Athanasius Koh's blog
You take my hand and drag me headfirst, FEARLESS
Athanasius Koh's blog
You take my hand and drag me headfirst, FEARLESS
Top 10: Album artwork. :D
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Good day to you all, remember how I wondered what to do for my next post? I shall end the suspense. Ladies and germs, I really don't know what to do, so with suppourt from Lee Jiang, I present to you my Top 10 Music Art that can be found in my iTunes. Let's start off with the creatively named...number 10
10 . The Fame - Lady Gaga
This album art is PERSONAL. Lady Gaga's personality is like....Katy Perry x400. In other words way too much. The reason this album is on the list is because that it's just a picture of Lady Gaga, Sunglasses and Reflection. I don't get "disturbed as compared to looking at her...do ANYTHING.
The reason she's at number 10? Ironically, it's a matter of marketing. It doesn't show her personality, especially if you compare it with the Fame Monster. Also, it's too plain that I don't like it. Wanna know what is too plain but I like it? It's further on on the list.
9. We Started Nothing - The Ting Tings
If I was a person who bought an album because it looks nice, this would be in my shopping bag.
I like the vibrant and matching colours. And it has something I like, empty spots. On top, left, right, there's empty spots everywhere! If they were holding stuff like Pianos or the Drum itself, it would not even BE on the list.
I also like it's amateur-ish look. Like a scrapbook, pieces of paper stuck on it and calling it album art. Brilliant. And seriously, empty spots? AWESOME
What I don't like? It doesnt represent anything. As a debut album, it should show more about the duo besides the fact that they play drums. Also, it may have it's fair share of empty spots, but I think it's a little too much. They could've put some little designs on the corner...Take Taylor Swift's Taylor Swift for example. The setting shows the calmness and love'like nature of her songs. Same thing should be done here.
8. Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge - My Chemical Romance
Are you puzzled by the fact that this is even in my library? So am I. It's gory, it's dark, it's emo. But if think about it. It's touching. I like it because of that, because it's touching. Just like ROMEO AND JULIET, gory love.
I'm not sure whether that's blood or ketchup, but either way, it's still touching.
If it's blood, in a sense, it signifies that, through thick and thin, love will still be there.
If it's Ketchup, in a sense, it signifies that they both love Hot Dogs so much, they're drawn to each others Sausagey breaths.
I also like it in the way that it's done, the sketchy ways make it very personal, emphasising the love. Wow.
Why is it so high on the list? That red stuff. Enough said.
7. Britney - Britney Spears
There's only 3 colours on this 8 year old album, blue, pink, yellow. That's what makes it so nice. You take a nice scene (Britney Spears just sitting there), add crazy colours and you get an electrifying album by an electrifying artist. This is one of my examples on suiting the artiste's personality. It's eye-catching, it's wonderful.
Like I said, it suits her personality, and yet, that's why it's on number 7, and not any lower. The way they achieved this feat was through colour and not through the clothes she's wearing or the position she's in. That's my excuse. Poor positioning.
6. Rebelution - Pitbull
First of all, note the content of the artwork. Pitbull, that thing, words. FULLSTOP. A few things and he calls it an album artwork, that's what I call simplicity and creativity at the same time.
If you actually look at the songs, there's no much you can put into the album artwork, I mean..if you're gonna have songs called 'Full Of Shit' and 'I Know You Want Me' put together in the same album, you might as well leave the artwork blank. And also, you gotta agree, whatever that girl thing is, it's pretty cool standing next to a suited up guy.
Now here's my favourite part, look below his name, and to the right of the 2 people. What do you see? NOTHING! Exactly! NOTHING! Empty Spaces! Awesome
One thing I don't like about it though, that girl thing (again). It looks creepy, out of place, for a kid/teenager, sick. That's pretty much it. Empty Spaces!
5. My December - Kelly Clarkson
I just have to say...WOW. Never has Kelly Clarkson sang so sad/emo songs all in a single album. I would know, I've heard all :D Clearly, she's portrayed that in the artwork, the sadness, the feeling of being lost and hopeless, darkness falling upon her, it's all there. Plus, that dress is super nice! I especially like this album artwork when you compare it with 'Thankful' and 'Breakaway', or even the newer 'All I Ever Wanted', you can see a super obvious contrast of emotions when you look at the albums themselves. The colours match extremely well, it is stunning!
The way her name is "written" also portrays the emotion in this album. That makes it look rather cool.
What I don't like is very simple colour, and the stuff around her. The colour of the dress is very beautiful, everything else, not so much. The stuff around her on the floor is always those twigs and that white stuff. I think it need more variety, to show a deeper sense of falling darkness. As simple as that. Better still, don't put anything on the floor, ruins the Awesome dress!
4. One Of The Boys
Lemme say that this is one of the reasons I like Katy Perry so much, her album artworks and her Single artworks. I love the colour, the position she's in, the clothes she's wearing, and especially the mood transformation when I see this. It is simply wonderful and amazing.
The colour, it makes you happy in a snap. Look at it! Look at it! There's pink, blue, white, green, etc. It's a really colourful scene. She's also in her relaxation position as if on a beach or just simply tanning on her back/front yard. Describes the songs very well, most of 'em at least. 'Thinking Of You' is an example. Other then that, it's a very nice scene.
Now here's the problem You have the sky that you wanna enjoy, you have Katy Perry you wanna enjoy, you have that pink-box thing you wanna enjoy, you have her hat you wanna enjoy, etc.etc.etc.
There's simply too much for you to absorb at once. But even if you don't it's still nice :D
3. Relapse - Eminem
At a quick and first glance, what does it look like? Eminem's face, in red, painted on a smashed rock, with a label at the bottom. That's what I thought. When I looked closer, that's when I started liking this artwork.
That smashed rock? Those are actually drugs, pills, stuff you're not suppose to consume unless advised by the doctor. Very creative and the Photoshop skills involved...wow, I am still impressed till now. The story behind it is quite poor though. It's all about Eminem's old life surrounded by drugs, drugs and drugs. That's a factor in his songs most of the time, drugs.
That "label" is pretty cool as well, it's like a doctor's cert. or a instruction slip for your "drugs", and it lists quite a few details of the album.
What I really like is still the Photoshop involved for this picture, simply stunning that's what make it so high on the list. If everything but the Photoshop skills weren't on the artwork, this album would be number 9 or something, just for it's creativity. Other than the Photoshop, Relapse isn't all that nice, but still EXTREMELY creative.
2. Beautiful Eyes - Taylor Swift
This and number 1 ares seriously seriously tied. No doubts about it. Number 1 and 2 are perfect. i'll get back to you when I find a flaw.
- Taylor Swift's presence = 70 points,
- the flower she wields = 15 points
- the pretty little designs= 25 points
- Beatiful Eyes for the album 'Beautiful Eyes' = 150 points.
Just the last element alone can overshoot the point limit of 100 points.
Like 'One Of The Boys' the colours make you happy, bonus goes to the flower. The fact that only Yellow and Orange are involved, may make the artwork plain, but in my opinion, these colours go so well together, you shouldn't care whether it's plain or not. Those little designs on the corners, SO CUTE! The famous hair are a bonus, so is that smile. Last and definitely not least, those 'Beautiful Eyes' for the album named......Beautiful Eyes, and the words near the eyes to emphasize it in a calm and pretty manner. She acts cute with that position, that flower, and guess what, she successfully does that without a flaw. Perfection. Bonus, the fact that Taylor Swift is BEYOND AWESOME makes this album art work better :D It's eye-catching overall, brilliance at it's most brilliant.
1. Under My Skin - Avril Lavigne
I bet you weren't expecting this... Anyway...wait what? You thought this was gonna be a Taylor Swift album too? Well, haha!
Anyway, back to the topic. Let's discuss this for a second. We see....
- Avril Lavigne's reflection in Mirror
- That big 'X' on her shoulder
- That Mirror
- Her name
- That melted/broken bit of the mirror
Let's discuss now what the album is about...
- Being torn apart/broken to pieces
- Saddened beyond limits
- Emo/Punk stuff
- Similar stuff to 'My December'
- You get my point.
By putting herself on the cover, we know it's gonna be some sad story and some punk thing as we learnt from her debut album 'Let Go'.
The suit, look at the suit she's wearing, ignore the 'X' for the time being...that' emphasizes emo-ness, like the cover of 'Let Go'.
Her name, it's in a very burnt destroyed font. Perfect for a scenario like this. So far, it sounds like Avril Lavigne's version of 'Rebelution', a person, a name and blank space. GUESS WHAT?! Blank spaces!
Her where Kelly Clarkson's album designers should have learnt. You may choose a super super nice dress, but if your scene is so complicated, the dress loses it's beauty. There was simply too much things to look at to concentrate to truly get the emotion.
Now we move on to that melt/break in that top-left corner. Yes, it does make it nicer. The album designers of the Ting Tings should have learnt. Too much empty spaces = Too plain. That rip just filled up one of the empty spaces like that. Better still, it filled it up in a very nice way that emphasizes the emotion of the album.
Now, we move on to the truly empty space. You may notice a few spots. That make it look dirty giving a sense of hopelessness especially since the album is monochrome.... Other than that, I think that the empty space, just THAT one, represents a feeling of emptiness....
Now we move on to the eye-catcher. That 'X'. Denial is the word to define it. The denial to face the outside (represented by the mirror) after all the saddening that has happened. Simple as that. Like number 2, Avril Lavigne's Under My Skin is PERFECT. Perfect, like the mirrored dimension Avril wants to cross, as depicted by her facial expression towards the mirror.
BONUS!!!!
Now, here's one artwork I really wanted to out in the list, in my top 3. Unfortuantely, it's not an ALBUM artwork, but rather, a SINGLE artwork.
At first, i thought of putting theYou're Not Sorry by Taylor Swift artwork as the Bonus.
However, I found something even better,
- American Girl - Taylor Swift
_Thanx_to_TMI.jpg)
Let's talk about the song for a moment. This song was rumored to be about a sad story. RUMORED. Fortunately, this rumor has been proven false. Phew! It's about life as a humble American girl and looking into the future and reflecting about the past.
The background just SCREAMS American, with it's national colours and the simple thought of the name of the song, AMERICAN Girl.
And, as usual we have the lovely Taylor Swift smack right in front of the artwork. Once again she faces the side, like how she does it in the Fearless album.
But NOTE, in this artwork her head is raised higher and her hair is strangely lower and more 'smooth' as compared to other pictures of her. I believe that represents looking up into the future, and leaving the past behind and carrying on happy.
Also, I don't think I need to explain the 'Girl' Part. It's staring you in the face.
That was a a mouthful (or fingerful) make sure you tag about this post, don't waste my efforts!
10:32 PM Back to top
Fearless
And I don't know how it gets better than this
Identity: Athanasius "The Squirrel" Koh
Est. 1995
Marist - 2002~2007 (Robotics and other random CCAs)
Victorian - 2008~2011
Choir member - Tenor 1 (2008)
Bass 1 (2008-soon
Youtube : Twitter : Facebook
Forever & Always
You looked me in the eye and told me you loved me
Colours: Lime Green, Cyan, Orange, Yellow, Purple (I don't care that it's the International Gay Color)Music: Taylor Swift, Britney Spears, Katy Perry, Rihanna, Lady Gaga (?)
Love Story
Escape this town for a little while
Beatrice:
Christopher: Clarice:
Denzel: Dillon: Dominic:
Elaine: Elizabeth: Erika:
Gin Kee:
Jack: Joel: Jonathan Bei: Joshua Chan: Joshua Ho: Jun An: Jun Jie:
Kenneth Chiang : Kenneth Tay : Keziah:
Lee Jiang: Lie Sen: Lie Wen: Li Yin: Lydia Tan:
Mitchell:
Nicholas:
Syahid:
Theodore:
Ting Jie (Nicholas):
Wang Kai:
Xin Hui:
Yogesh: Yu Heng: Yuki:
VS 2i '09: VS choir
I was beggin' you please don't go
Coding/design: Yours-Tragically
Our Song
When we're on the phone and you talk real slow
About this Tagbox:
Created in..uhh... This tagbox has been the MAIN EVENT sideline of this blog.
Notable taggers: Joshii, Yogesh, Daniel, Lee Jiang, Wang Kai, Nicholas,
The famous 'Battle of the Big' also took place on this very tagbox.Ancient texts say that this war was started in the 1600s
and the leaders back in the day passed on their war knowledge to what we know today.
A treaty famously known as the 'You Belong With Me' treaty due to the post related to it,
was signed, but only by one side. The other side made the war worse instead.
As you can see censorship is OFF. There is a reason for that
Fifteen
Wish you could go back and tell yourself what you know now
April 2008
May 2008
August 2008
November 2008
January 2009
April 2009
May 2009
June 2009
July 2009
August 2009
September 2009
October 2009
November 2009
December 2009
January 2010
February 2010
May 2010
June 2010
August 2010
November 2010
July 2011