the best of 2010 - album art and packaging

first up for my "best of 2010" feature is my favorite album art and packaging from this year's music releases. simplicity is this year's big winner. be sure to click on the images to get a larger view of all the glory.

here are my top 5 album covers...

1 - deftones - diamond eyes

simple but at the same time majestic, powerful, beautiful, and graceful. an epic album deserves an epic cover. i will leave it at that.

2 - august burns red - home

ABR's live cd / dvd set, put together by my favorite design team, invisible creature. this art wins in every possible way. and it doesn't stop with just the cover, as the theme is expanded throughout the liner notes and packaging. great stuff.

3 - anberlin - dark is the way, light is a place

this cover probably fits the mood of it's corresponding album better than any other on my list. dark yet beautiful. once again simple wins here.

4 - my chemical romance - danger days: the true lives of the fabulous kill joys

not much to say about this one other than i love it. why? i don't know, i just do.

5 - four year strong - enemy of the world

the first selection that strays just a tad from the simplistic method. okay so maybe it's more than just a "tad", but who freaking cares, this cover kicks major butt! how could i not include it? only four year strong could pull off this much awesomeness in a 4.75" x 4.75" square!



these next two are more than just nice covers but superb overall packaging...

underoath - Ø (disambiguation)

 



while i feel like the album cover by itself is just ok, the package as a whole is fantastically mesmerizing (literally). a foldout digipak consisting of weird, trippy optical illusions... a booklet with intricately and beautifully placed vellum inserts... and plenty of great extras as well. very nice. check out the goods below.

te' vinyl set 
 




















released by denovali records based out of germany, this takes the cake for my favorite vinyl packaging of the year. te' is an instrumental rock band from japan, and this set compiles their three releases into a breath-taking tri-fold gloss jacket. i picked up the clear / blue haze vinyl and it turned out gorgeous. the above layout doesn't do this one justice, but i'm too lazy to take any pics. trust me though, its so much better in person.