The Record Books: classic albums recreated as books

February 23, 2013 10:17 AM

The Record Books: what if best-selling albums had been books instead… from Abbey Road (The Beatles) [Classic paperback. The story of two catholic sisters growing up in a swiftly changing post-war Britain. Guess what? It doesn’t end well.] to Power Corruption and Lies (New Order) [Pocket guide to best business practice by four experts, each renowned for their corporate and financial nous.]
posted by filthy light thief (12 comments total)

"Are You Experienced" as management help book FTW.

Charismatic Harvard whizkid Hendrix’s self-help bible. A spin-off from his phenomenally successful TV reality show, ’The Experience’.
posted by chavenet at 10:26 AM on February 23, 2013 [1 favorite]

PC&L was a best-selling album?

Meat is Murder is an obvious book title and sure enough it has been done. I'm sure there are a ton of others but Van Halen III about some guy named Van Halen the third who does something might be another obvious one.

I await future absurd law suits and claims from Fox that they own something in book form that was previously used in film/album form (of course this happens in software all the time).
posted by juiceCake at 10:49 AM on February 23, 2013

I love most of these, but I can't figure out what "Yomobogugga" has to do with the Beach Boys.
posted by wanderingmind at 10:51 AM on February 23, 2013

Flaunt It and Dress for Excess (Sigue-Sigue Sputnik) may be shameless mass market fiction, but as beach reading, they have some wickedly clever chapters.

Of course, I'm also proud to have Autobahn (Kraftwerk) on my coffee table.
posted by Smart Dalek at 11:05 AM on February 23, 2013

Does not include Blue Monday

Heh. Mine does (twice, if you count The Beach) - a great album with or without it.
posted by Artw at 11:59 AM on February 23, 2013

These are very well-done, but it's a shame that the work is just a literal representation of the title rather than an attempt to interpret what the song or album is actually about.

I'm getting the sense too that there are a lot of under-employed graphic designers out there.
posted by Flashman at 12:07 PM on February 23, 2013 [1 favorite]

These are all great... I particularly like Are You Experienced? By Jimi Hendrix.
posted by Artw at 12:26 PM on February 23, 2013

These are very well-done, but it's a shame that the work is just a literal representation of the title rather than an attempt to interpret what the song or album is actually about.

Heh. That may be what I like about it.
posted by Artw at 12:43 PM on February 23, 2013

The icons corresponding to individual songs on the cover of In the Aeroplane Over the Sea are a nice touch.
posted by oulipian at 1:45 PM on February 23, 2013

I always thought New Order songs would make great titles for bad romance novels.

"Age of Consent"
"Bizarre Love Triangle"
"Love Less"
"The Perfect Kiss"
"Temptation"

...these titles and more published by Sumner Press.
posted by pxe2000 at 1:47 PM on February 23, 2013 [2 favorites]

So the covers don't really have anything to do with the records, then? Like why is The Man Machine a pulp novel, or PC&L a thesaurus? Patti Smith's Horses as a children's picture book about horses was kinda funny, but I think I'm missing the joke, or there isn't one.
posted by DecemberBoy at 3:59 PM on February 24, 2013

You're missing the joke.
posted by Chrysostom at 7:13 AM on February 25, 2013