Spoiler alert: I am probably about to totally contradict myself, because everything I didn't like about Surfin USA is present in this one, but I am going to argue "it doesn't take away from the cover". Which is bull. But whatever, I can't help that this is a sweet album cover.
Let me state this up front: I had to look up what the "32" was all about. I never could figure it out. But you know what? It never bothered me. I figured they were racing numbers or something, and moved on. Because they looked cool. That is what finally sets this cover apart from the three before it: it actually looks cool.
I will probably sound like some fake "freelance graphic design" person like everyone on tumblr, but the layout of this cover just looks fast to me. There is not even time to put the face of the guy in the hot rod photo--it's all about the engine. The text is BIG and BRIGHT and it get straight down to business. You already know what's on it, and you already know you want it. That album they put out last month? Awesome. Why not another one? That car is coming at you!
The layout is superb (it really leads the eye, if you believe in that), the songs are probably hits already, and that car looks fast as hell. This cover doesn't waste its time with ANYTHING that doesn't RULE. And so it RULES. But it is just a rushed crop of the best photo they could find of a Deuce Coupe in the week or however long they had to put it out, and it kind of shows. So that bumps it down a little, but just a LITTLE.
No bones about it, this one gets a 4 out of 5, or Al Jardine on the Beach Boys Beard Scale.
No comments:
Post a Comment