Unreadable album jackets and liner notes

[Squaredancecalling Steve]

I'm about to print out the track listing for Derek Bailey's "Ballads" since the song titles listed on the back cover appear to be no more than faint pink ghosts of words, completely beyond my ability to read them with the naked eye. Was it a question of balance -- since this is such an accessible Bailey album did he feel obligated to make the text as difficult to read as possible?

Then there's the back cover track listing on John Lindberg's "The Catbird Sings," printed in tiny, thin, ornate white script on a black background. At first glance, its dense and even lines suggest Sanksrit, but with great effort and a bright light the words reveal themselves to be English and actually can be read without magnification.


What are the ones that make you start squinting?

[mke]

Dave Holland "Extended Play": black on dark green? I can't even read what's written on the spine when it's sitting on the shelf.

[JaSt]

We are so upset about these unreadable covers that we have decided that all text on our releases must be very easy to read and also, very important:

it must be possible to read all the most important technical recording information (who, where, when, what, .....) on the reverse side of the album without open the CD package (Digipack of course!).

We now also clearly tell on top of the front cover the name of the artist/group for easy finding in the record shops.

All very simple - nothing new - back to basic.

[Mike Schwartz]

I need to use 'drugstore' reading glasses on occasion.........almost all of those *occasions* being when I'm trying to make out something or other from a CD liner or back cover.

Doing radio forced me to get reading glasses....

[TheMusicalMarine]

I recently purchased the Complete Songbooks (Ella) and while the packaging is visually pleasing, the linear notes have been miniaturized, and that's a bit of a pain. So are the cardboard sleeves. I don't know why companies these days use sleeves for cds. Jewel cases can't be THAT expensive.

[Nate Dorward]

Originally posted by TheMusicalMarine
I recently purchased the Complete Songbooks (Ella) and while the packaging is visually pleasing, the linear notes have been miniaturized, and that's a bit of a pain. So are the cardboard sleeves. I don't know why companies these days use sleeves for cds. Jewel cases can't be THAT expensive.

No! not the "digpak vs jewel-case" debate! Don't start it up again!

[Gary Sisco]

Thanks for that, Jan. You have all of my normal complaints covered. It's also important to have all that essential info readily available and easy to read on the outside for dj's ... if you hope for some airplay. It's a pain in the ass to have to search out stuff inside while on the air.

What I really like is when they use the tiniest possible font to reproduce the original lp notes, reduced to microscopic size to fit the CD size. And then don't give you the info anywhere else on the thing. Hey, thanks! I mean, really. Why bother at all?

[LeMo]

Vandermark 5, "Airports For Light" could also compete for the most unreadible cover ever.

As ECM is concern, it's not the first time than the titles of the record are unreadible. "Sankt Gerold" from Bley, Parker, Phillips could compete with the last dave Holland.
It's written in black on dark blue. Nice!

[MRS]

Originally posted by JaSt
it must be possible to read all the most important technical recording information (who, where, when, what, .....) on the reverse side of the album without open the CD package

Indeed! Why is this so hard to understand?!

[Jason Bivins]

Lots of Funkadelic albums fit the bill, but then again you get those sweet Pedro Bell pictures.

[Mike Schwartz]

Greg Osby's "Banned in NY" as I recall really bad.
The idea for the *artwork* was to have the information look like some sort of spray paint-like 'tagging'

The words come in various sizes written straight,sideways and upside down as I recall. Very difficult to navigate, not to mention to simply read.

[clinthopson]

When they leave the packaging to graphic artists who are more interested in visual effect than the music, this is what results. These bozos should look at the classic Blue Notes to see the right way to do it.

For those squnched down notes, I keep the magnifying glass that came with my compact OED around.

[Nate Dorward]

I think the worst instance involves "Draw the Fight Out", track 7 on Moran's Black Stars. The designer turns the "F" upside down, so most reviewers give the title as "Draw the Light Out".

[walto]

I've got a bunch of Screwgun covers I can't make head or tail of.

[Derek Taylor]

Originally posted by Jason Bivins
Lots of Funkadelic albums fit the bill, but then again you get those sweet Pedro Bell pictures.

Same could be said for a lot of the Fela Kuti reissues on MCA. The crazy artwork more than makes up for the hand-printed scribbles most of the time though.

[Bill Barton]

Almost all of 'em?