Beck: Modern Guilt
Wow another Beck album so soon. I’ve been so busy lately a street poster had to alert me to the fact this was released.
Initially I thought they had forgotten to commission a cover for the album and just used what was lying around for the cover of Modern Guilt. It’s boring, uninspired and so generic. If I knew the emoticon for yawn I’d insert it here.
But then I stumbled upon an artist’s site who was commissioned to develop multiple visual concepts for the cover all of which went unused! Why spend the money (I hope Mario was paid) and then not use it?
Below are four distinct visual directions for the album that no one, well maybe not now, will ever see. Two “verbal” and two “non-verbal”. This begs the question, were other artists asked to waste their time too? If you were please contact us we love to share.
The artist behind these designs is Mario Hugo, a freelance illustrator/art director in NY. The little info I could find on him was from this outdated portfolio page.
So check out what could have been Beck’s latest album cover, and if you are just as uninspired by the official cover as I am, grab these and change the cover on your via iTunes.
Wooden type gives me wood. This direction is my fav.
What does everyone else think?
P.S. I will note that the final two china ink stained examples bares a resemblance to Hanne Hukkelberg’s “Rykestrasse 68″ a cover Mario illustrated for Non-format back in 2006. This could have been a request from the label or Beck as most of the time designers get work based off previous projects.
The artist behind these designs is Mario Hugo, a freelance illustrator/art director in NY. The little info I could find on him was from this outdated portfolio page.
MAJOR UPDATE: KAFONT in the comments points out, what I should have, this article from NYmag. NYmag extracts this quote from the Vanity Fair article from 2001 on Beck’s 50 favorite album covers which is probably Beck’s single minded proposition for the album’s cover.
“Highway 61 Revisited is one of the first great anti-covers. Dylan looks burnt, shirt wrinkled — like he’s waiting for catering at the gig or something. And somebody’s just randomly walked in behind him. In an era of Patti Page-style, perfectly lit and posed covers, this cover was a defecation. And these days you’d rarely see such a throwaway picture on such an ‘important’ album.”
So the cover is a pastiche (my new fav word) of Bob Dylan’s “Highway 61 Revisited”. And here I thought it was a “Right Price” bargain bin design. Beck’s been waiting 7 years to use the cover too. What a patient guy.
Imagine if this style of cover was used by other bands in the past? Think of what we would have missed. (Insert subtle argument as to why this cover is lame here)
I could go on but you get the idea. And to proove you can just chuck any image in with some text. Here’s one I whipped up for Sleevage.
It’s almost like the cover meme we posted about here.
After reading the comments below I have come to dislike the cover less. I’ve also got the album now and giving it solid rotation. As witnessed by my Last.fm page. Oh shit Beck’s my fav music artist by a long shot. I will say I mainly listen to music while working or blogging so my love of heavy metal isn’t very SFW if you know what I mean. Plus it’s hard to blog while head banging.
Last thought: I think back in 1965 Bob Dylan’s cover would have had more impact than the Modern Guilt cover does today. But I do love that the cover now has a back story and can stand alone on this blog even without the alternate covers.
