Which Cover? 👄

[elijahfan 26,805]

24 minutes ago, dynamite said:

That too, but BTW had something similar. Not the main cover reveal, a colourised version of it for some version which was released in pieces 

She actually has vampire fangs on this version.

[Sneaky Oliver 22,514]

42 minutes ago, Ladle Ghoulash said:

In what way does it lack context? I feel like, if anything, Gaga is appreciated for her camp sensibility now more than she was then. I also think that, regardless of the “darkness” of anything on BTW, it’s all both undoubtedly hamfisted, camp, and also heavily influenced by the over-the-top rock roots she was pulling from (Meatload, Judas Priest etc),

I meant from the perspective of a new fan or someone who wasn’t following the BTW era in real time, I don’t think the album cover reflects the “dark bops” vibes from Judas and Bloody Mary, for example. It’s the opposite for ARTPOP, any new fan or new casual listener will look at its cover and say this is the album Applause belongs to or look at Joanne cover and say this is the album Million Reasons belongs to

BTW has a lot more layers and depth and I don’t think those people are aware of that

Songs like TEOG or You and I which were the ones that used to carry the album’s vibe back then are not the ones the new fans associate with the album the most these days 

[nATAH 52,392]

I was really shocked to find out fans actually hated the bike but I think its super sick

it's let down by the meh typography, it deserved some really sick heavy metal design to match the album aesthetic

[NUTELLA 15,857]

3 hours ago, nATAH said:

I was really shocked to find out fans actually hated the bike but I think its super sick

it's let down by the meh typography, it deserved some really sick heavy metal design to match the album aesthetic

I hate text on album covers, but this single cover was pitch-perfect in every way & could have worked for the album imo.

The font is instantly-memorable

[Ladle Ghoulash 32,393]

4 hours ago, Sneaky Oliver said:

I meant from the perspective of a new fan or someone who wasn’t following the BTW era in real time, I don’t think the album cover reflects the “dark bops” vibes from Judas and Bloody Mary, for example. It’s the opposite for ARTPOP, any new fan or new casual listener will look at its cover and say this is the album Applause belongs to or look at Joanne cover and say this is the album Million Reasons belongs to

BTW has a lot more layers and depth and I don’t think those people are aware of that

Songs like TEOG or You and I which were the ones that used to carry the album’s vibe back then are not the ones the new fans associate with the album the most these days 

Like I said, tho, I still think even the “dark bops” carry that campy, hamfisted spirit. I guess that’s just a matter of aesthetic interpretation, tho. 

[Ladle Ghoulash 32,393]

28 minutes ago, NUTELLA said:

I hate text on album covers, but this single cover was pitch-perfect in every way & could have worked for the album imo.

The font is instantly-memorable

This and TEOG’s single art are so iconic

[NUTELLA 15,857]

Just now, Ladle Ghoulash said:

This and TEOG’s single art are so iconic

I actually hate that one 

But I love when we meet in the middle, or at least come close to doing so

[RAYA.core 827]

i love lady gaga album covers they just really dont make album covers like she does. i do prefer the remixes covers though 

[Zombiecat 17,314]

both 

[DESTROY UR DISEASE 14,123]

Well I like the special edition

But I feel like the standard cover really says something more than just a face pic

It's kind of like if you took ARTPOP cover and zoomed onto her face. Alright, nice, still looks stunning, but you're missing out so much from the full picture

[niccolo 41]

IMO the face pic only works in context of the bike pic being a thing. Stand-alone I think it would be odd.

 

bike.

[Bronco 15,264]

22 hours ago, nATAH said:

I was really shocked to find out fans actually hated the bike but I think its super sick

it's let down by the meh typography, it deserved some really sick heavy metal design to match the album aesthetic

Yeah, I think it'd be a way more universally loved album cover if they had fully committed to it rather than leaving it looking like the photoshop messing around that it was. 

Like imagine the Gaga bike in this style:  

[TheFrenchGuy 2,076]

23 hours ago, Sneaky Oliver said:

I meant from the perspective of a new fan or someone who wasn’t following the BTW era in real time, I don’t think the album cover reflects the “dark bops” vibes from Judas and Bloody Mary, for example. It’s the opposite for ARTPOP, any new fan or new casual listener will look at its cover and say this is the album Applause belongs to or look at Joanne cover and say this is the album Million Reasons belongs to

BTW has a lot more layers and depth and I don’t think those people are aware of that

Songs like TEOG or You and I which were the ones that used to carry the album’s vibe back then are not the ones the new fans associate with the album the most these days 

Except that’s not what the cover is meant to convey. The bike is a camp statement about freedom and strength, which is exactly what the album is about. It’s very on the nose. She is the music and she is the bike, a vehicle for your liberation. She looks straight at the camera to invite you in, but she’s making her iconic monster bite face to signal, the music is jarring, but I’ll take you there. The overall style of the image is cheap and collage-like, and that speaks directly to the campiness of the music itself. The album was pieced together from tour sessions, just like the cover was pieced together, and to an extend the motorcycle itself is pieced together in a mechanical sense. Nothing about the image pretends to be obvious, natural or effortless. Its excessive, artificial and daring, just like the music. The cover makes perfect sense with the album, but you have to engage with it beyond surface-level aesthetics. Gaga was never about making things clear on the surface, it's always been layers upon layers of symbolism. If anything that's something for the new fans to learn. You won't ever get into her work if your not sensible to that IMO so why should she compromise her vision ?

Edited Sunday at 02:37 PM by TheFrenchGuy

[NUTELLA 15,857]

24 minutes ago, Bronco said:

Yeah, I think it'd be a way more universally loved album cover if they had fully committed to it rather than leaving it looking like the photoshop messing around that it was. 

Like imagine the Gaga bike in this style:  

Thank you. The bike is a freaky, compelling concept… but the way they carried it out is so awkward & difficult to accept for something as significant as this album.

The framing itself (point-&-shoot… like a schematic of the design, nothing beyond that) 

But also the slapdash photoshopping itself. It feels like one of the things I’ve made in 4 minutes..

[TheFrenchGuy 2,076]

3 minutes ago, NUTELLA said:

Thank you. The bike is a freaky, compelling concept… but the way they carried it out is so awkward & difficult to accept for something as significant as this album.

The framing itself (point-&-shoot… like a schematic of the design, nothing beyond that) 

But also the slapdash photoshopping itself. It feels like one of the things I’ve made in 4 minutes..

But that’s the point. It’s supposed to be crafty and awkward. I think the reverence we have for the music blurs our perception of the cover, to be honest. For an album that is literally about embracing the freak, the misfit, the unnatural, a slick or elegant image would almost betray the concept.

The cover isn’t trying to be aestheticly pleasing ; it wants to be unsettling and a little embarrassing. The music itself is abrasive, brash, and at times awkward. The fact that the image looks like something that could have been made in four minutes is kinda central to its logic. BTW is high pop album made with queer DIY sensibilities, and the cover speaks perfectly to that. 

I get why you don’t like it on a purely aesthetic level and that's valid, but saying the execution is poor, as if it weren’t a deliberate choice, misses the point IMO. It's doing this drag : 

Not this drag :

Spoiler

Love that photoshop by the way, very true to life