It is a bit ridiculous that this is literally the most colourful album cover we've gotten from the band. I actually love the band's covers, but there's absolutely no variation in colour. 6 albums in, they should do something different for once.
I think they were attempting to make an album very loose, spontaneous, and unpolished with ATS, but it ended up being fairly structured and polished anyway. However, they did say they kept a lot of the first takes and sketches in the songs on ATS. I think it's in their blood to seek perfection in their songs, though I agree that they should definitely consider just going for a really spontaneous approach on the next album. The first three albums were like the band's search for their own sound. ATS was about the subconscious part of songwriting. LT was about taking everything they've learned from their past work and combining the best of all that. THP was more of a tribute to their childhood, their influences, and the excitement of first playing music. As for the artwork, we probably have Joe and their art director to question about that. From what I know, Joe pretty much has overall supervision over all the band's artwork and visual presentation, since they trust him the most in that area.
Honestly though. Since ATS, their choice of artists from Josh Vanover, the guys at Ghost Town Media and James Jean have all been pretty solid.
Not saying the artwork is bad, it's just become monotonous. The original sketches released as part of LPU XIV were so cool. Did they really have to be 3D rendered? I feel the original would fit the sound of the album so much better.
I agree with you. The band has been one of the few that are consistently great with their album artwork and promo. The white/black/red scheme worked well for the albums they made, but a little variation for their next projects would be nice. I own a lot of albums from Joy Division to Sonic Youth to Kanye to Black Sabbath to John Coltrane. And among everything I listen to, Linkin Park's art and visual presentation seem to be more thoughtful and sophisticated than the rest. I think that other than Kanye, most artists aren't really tasteful as much about their album art as Linkin Park. Sorry for derailing a little bit there, but I am very passionate about album art and agree a lot with the things you said. Hopefully Joe can discover an artist out there with a little bit of a "louder" color scheme, but still done tastefully. I also think it wouldn't hurt to have someone else direct one of their videos, like Nabil, Chris Cunningham, or Mark Romanek (who they've previously worked with). Even if it's just for a commercial or various promo material.
I don't know what we'll get but the album I want from LP should be inspired by the song WFTE. That song is just...perfect. It's got Mike experimenting with his rap style, an amazingly catchy vocal melody, memorable lyrics, great production and structure, and manages to have great radio appeal on top. I would be happy with another experimental album like ATS too though.
As a huuuuuge fan of their current choice of mostly B/W, I personally wouldn't mind they keeping using this. But I see where you're coming from... It's weird though in the sense that both Mike and Joe use pretty vibrant colors in their own works.
I have been hoping for the second coming of Reanimation for years now. I don't know if the ATS style in particular would work for something as diverse as Reanimation, though the electronic effects/ambiance could carry over from ATS. You'd think Mike and the crew would have had a creative spurt at some point ever since Reanimation was put out to make a proper sequel/follow-up.
I think Viscera and Reliving Things (okay, Reliving Things maybe mot so much) are pretty much on the level with Reanimation. Yup, that good. Different style but damn, the qualty is there.
Sorry for my ignorance, but... Are Viscera and Reliving Things official LP releases? Or are just fans albums or compilations?