No messing around, show us the ONE ultimate CD cover

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

So often in such threads I, and others, ask for a top five, or ten, or an etherial "some" but this is jut about the very best...Simple as this, what do YOU think is the greatest CD "package" that you've ever seen.

I'll start us off...

() by Sigur Ros

Why?

Well, the case comes inside a semi-transparent plastic white sleeve in which the two bracket symbols are carved out of leaving a glimpse of the art of the case.

Under these brackets are simply the words "Sigur Ros". The album is as such unnamed. On the back of this sleeve, where you'd expect a track listing is nothing except a small black image of a boy sleepwalking. The barcode is on a sticker. On the sticker it tells you to peel off the barcode when it's no longer needed. Then you're left with the most beautifully white simple sleeve.

The inner booklet/cover is a plasticy paper - a frosted white semi-transparent - similar to the sleeve. A beautifully simple black mess of an elegant smear on the front. Inside the booklet all the pages are empty except for a slight embossing of grasses, abstract natural images. No thanks, no song lyrics or song titles (indeed the song titles are merely: Untitled I, Untitled II, Untitled III etc, you get the idea).

The reason for no song lyrics? Simple, the language sung on this album is made up, translated as "Hopelandic". The plain space is there for you in theory to write your own lyrics, the meanings of the songs as you hear and experience them.

It's simple elegance and beauty and for that reason it's the best CD package ever devised.

Prove me wrong.

[Guest tiarnantman]

It's beauty really is beyond words. And it wasn't even an actual album. Goes to show how awesome Evanescence really are.

Edited November 10, 2007 by tiarnantman

[gunnar hendershow]

It's the kind of album cover that grabs me. I'm a huge fan of Indian subcontinent and specifically Hindu imagery, and to see it implemented this way is just so cool.

[DMN in the House]

Pantera - Vulgar Display of Power

Its the embodiement of the album. Pantera was an in your face, no excuses, fucking metal band, and this album cover shows that. When you look at this, it tells you everything you need to know. This album is going to get you pumped up, its going to get you crazy, you're going to want to punch someone in the face... and they're going to like it.

[mattman1624]

The original album cover to Guns N' Roses, Appetite for Destruction. Too hardcore for words, and too controversial for the mainstream.

[OGpistolpete]

Brand New - Deja Entendu

I think the cover is amazing in the colors and the placement of the words, astronaut, and ocean, and it makes me want to listen to the album. I doubt this is anyone else's favorite and I know it's not the best ever, but this is MY favorite.

[Hewey]

I just really like this cover, the colors, the general mood for the cover comes off really well. It's also a awesome album. (Y)

Edited November 11, 2007 by Baby Hewey

[Benji]

It's not an album cover, but the official wallpapers/artwork for most Billy Talent songs are fucking brilliant. As for favourite album cover... RHCP are ALWAYS exceptional, but the number one is clear as day for me...

[Regia]

Brand New - Deja Entendu

I think the cover is amazing in the colors and the placement of the words, astronaut, and ocean, and it makes me want to listen to the album. I doubt this is anyone else's favorite and I know it's not the best ever, but this is MY favorite.

Actually this is my favourite too.

It just grabs my attention and draws me in to listen to the music

[B-Rad]

That is my all-time favorite album cover. The best part about it, I think, is the fact that there is a skull in the 8-ball. Not to mention, the nun holding the stick looks totally badass!

[Bushmeister]

I think that the cover for Marduk's "Panzer Division Marduk" is the best CD cover of all time. Why? Because while it is not the best-designed album cover of all time, it is the one with most raw emotion and expression in it. Sure, the sidenote made of a stream of bullets isn't really that impressive, even though the band logo does break up the monotony somewhat. But the dominating force of the picture is a big fucking tank, ready to fire, the barrel poised just above your head. Think about that. You know it's going to fire, and you know the noise is going to be infernal, and you just tense up, waiting for that moment when the cannon goes BOOOM and your eardrums shatter. The greatest cover, in my opinion.

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

Brand New - Deja Entendu

I think the cover is amazing in the colors and the placement of the words, astronaut, and ocean, and it makes me want to listen to the album. I doubt this is anyone else's favorite and I know it's not the best ever, but this is MY favorite.

Actually this is my favourite too.

It just grabs my attention and draws me in to listen to the music

Now that IS a fine cover. Beautiful yet strangely disturbing and disorientating at the same time.

[TheRyno]

Bushmeister's entry made me think of this, Mayhem's "Grand Declaration of War".

Also, I was going to post the cover to the Cannibal Corpse EP "Worm Infested"...but I just ate.

EDIT - Another favorite I just remembered was Glassjaw's "Worship And Tribute". Technically, there wasn't even a cover as the slip where the CD cover/booklet went was nothing but a clear piece of plastic with just the record player's needle and bar that holds the record in place. The actual CD was made to look like a record and the tray and back of the case were made to look like the record player's base. Pretty cool if you ask me, but that meant you had to go online for lyrics and credits and such.

Edited November 11, 2007 by TheRyno

[Bushmeister]

Bushmeister's entry made me think of this, Mayhem's "Grand Declaration of War".

[TheRyno]

Truly a case where the cover trumped the content.

[Cactus Drags]

Brand New - Deja Entendu

I think the cover is amazing in the colors and the placement of the words, astronaut, and ocean, and it makes me want to listen to the album. I doubt this is anyone else's favorite and I know it's not the best ever, but this is MY favorite.

Actually this is my favourite too.

It just grabs my attention and draws me in to listen to the music

[Bushmeister]

Truly a case where the cover trumped the content.

Personally, I liked the album. But I'm not a HUGE black metal fan and thus didn't have much of a devotion to Mayhem (or the genre as a whole) to be disappointed, so I can kinda see the die-hards being pissed off about it.

Edited November 11, 2007 by Bushmeister

[Drake Smashem]

[JimbobJoylove]

Blur - Greatest Hits. My favourite band, so I might be biased, but I just love the style of artwork used - Julian Opie.

Edited November 11, 2007 by JimbobJoylove

[britneyspearsisgod]

You can use it as target practice.