My Truth, Tell Me Yours 39 40 Christina Agulera - Stripped 41 42 John Martyn – Solid Air 43 Joni Mitchell - Hissing of Summer Lawns 44 - Japan - Gentlemen Take Polaroids 45 Boards of Canada - Music Has the Right to Children 46 Ride – Going Blank Again 47 Take That -n Take That and Party 48 Ani Difranco - Evolve 49 10,000 Maniacs - Blind Man's Zoo 50 51Dizzee Rascal - Boy in da Corner 52 The Beatles – white album 53 Metallica or Prince – black album (or Spinal Tap) 54 Ozzy Osbourne – Ozzmosis 55. Erasure - The Circus 56 Pearl Jam – VS 57 The Streets – Original Pirate Material 58 The Roots - Things Fall Apart 59 Housemartins - London 0 Hull 4 60 Tricky - Blowback

By: punishinglemur

punishinglemur — Mon, 13 Oct 2003 13:45:44 -0800

3 is Nickelback - The Long Road

By: the biscuit man

the biscuit man — Mon, 13 Oct 2003 17:20:21 -0800

39 ZZ Top - Tres Hombres Only 3 left, 33, 41 & 50. Any ideas?

By: groundhog

groundhog — Mon, 13 Oct 2003 17:57:29 -0800

If you click through 'em fast enough, they're all the White Album. Extra points for finishing in less than 10 seconds! I win! I win!!!

By: ZachsMind

ZachsMind — Mon, 13 Oct 2003 18:19:26 -0800

Skoosh, I was arguing that this is not cheating. Or rather, if this is cheating, so was the American Revolution, and any time people band together to accomplish anything. I agree with the indivdual who started this and disagree with dobbs. Actually I'm against competition in general, wishing our sporting events were more cooperative based. I applaud this accumulative effort to answer all sixty albums. If only human beings worked together more, but unfortunately, all too often it seems we don opposing team uniforms be it for play or for war. Same clothes, different colors. Same god different name. It's all rather futile, when we'd get further as a species if we pooled our resources, compared notes and worked as a team. In hindsight I probably shoulda put the word "cheat" in quotation marks. That mighta made my point a bit clearer, but brevity has never been a strong suit of mine.

By: SisterHavana

SisterHavana — Mon, 13 Oct 2003 23:27:14 -0800

41 is driving me crazy. I know that one. I've seen it. I just can't think of what it is! And I thought 47 was New Kids on the Block. Two of the guys look like New Kids to me. *heh* I only got five or so of these. Yikes!

By: soundofsuburbia

soundofsuburbia — Tue, 14 Oct 2003 02:28:11 -0800

41 is Bill Withers »Lovely Day - Best Of«.