New Kamelot, June 5th

I've actually been a big fan of Noren ever since I got the human equation a couple years back. I see what you are saying about all his work having a similar feel, but I think it's just a matter of that feel being what he's so well known for. I guess he kinda pigeon-holed himself into that but at least he's really good at what he does. I must admit that this one isn't my favorite work of his though.
 
I was talkin to Zach about this recently. It's all too true. Same color schemes, same kind of graphic styling. I miss classic painted/drawn/homemade/shitty album covers that ruled. See Edge of Sanity. Or, photographs. See Opeth.

All this computer generated shit blows.
 
Kenneth R. said:
I was talkin to Zach about this recently. It's all too true. Same color schemes, same kind of graphic styling. I miss classic painted/drawn/homemade/shitty album covers that ruled. See Edge of Sanity. Or, photographs. See Opeth.

All this computer generated shit blows.
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Yeah... exactly. I remember when art was um... art.

Again, there are some cool computer generated covres. Some of the coolest recent ones i've seen are a mix of painting and computer manipulation. those are always awesome.
 
i argue no. digital painting can be amazing. that's completely different from taking a couple photos, blending them together and doing a couple layer effects and gradients and calling it an original piece. ESPECIALLY if you use so many of the same effects and gradients over and over that you probably have your own custom filter that you just drag & drop to make album art.
 
Haha, i just got a private message from Mattias about my post :D

I still stand by what i said, but i'll bow out of any further debate, as he was very kind and gracious about the criticism.

I still think painted covers are better though :p
 
Yeah, He's a nice dude, and it's unfair to pick on him because he's not the only artist out there. And granted, If I were doing it for money, I'd have to be making the money. But I still think aesthetically that truly original images or original image captures make the best cover art.
 
DoomsdayZach said:
Haha, i just got a private message from Mattias about my post :D

I still stand by what i said, but i'll bow out of any further debate, as he was very kind and gracious about the criticism.

I still think painted covers are better though :p
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Fair enough. Personally, I think a good cover is a good cover and whether you like computer generated or not, it is still art. It's not like he's turning the computer to auto-pilot and having it generate a complete work from scratch for him. There's still an artistic/creative aspect to it. I guess long story short it's a simple matter of stuck-up traditionalists condemning modern approaches (not directing that at either of you guys, just making a general statement about these kind of debates). I've had a lot of similar debates with people about bands that use synthesised string sections and orchestral arrangements in their music (not that I can think of any bands that would do that...). It's certainly not the same as a real orchestra and anyone with ears can tell the difference, and most people (myself included) would take the real orchestra any day. Either way, it doesn't change the artistic value of the work itself.
 
Meedleyx10 said:
Fair enough. Personally, I think a good cover is a good cover and whether you like computer generated or not, it is still art. It's not like he's turning the computer to auto-pilot and having it generate a complete work from scratch for him. There's still an artistic/creative aspect to it. I guess long story short it's a simple matter of stuck-up traditionalists condemning modern approaches (not directing that at either of you guys, just making a general statement about these kind of debates). I've had a lot of similar debates with people about bands that use synthesised string sections and orchestral arrangements in their music (not that I can think of any bands that would do that...). It's certainly not the same as a real orchestra and anyone with ears can tell the difference, and most people (myself included) would take the real orchestra any day. Either way, it doesn't change the artistic value of the work itself.
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I totally understand what you're saying and do agree. Again, i think the Kam cover is pretty ace, not to mention he's done some killer stuff as well, but he also has a lot of samey stuff. He's not the only one. Travis Smith is notorious for doing the same thing. Anthony Classen (is that his name?) who does a lot of stuff for NB is basically a Mattias clone, which to me is quite unattractive. he's done some great work (Communic - Waves of Visual Decay) but it's way TOO mattias. Niklas Sundin from Dark Tranquillity is also very travis smith in his art, which again, irks me.

I know not everything will please me (though it fucken should) and artists either get in a rut or whatever, but i cannot understate how important cover art is. I sincerely believe that great cover art is one of the only things holding the digital revolution back. I personally hate the idea of having only digital tracks. Vinyl and great cover art makes a fucken awesome album even better.

Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the difficulty that these guys face and i think they should be much more recognized as an integral part of metal than they are, but they (like musicians) need to keep trying new things, branching out and seeing what they can come up with. Or maybe i should shut the fuck up until i do something a few hundred thousand people care about?


Nahh... that'd be effort.
 
I don't mean to add to the argument, nor to argue at all, but I jus thought I'd throw in my two cents regarding the similarity of the album covers. I would tend to classify the similarities as the developed style of the artist, and perhaps that style is what the bands (er, labels) are looking for when hiring a particular artist. Or, in the label case, it could be a contractual deal with an artist to do so many of the label's releases (not knowing the behind-the-scenes workings here since I have zero albums to my credit).

But, when everything starts looking the same and cannot be attributed to an artist's style, I would equate that to a guitar player finding him/herself in a rut playing the same scales/riffs/licks over and over or being stuck in the blues box and unable to get out.

So I'm guilty of typing without reading the long posts. I went back and read Zach's, and it looks like we're in agreement. As far as an artist copying styles of another artist, that sounds relate-able to the Led Clones of the '80's (even continuing into today). But again, perhaps said artist was given an example by the band or label and delivered too closely on what they requested.

How's that for covering all the bases? I've done too much flying today.
 
new dt, sx, kamelot owns, plus the new suncaged album is out like tomorrow or something. Iced Earth should have part 1 of a 2 album set regarding the something wicked trilogy released sometime august or september. this could be the greatest year in metal music ever for me. *fanfair*

AND TO TOP IT ALL OFF!!!!... Lars Ulrich said Metallica wants to release a new album before the end of the year if possible too... *hush* o right, no one cares.
 
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