Who started the current trend of having an album cover with absolutely no text on it (with exception to a parental advisory label for explicit albums)? I know that there have been albums in the past with nothing but a picture and that's it, but those were an exception, not the norm.

I was looking at the list of new releases on Google Play Music and a good number of those albums had no text at all. If it weren't for the streaming service providing info regarding the names of the albums and the artists who made them, I would've been lost.

Could you imagine going to the record store back in the day and having to physically pull out 50% of the albums, that you're thumbing through, just to look at the back of each one so that you could see who made them and what their titles are? That would've been annoying.

I have no problem with the no text concept when the artwork is strong/compelling/effective enough to carry the cover but that's not always the case. A number of those covers could use text (of course done in a stylish font/logo that works with the pic) to give them a better feel/aesthetic because, on their own, they lack strength.

What say y'all?


Since 1976