Favorite Gimmicky Album Covers

And the gimmick is...?

 

The Soft Machine LP had a pop-out die cut:


The Capt. Beefheart LP is encased in embossed clear plastic, not shrink wrap.

 

Mama Lion "Preserve Wildlife"
The front of the jacket was a cage, and when you opened it, it revealed Mama Lion suckling a lion cub:

 

The record companies must have hated producing these expensive covers. Some of them look like they would have been very expensive.

 

Wasn't there a Pink Floyd cover that had a red blinking light? I seem to recall a whole wall of these in a record store somewhere. (Pulse)

 

Heh..check my avatar photo...lovely place!

 

Motorhead - Clear your clock

 

a 12" but alas



new order - blue monday 12"

 

Alas, my copy does not have the blinking light:

 

Tony Wilson claimed that the cost of the sleeve added to the usual production costs resulted in every 12" single sold at a loss. No one expected New Order to have a huge single so it didn't matter much. Blue Monday became the highest selling 12" single ever shifting over 700,000 copies.

 

My copy is still blinking since the original CD was released. I change the battery when it dies.

 

Ryan Adams did a pretty cool job with the End of the Word box set for his last album Prisoner

It was each song from the album released as a single (including b-sides)

And it had a diorama cutout of the band

 

The original version was on green vinyl in a 10" cover correct me if I'm wrong...I used to own it!

EDIT: Is this the same release??


Ok here's the info from Discogs.... This 10" Klark Kent LP pressing differs from the US edition on I.R.S. Records in packaging. While the US sleeve is 12" and the record inside is 10", the UK edition is on A&M Records and the 10" sleeve is the same size as the record. The liner notes also differ [see images] from those on the US edition. The outer sleeve is die-cut so the liner notes are set in the shape of a "K" and are revealed when the inner sleeve is pulled from the die-cut outer sleeve. Track sequencing is the same on both releases.

 

Either way, it's very infectious new wave with impressive musicianship. It's cool that Stewart had this creative outlet while having a day job as the drummer in the world's biggest band.

 

Lennys are not gimmicks... I make um and am proud. Gimmicks is such an ugly word... unless of course...

Seriously; there's a lot of fascinating science that went into their development. They've come along way since the small Winky's in boxes of Cracker Jack, secret decoder rings and political running mate buttons. My favorites of the ones I produced were for the relatively short lived Motown Cafe on 57th St., NYC. They were the first life sized lenticulars that when you walked by them created the illusion of continuous motion. One was of Michael Jackson doing a spin. One was of The 4 Tops doing a dance move and the third was of The Supremes doing their Stop In The Name Of Love extended hand move. They were made from existing film footage; a series of many frames; each frame was a tiny vertical "lens". This was a new and exciting process at the time.

The 36" X 36" promotional window lenticular displays of the covers of Disraeli Gears and Axis Bold As Love (not produced by me) are extraordinary.

Sorry about the above; I just couldn't help myself. But since I only talked about music related lennys I don't feel too bad.

 

World's biggest band? Calm down!!!

 

One where you have to destroy the cover to open it?

 

The Future Sound Of London released motion covers for their "Cascade" and "Papua New Guinea" CDs.

The Future Sound Of London - Accelerator

The Future Sound Of London - Papua New Guinea

 

I bought this album only for the cover. I loved it! Gimmicky as all get out but talk about spending time on an album cover while you listen to the music.

 

This one was insane. It was such a complex die cut that the band themselves were enlisted to assemble it and place the vinyl inside. It won't fit, no how, along side my albums on the shelf, but it is cool. Printed on shiny foil paper (glued to white cardboard) too. The weird shape sticks out, front and back on the shelf--at least it's easy to find.

 

Rick Wakeman/ No Earthly Connection came with a foil sheet to be rolled up and placed in center of the cover for a "spectacular" image.

 

The early days of Compact Discs were encased in a cardboard longbox for retail display. The longbox for Scruffy The Cat's "Moons of Jupiter" could be cut out and folded into a spaceship.