Sampler 2: Art, Pop and Contemporary Music Graphics

Sheet Music
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Customer Review: Thinkin mans music
When the 1st album 10cc came out on the back cover there is a quote by John Peel, it says I,d love to hear a 10cc album . this the second album is perfect, 10cc were a very witty clever sarcastic four piece who very nearly got it always right. to have hit albums and singles is no mean feat I recommend this as a brilliant introduction to the world of thoughtful clever Pop Rock music album style!
Customer Review: Where was the cover photo taken?
Quite simply a classsic 70’s rock pop album, 10cc best, I loved playing my brothers copy when this came out in 73, very 10cc sounding and very melodic, Silly Love has got to be the best rock riff ever, now to reveal where that cover photo was taken, It was taken in the Odeon cinema in Wood Green north london, I know this because my brother worked there and I used to go there my self and thats exactly how it looked as you went up the stairs to the big screen.

Tuesday Night Music Club
Sheryl Crow’s proper debut–an earlier, slicker record was scrapped in favour of Tuesday Night–occasionally reaches too far in attempting significance, as when the album opens by name-checking Aldous Huxley. Usually, though, Crow and her band of LA session and singer/songwriter collaborators strike just the right tone. The “Stuck in the Middle with You” homage of “All I Wanna Do”, the clanking guitar riff of “Can’t Cry Anymore” and the funky threat of “What I Can Do for You” meld perfectly with the lyrics, resulting in a peak of mainstream pop-rock. –Rickey Wright
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Customer Review: Might have been her best…
I have a couple of Miss Crows albums and this I think was the best one. You get the sense that there was a point to prove with the range of vocal challenges she was set. 'Leaving Las Vagas', 'What I could do for you', 'Run baby run' all very different in tone and pace. Heavy rips and deep almost gravelly voice at times can give you the impression that she really enjoyed singing the songs and to me that has always enhanced my enjoyment. Don't miss this one, it was Sheryl at her very best with everything to prove and heart and soul were truely invested.
Customer Review: One of the best female debuts you’ll ever hear
After singing back-up on Michael Jackson’s “Bad” tour, you may come with some high expectations from Sheryl Crow’s debut album. Expectations are met, and then some, with Sheryl’s 1993 debut album “Tuesday Night Music Club,” which went 7 x platinum in the US through 1993 and 1994. It’s interesting to know that a much slicker album was scrapped in favour of this album as Sheryl’s debut, and we’re all the better for it. The opener, “Run, Baby, Run,” is a fantastic mid-tempo rock song which received a lot of airplay when released. Fantastic vocals and a brilliant guitar start off the song, and thoughtful lyrics carry the song along to end as an almost 5-minute masterpiece. “Leaving Las Vegas” and “Strong Enough” are fantastic hit singles. The former has rather weak vocals, which gives off a feeling that Sheryl is drunk while singing the song. The latter is a wonderfully relaxing ballad in which Sheryl’s sweet voice is perfectly twisted around a guitar. “Can’t Cry Anymore” is a wonderful up-tempo song which includes Sheryl’s fine writing skills, along with interesting phrases. A guitar solo makes it all the more enjoyable. “Solidify” is perhaps the most up-tempo song on the album. This is a real country/rock/funk kind of song with raspy vocals, a catchy chorus, and a melodic instrumental. A highlight. “The Na-Na Song” just starts out of no where, with Sheryl singing anything she fees like, such as, “What the world needs now is babies, gun and hope/Guardian angel dust in the wind cries Mary wanna be Madonna but the price is too high.” The verses are sung in a sing-along style, and the chorus is very country - you could imagine this being on Shania Twain’s “Woman In Me” album. “No One Said It Would Be Easy” is easily the slowest and most chilled-out song on the album. The song is almost five and a half minutes long, and nothing but a guitar comforts Sheryl as she sings softly, a voice full of emotion and tenderness. “What I Can Do For You” is a very catchy and melodic rock/pop song, with some wonderful vocals and interesting lyrics. It’s another great sing-along song, perfect for anyone. “All I Wanna Do” is obviously the biggest hit from the album. This mammoth song stormed charts worldwide in 1994, peaking at No.4 in the UK. Catchy beats, and everyday lyrics work a treat on this undeniable classic rock/pop song. “We Do What We Can” and “I Shall Believe” round off the album, in fine style. The former is a very slow, almost jazzy little number in which Sheryl sings about a man living his life - doing what he can. Another brilliant song, that raises the tempo after three minutes. The latter is a good song to round off a superb album, but it’s definitely not the best song on the album. It doesn’t grab you like the others, basically. OVERALL GRADE: 9/10 Tuesday Night Music Club is probably my second favourite Sheryl Crow album. It’s really a tie for second position between this and “The Globe Sessions.” Both are fantastic, and I always have trouble deciding which one I like best. Of course, they’re both not as good as Sheryl’s second album, the self-titled sophomore masterpiece that spawned so many amazing hit singles and is a total female rock classic. If you’re looking to get interested in Sheryl’s music, I suggest you purchase Tuesday Night Music Club first, then go for her self-titled second album. If you don’t like them at first, stick with it - they will grow on you over time. You won’t be sorry!

Dowland: Lute Music vol 3
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Pop Idol - The Big Band Album Considering the long, pain-staking process in selecting the nation’s Pop Idol it seems a little impetuous to rush release the finished product with The Big Band Album–but at least public interest is still riding high. Will and Gareth’s singles were quick and simple with record-breaking results but listening to this release you can’t help wondering if they should have spent a little more time rehearsing and recording it.

Thirteen tracks of big band standards feature the 10 finalists of the show each doing their bit. Will, Gareth and Zoe each get an extra slice of the pie and lucky for them as Will’s performance on “Beyond the Sea” pales in comparison to his second effort just as Zoe’s fantastic “I’ve Got You Under My Skin” trounces her slightly disappointing “Get Happy”.

For a cynic it would be easy to knock the pop idols as it’s almost a national sport but they all prove they can sing with Darius, Aaron and Hayley turning in some great performances but for the most part they have been let down by poor production and the recording standards of a karaoke machine. Robbie Williams came under a lot of criticism for what people saw as his butchering of classic numbers on Swing When You’re Winning but Pop Idol’s Big Band Album is way short of the mark set by Robbie showing that you can’t rush a project of this size and expect the same results. –David Trueman
Customer Review: It’s GGGreat!
This is a must for any Pop Idol fan. The final ten rise to the challenge with almost faultless consequences. Although I do admire Zoe’s voice I would have prefered more Darius! The album contains all the magic from the show. I only wish that they would have released the album before the pop idol tour, so I would have been able to sing along to more songs at Wembley!!
Customer Review: Girl power
Now, I sadly admit I enjoyed ‘Pop Idol’, particularly the early stages. But, it’s clear that the phone lines must have been clogged by pre-pubescent girls calling in as anyone without cloth in their ears realises Hayley and Zoe should’ve made the last two. Gareth’s voice is as weak as a new-born lamb as shown on his feeble rendition of ‘Mack the Knife’. Dear old Louis must be turning at 500 rpm gravewise. The solo efforts by the girls are considerably better than those by the boys, as was clear on PI hence the 2 stars. I’d also give another halfstar for the absence of Will Young’s destruction of one of the great classics to come out of the 60’s namely ‘Light my fire’.

Sampler 2: Art, Pop and Contemporary Music Graphics
This reviewer angrily objected to the advent of CDs on the grounds that four square-inch cover art simply doesn’t do justice to the medium. This loving, lavish exploration of music graphics by London-based design practice Intro–who themselves design record covers and direct music videos–shows that perhaps this reviewer was a bit hasty.

The evolution of music graphics seems to have been galvanised, rather than hindered, by shrinking covers to a third of their former size and encasing them in jewelled plastic. Sampler2 leads you through the evolution of this specialisation, from typography to layout to printing techniques, and explores what designer Adrian Shaughnessy of Intro characterises as a search for authenticity that’s distinct from the instant gratification we often associate with conventional graphic design.

But mainly this book gives joy by inundating you with page after page of cover art, the graphics printed on the CDs themselves and the little extras–hand-written liner notes, translucent paper packaging and the like–we’ve grown to expect from the artistry of modern music. –Liz Bailey

Customer Review: Better than he thinks.
I think that the Intro books are superb…along with the two volumes of Blue Note cover art, the book on soundtrack cover art, and the one covering the blues, I think these are essential for anybody interested in the history & development of commercial graphic arts as applied to the music industry. Of course these books will cover contemporary releases, they’re put together by a contemporary design firm, after all. It doesn’t matter when these designs were made, some of them are still rather ingenious.

Customer Review: Covers a lot of good music related design
This book shows a good selection of graphics, which are mostley used in the music industry,But a lot of it you would have seen before if you buy current music.So i was a bit disapointed by this, But it is a really good book to have if you want to discover whats out and about at the moment in the wonderfull world of music packaging.