...and I'm celebrating by watching The Roundhouse Tapes
! Well this DVD is the last recorded performance of the band with...hmm... Peter (you're probably going "here she goes again 
" but this is my blog so bugger off, which I'm saying in the nicest way possible 
) so you bet I'm gonna treasure this sucker like a piece of gold. Anyways, amazing it is, well worth 2-yr wait. The highlights would be Ghost of Perdition, Face of Melinda and Blackwater Park. Tbh, I'm not that big of a fan when it comes to audio live recordings (rare exceptions would be Mike's A Smart Kid or PT's Linton Samuel Dawson since that's the only way to hear them), which is why I haven't listened to the the Roundhouse CDs that often but live DVD is another story.The main point of this blog though is that the Roundhouse package has evoked some thoughts about artworks (on CDs, videos and stuff that is). Ever since I'm able to afford CDs the package is almost as important (if not just) as the music. I even keep the plastic wrap to keep them new for crying out loud. Anyways, back to the Roundhouse package, it sure looks very nice and classy but the artwork is again, God bless me, disappointing. I know Travis Smith is a very respected designer but tbh I find most of his stuff rather cliche. "Most" because I still love the Damnation and Deliverance artwork, and The Great Cold Distance is among my most favorite covers ever. The reason I guess must be because all you can find on pretty much every metal record now is some scene/subject that is perceived as "dark and evil" wrapped in PS texture. The band members photos for example would look so much better in their own skin than being distorted with again, textures.
The same goes for Lasse Hoile. I have great respect for him as a photographer (the photographs on Deadwing are beautiful and capture the mood of the album and script very well) but his recent work as director are rather boring. I never like the whole FOABP concept visual-wise, and the videos (FOABP, Normal, Porcelain Heart, the one for Oceasize) are, sorry, crap.
On the other hand, I love Carl Glover's work. It's usually simple, sometimes minimal, abstract and very photo-based. I'm curious what the results would be like if he collaborates with Mike Bennion. Anyway, I'm looking forward to see what he and Lasse (who hopefully won't spoil it) do with Insurgentes.
Another talented guy is Josh Graham who's in charge of Neurosis' artworks. I haven't seen all of them yet but from the ones I got, he sketches the "cold and heavy" of the music pretty damn well. It'd be a terrible crime not to mention Sigur Ros when it comes to beautiful package. ( ), Takk, Heima, Hvaf & Heim are all stunning.
Disclaimer: all the statements above are written with 'IMO' (in my opinion) in mind
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