Elvis Costello once famously said, “writing about music is like dancing on architecture.” This sentence not only stimulates music critics, but also asserts the ultimate integrity of each art form
. 
Logically speaking, content expressed in one medium cannot be translated into another
. 
The cover art of the album presents an interesting challenge to Elvis Presley’s formalist Maxim
. 
Although the sleeve design can’t really tell people the feeling of internal music, it can become a part of the whole work and bring visual help to the auditory experience
. 
If you use architecture as the album cover, these buildings will also be associated with music
. 
When this is done effectively, music and architecture can communicate with each other in interesting ways
. 
In today’s project arrangement, we have made a lot of choices in architecture, thinking about the subtle relationship between musicians and architectural images over the years
. 
Here are 15 unforgettable album cover examples with architectural features
. 
01
. 
Stars: on the cover of the North (2012) album is the residential area No
. 
67 of Moshe Safdie, an Israeli Canadian architect
. 
This building has always enjoyed a high reputation
. 
When it was unveiled at Expo 67 in Montreal, the layout of 354 identical precast concrete housing units of Safdie put forward a challenging and original vision for the future of urban life
. 
In one way, house 67 represents an attempt to use the principles of music creation in architectural design
. 
Like a great musician, safdi creates a lively and energetic feeling on the basis of repetition
. 
Independent pop band stars selected photos for the cover of their 2012 album “the north” to create a nostalgic color effect with overexposure, which is different from how the raw concrete of Safdie building appears in important aspects
. 
On the whole, the sunny utopianism on the cover of this album perfectly matches the pop music yearning inside
. 
Maybe it’s too sweet, but on a brilliant summer day, it achieves its goal
. 
02
. 
The velvetunderground: squeeze (1973) “squeeze” is a footnote in the history of music
. 
Although it was released in the legendary style of velvetunderground, it only contains one member of the actual group: multi instrumentalist Doug Yule, who didn’t join the band until after the release of his second album
. 
The final work, squeeze, was not a commercial success
. 
Unlike the classic banana cover album, the album is largely free of conflict or irony, as if someone had squeezed the band’s life out of the crowd
. 
The album cover is the pinnacle of “squeeze.”
. 
Stylistically, the illustration is similar to the cover of velvets’ 1970 album loaded, which depicts pink smoke from the stairwell of the New York subway
. 
But symbolically, images are no different
.
“Squeeze” is no longer the radiation from “underground”, but to announce that it is a lighthouse falling from the sky, which firmly holds the Empire State Building in New York
.
The hand depicted may belong to Yule, who is still trying his best to hold on to the band
.
In 2011, Canadian band Azari & III put the image of “squeeze” on the pictures of their first album of the same name
.
Burj Khalifa, a symbol of power and prosperity in the age of globalization, is captured by the giant hand in the illustration
.
In view of the album’s reputation for ambiguity, quoting “squeeze” in the first album is an interesting choice for Azari & III
.
Good design is good design
.
The cover of this album is as eye-catching as its predecessors
.
The trimmed hand in the image is a bit weird: its loose grip is more threatening than the clenched fist on the velvet cover
.
03
.
Meatloaf: bats come out of Hell II: return to hell (1993) “meatloaf”, who likes to be a food or record artist, should pursue the acme
.
In his sixth album “bat out of Hell II: back into hell”, the guitar screams, the piano spins, and the main melody is almost entirely composed of new Wagner ballads, which can reach all the high points of pop music, while stubbornly rejecting any low points
.
This album, like pickled homemade food, makes the audience feel exhausted, strangely greasy and eager for a glass of water
.
It’s more American than apple pie
.
The cover image, created by science fiction / Fantasy illustrator Michael Whelan, features a giant bat resting on the top of the Chrysler building, holding innocent valkiri hostages
.
Fortunately, the monster is about to meet him in the form of a flaxen haired hero who rides a flying motorcycle and grabs the ball of light
.
The charm of this picture, like the album itself, lies in liberating restraint
.
There is a certain blood relationship between the aesthetics of meatloaf and that of Chrysler building, which is the treasure of Manhattan skyline and receives decoration for its own needs
.
In architecture, as in life, we often look for balance, restraint and practicality
.
But at other times, it’s better to “pray only to the God of sex, drum, rock” because meatloaf knows it very well
.
04
.
Drake: scenery (2016) Canada is more ederlek than anywhere in the world, so it’s no surprise that the melancholy rapper used the image of the Toronto compatriots national TV Tower on the cover of his fourth studio album “views”
.
Drake can be seen sitting above the national television tower of Canada, with his legs dangerously hanging over the edge
.
Dark clouds, like Drake’s vexed thoughts, appear dark and gray, just like the comments after the release of the album, dark clouds are behind him
.
Indeed, many of the lyrics on the album seem to anticipate that the rapper is about to shake off his critical demeanor
.
In the single “hot line glittering”, Drake is nostalgic and even tragically grabs the lost memory and ridicules a woman who used to call him on her mobile phone
.
If you listen carefully, it is obvious that Drake really understands a kind of change with this record
.
Even ordinary changes are painful for human beings
.
The cover juxtaposes his own tiny and fragile lyrics with a powerful tower, an expression of human impermanence familiar to anyone who takes the time to think about landmarks
.
05
.
Unknownmortal Orchestra: the unknown mortal Orchestra (2011) Petrova Gora monument appeared on the cover of unknownmortal orchestra’s first album to commemorate the 300 Serbs who died during the Second World War to resist the fascist USTA š e militia
.
The monument is located at the highest peak of Petrova Gora in today’s Croatian mountains
.
The monument, designed by Vojin baki Vic and completed in 1981, is in disrepair
.
The interior of the museum is unusable, and many of the planks on the stainless steel facade have been stolen.
.
