Fri 16 Jan
2009

Photographer Hiroshi Sugimoto for New U2 Album Cover

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With only a few exceptions, the Irish band’s album covers have been aesthetically bereft, in spite of their now iconic statuses. And after their last album, they were definitely in a can’t-do-any-worse position. But the cover art for their forthcoming release “No Line on the Horizon” is more than just an improvement. It’s a genuinely artful image from the photographer Hiroshi Sugimi, apparently from his “Seascapes” series.

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Remarks 6 total remarks were added before the post was closed.

Fri 16 Jan 2009 at 11:48 am
Dalton

Yes, it’s an improvement, but I’m not a fan of the equal sign, which is not part of the original image. It’s a bit ham-fisted, if you ask me, and kind of ruins the photo.

I’m a fan of Sugimoto, though, so I am more likely to be annoyed than most.

Fri 16 Jan 2009 at 05:22 pm
David

Lovely, but also a bit of a rip off of the cover of Steve Reich’s collection “Reich Remixed” from Nonesuch.

Mon 19 Jan 2009 at 10:52 am
Brian

Suddenly any cover featuring a sea & sky pic is a ripoff of Reich Remixed?

I don’t buy it.

Tue 20 Jan 2009 at 03:32 pm
erutan

I have to agree, most of their album covers are crap (though for a “band shot” cover I thought ATYCLB had a nice ambience)...  the typography for the new record is rather horrid though hehe.

In terms of “ripping off” “Taylor Deupree used the same image in 2006”, and I’m pretty sure someone else used it ~2001?

Tue 20 Jan 2009 at 03:41 pm
Khoi Vinh

Erutan: Good call. I suppose that called for the ginormous equal sign as a differentiator, which I happen to like a lot. I agree, too, that the cover for “All That You Can’t Leave Behind” was better than their average. For what that’s worth.

Sun 01 Feb 2009 at 02:26 am
Segon Kim

The album artwork reminds me of Nine Inch Nails.

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