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Best Genesis album cover
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Poll Question: What is the best Genesis album cover?
Poll Choice Votes Poll Statistics
2 [1.04%]
16 [8.29%]
27 [13.99%]
32 [16.58%]
21 [10.88%]
23 [11.92%]
26 [13.47%]
15 [7.77%]
4 [2.07%]
10 [5.18%]
1 [0.52%]
5 [2.59%]
2 [1.04%]
2 [1.04%]
1 [0.52%]
6 [3.11%]
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suitkees View Drop Down
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Points: 9050 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote suitkees Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 09 2021 at 07:42
^ Well, my impression is - and I will put it much more bluntly than you did - that most are voting for the music and not for the covers. Because, how the heck is it possible that the masses vote for naive stupid fairy-tale cover art work when there is some very fine artwork presented in their cover series...
For me, Wind & Wuthering would get my vote, but I go for We Can't Dance: awful album, but one of the better artworks for a cover. Overall, I think that Genesis is one of the bands with the lousiest cover art.

(all this in my humble opinion, of course).

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^ I’m convinced about that, though going by other polls in the past, it’s definitely a distinct possibility. However usually when people are voting for their favourite album rather than answering the question asked, the question being asked still refers to the music.

In this case, given the question is clearly about the cover art, I would like to put my cynicism aside and believe that more people than usual are actually voting for the cover they like, rather than the music they like.

I personally think that the We Can’t Dance cover isn’t particularly inspiring. I prefer both the Invisible Touch and Calling All Stations covers to it.

But, from my own point of view, I like the cover art of Trespass, Cryme, Foxtrot, Lamb, Wind, Duke and Shapes - which are all albums others have voted for. I’m not such a fan of Selling England, but I can understand why others like it. I’m not sure what the attraction is for Three, either.

I think the Foxtrot cover looks far better than any other Genesis cover art, and because I like that style, it kind of goes without saying that Cryme is my second favourite.

I do think their better cover art does seem to coincide with their more prog albums, and I say that as someone who likes the cover art of Wind, Duke and Shapes, even though I’m not such a fan of the music from those albums. (I own only Trespass to Lamb.)
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Originally posted by Icarium Icarium wrote:

I wonder how a Roger Dean would be ontu a Genesis album. One will never know thay and its good with a variaty of artists. Genesis had one Hipignosis artworkwith tLLdoB which is cool albait not as spectacular as the album

he did a Hackett cover that isn't very good---surprised by the love for Foxtrot and Nursery Crime--always thought they were fairly amateurish --like a high school kid art. The band seems to like SEBTP the most and they loved the crazy lady who painted it.
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Points: 19152 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote AFlowerKingCrimson Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 09 2021 at 10:09
Originally posted by Sean Trane Sean Trane wrote:

Tail does the Trick for me.Big smile


W&W and SEBTP are next


(I'm not that big on the Whitehead artworks)


Same here. I think his VDGG covers might be better. 
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Points: 1017 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote tdfloyd Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 09 2021 at 10:57

TotT.  Also my fav album of theirs.  Can't really go wrong with any of them except FGtR and Abacab
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Points: 6737 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote nick_h_nz Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 09 2021 at 11:04
I can’t remember what the cover art for Abacab looks like, but as it’s the only album without a vote yet, it must be bad! 😜😄
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Points: 2211 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Intruder Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 09 2021 at 11:36
Always thought that the gaudy Whitehead covers were amateurish and didn't reflect what was contained in the grooves.  The Trick cover meshes more with the music, but even better is the WaW cover showing the illusion of summer as birds scatter to reveal bare trees.  Autumnal is the adjective a lot of folks use with WaW, and the cover really conveys that. 
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I’m really surprised by all the people who don’t like the Whitehead covers! 😳
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Selling, Foxtrot, Cryme...
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Points: 5729 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote A Crimson Mellotron Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 09 2021 at 13:01
Originally posted by nick_h_nz nick_h_nz wrote:

I can’t remember what the cover art for Abacab looks like, but as it’s the only album without a vote yet, it must be bad! 😜😄

Not necessarily bad but too artsy and abstract for what Genesis were at the time, in my opinion.
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Trick
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Originally posted by nick_h_nz nick_h_nz wrote:

I’m really surprised by all the people who don’t like the Whitehead covers! 😳



Foxtrot is winning the poll. I'm quite surprised at the number of people who like those covers.

I don't really get what's so good about them, but then I'm no art expert I suppose. Each to their own.
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Voted for Trick. Their best album, and best album artwork IMO.
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Points: 6737 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote nick_h_nz Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 10 2021 at 01:13
Originally posted by Blacksword Blacksword wrote:

Originally posted by nick_h_nz nick_h_nz wrote:

I’m really surprised by all the people who don’t like the Whitehead covers! 😳



Foxtrot is winning the poll. I'm quite surprised at the number of people who like those covers.

I don't really get what's so good about them, but then I'm no art expert I suppose. Each to their own.

I think too many people seem to be caught up in the “quality” of the artwork, rather than the effectiveness of it. I see all these people going on about it not being at the level of a high school kid, or whatever. 

I can recognise where they are coming from, but for me art is more than just how “good” it is. Some other Genesis covers are possibly “better” artworks, but none tell the tale of the album so well as Cryme and Foxtrot. If you’d never seen either cover, but knew the music from the albums, you could instantly recognise which relates to which album.

Plus there’s something especially aesthetically pleasing to my eyes about the almost naive and cartoonish aspect of the art. I think it’s actually far better than most people give it credit for, as it is an artistic style rather than a reflection of the artist’s actual talent. I have seen far “better” artworks by the same artist, that people might well think are better quality and more artistic, but they aren’t nearly as effective as these Genesis covers.
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Points: 9233 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Frenetic Zetetic Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 10 2021 at 01:16
Originally posted by nick_h_nz nick_h_nz wrote:

Originally posted by Blacksword Blacksword wrote:

Originally posted by nick_h_nz nick_h_nz wrote:

I’m really surprised by all the people who don’t like the Whitehead covers! 😳



Foxtrot is winning the poll. I'm quite surprised at the number of people who like those covers.

I don't really get what's so good about them, but then I'm no art expert I suppose. Each to their own.

I think too many people seem to be caught up in the “quality” of the artwork, rather than the effectiveness of it. I see all these people going on about it not being at the level of a high school kid, or whatever. 

I can recognise where they are coming from, but for me art is more than just how “good” it is. Some other Genesis covers are possibly “better” artworks, but none tell the tale of the album so well as Cryme and Foxtrot. If you’d never seen either cover, but knew the music from the albums, you could instantly recognise which relates to which album.

Plus there’s something especially aesthetically pleasing to my eyes about the almost naive and cartoonish aspect of the art. I think it’s actually far better than most people give it credit for, as it is an artistic style rather than a reflection of the artist’s actual talent. I have seen far “better” artworks by the same artist, that people might well think are better quality and more artistic, but they aren’t nearly as effective as these Genesis covers.


I'm in the camp of not being surprised many don't like Whitehead's art, and at the same time also surprised Foxtrot is leading, lol.

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Points: 6737 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote nick_h_nz Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 10 2021 at 01:22
^ I honestly think it’s because these album covers visually represent the music within. And I suspect the reason that Foxtrot is beating Cryme is a combination of the fact that there is more going on in the artwork (with more of the songs represented), giving a kind of Where’s Wally experience; and because of the Fox on the Rocks - which is somewhat of a definitive Genesis image.

I think it depends on whether you look at how accomplished the artwork is, or how much it matches the music within. I don’t see many people arguing against the Duke artwork, which is even more simple and naive than Cryme and Foxtrot - but is still a very effective cover. I don’t like the music much from Duke, but I think it’s an awesome cover.
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Points: 16130 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Blacksword Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 10 2021 at 01:34
Originally posted by nick_h_nz nick_h_nz wrote:

Originally posted by Blacksword Blacksword wrote:

Originally posted by nick_h_nz nick_h_nz wrote:

I’m really surprised by all the people who don’t like the Whitehead covers! 😳



Foxtrot is winning the poll. I'm quite surprised at the number of people who like those covers.

I don't really get what's so good about them, but then I'm no art expert I suppose. Each to their own.


I think too many people seem to be caught up in the “quality” of the artwork, rather than the effectiveness of it. I see all these people going on about it not being at the level of a high school kid, or whatever. 

I can recognise where they are coming from, but for me art is more than just how “good” it is. Some other Genesis covers are possibly “better” artworks, but none tell the tale of the album so well as Cryme and Foxtrot. If you’d never seen either cover, but knew the music from the albums, you could instantly recognise which relates to which album.

Plus there’s something especially aesthetically pleasing to my eyes about the almost naive and cartoonish aspect of the art. I think it’s actually far better than most people give it credit for, as it is an artistic style rather than a reflection of the artist’s actual talent. I have seen far “better” artworks by the same artist, that people might well think are better quality and more artistic, but they aren’t nearly as effective as these Genesis covers.



It's not so much the 'quality' of the artwork I object to. For me, the artwork doesn't capture the spirit or atmosphere of the albums, even though the themes of some of the songs are reflected in the artwork. Nursery Cryme is the better of the two. It's all subjective anyway. There is a childish playfulness about those covers which is fine, but just not consistent with my tastes.

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Voted for Duke. I like that cartoony surreal vibe to it.
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Originally posted by AFlowerKingCrimson AFlowerKingCrimson wrote:

Originally posted by Sean Trane Sean Trane wrote:

Tail does the Trick for me.Big smile
W&W and SEBTP are next

(I'm not that big on the Whitehead artworks)


Same here. I think his VDGG covers might be better. 


not my case.Geek

I mean all three Genesis artworks are OK (I mean they come in right after my top 3 and I happen to like their innerfold artworks and the mad-hatter logo), but H To He is quite clumsy and PH is a near-failure (IMHO) and Fool's Mate is so-so. And I don't think his work with Italian bands was that good either.

I got a book of Whitehead's works signed by him (he had a stand at a TMB concert), so I think it had everything he'd done until 2003. He was quite pushy about selling reprints of his album artworks and got a bit upset when I suggested that if I wanted to, I could hand the vinyl sleeves, which he claimed were of lesser quality (it could be so). I did consider buying his 3 scenes in Kent (combing the three Genesis album artworks), but never regretted not doing so: nothing from him I would hang on my walls.



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