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35 posts

Craig

Craig is the founder of Art Before Noise, exploring the stories behind iconic album covers. From Bowie’s rice cooker to Kendrick’s lawn, his deep dives reveal the hidden secrets and visual visions that define the music we love.

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  • I See Us 4 min read

    I See Us

    Craig
    • • Deep Dive • Patti Smith • Robert Mapplethorpe

    Horses by Patti Smith - A Salvation Army shirt. A Frank Sinatra gesture. Twelve photographs. One afternoon in a New York apartment. And one important album cover.

  • The Disco Ball Horse 5 min read

    The Disco Ball Horse

    Craig
    • • Deep Dive • Beyoncé • Carlijn Jacobs

    Renaissance by Beyoncé - A woman on a horse. A silver bodysuit. The whole thing glowing and otherworldly.

  • Press. Ship. Regret. 4 min read

    Press. Ship. Regret.

    Craig
    • • Electric Light Orchestra • The Byrds • The Zombies

    Five album covers that got it wrong. A missing letter. A wrong title. A bridge nobody bothered to fact check. The mistakes that made it to print.

  • The Birth of Prince 5 min read

    The Birth of Prince

    Craig
    • • Prince • Jean-Baptiste Mondino • Paisley Park Records

    Lovesexy by Prince - Most call it audacious. I call it confidence. There's a difference.

  • The Flame, The Beetle, The Bullet 6 min read

    The Flame, The Beetle, The Bullet

    Craig
    • • Massive Attack • Robert Del Naja • Tom Hingston

    Five albums. Five covers. One unmistakable visual vision. Here's the full story of Massive Attack's extraordinary album cover art from Blue Lines to Heligoland.

  • It Came From A Rice Cooker 4 min read

    It Came From A Rice Cooker

    Craig
    • • Sleeve Notes • David Bowie • Pierre La Roche

    Aladdin Sane by David Bowie - The lightning bolt that appeared on millions of faces the night he died. It came from a rice cooker.

  • Fifteen Seconds 5 min read

    Fifteen Seconds

    Craig
    • • Controversial • Geffen Records • Kurt Cobain

    Nevermind by Nirvana - The shoot lasted fifteen seconds. The baby was four months old. Thirty years later he sued the band that made him famous.

  • That's Not His Suit 4 min read

    That's Not His Suit

    Craig
    • • Sleeve Notes • CBS Records • Dick Zimmerman

    Thriller by Michael Jackson - The white suit on the cover of the best selling album in history wasn't Michael's. It belonged to the photographer. And the tiger kept wandering off.

  • Fifty Pounds 6 min read

    Fifty Pounds

    Craig
    • • Deep Dive • Klaus Voormann • The Beatles

    Klaus Voormann spent three weeks creating one of the most celebrated album covers in history. He was paid fifty pounds.

  • The Phoenix, The Harpy, The Pixels 6 min read

    The Phoenix, The Harpy, The Pixels

    Craig
    • • Kanye West • George Condo • Def Jam Records

    My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy by Kanye West - I thought it was just Kanye being Kanye. It was.

  • The Stuff Of Diners And Motels 4 min read

    The Stuff Of Diners And Motels

    Craig
    • • Sleeve Notes • Arcade Fire • Win Butler

    Neon Bible by Arcade Fire - The cover doesn't immediately grab you. A neon sign in the dark. Pink and orange against black. Something you'd walk past without stopping. Look again. There's considerably more going on here than first appears.

  • None More Fictional 5 min read

    None More Fictional

    Craig
    • • High Fidelity • Spinal Tap

    Ten fictional album covers from film and TV that never existed. And yet somehow, some of them are better than the real thing.

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