David Bruce Murray
Diana Brantley
Kyle Boreing
Phil on Southern Gospel
Steve EatonWith all the album artwork I’ve obtained over the years, it got me to thinking about another feature I could start. I thought, why don’t I let my readers decide the best Southern Gospel album cover and the worst Southern Gospel album cover of all time.
Each week I am going to give you six album covers to vote on. In the comments section you will rank the six album covers from 1 to 6 with one being the best and 6 being the worst. At the end of the tournament I will pick out the ten best based on rank and the ten worst based on rank for final voting. I ask that you try to be as objective as possible on the album cover and not just pick out favorite artists.
Here is the list of the first six album covers to rank. Click on the thumbnail to see a larger version of the album cover. Have fun!
Never Walk Alone – Brian Free & Assurance (2010)
His Hands – Blackwood Brothers Quartet (1958)
Then And Now – Cathedral Quartet (1977)
Pray – Crabb Family (1999)
Walk On Water Kind Of Day – CrossWay (2002)
Masterpiece – Dixie Melody Boys (1994)
1. BFA – clean, classy
Don’t really like the others a whole lot, but…
2. Cathedrals – why the mean faces?
3. Crabb Family
4. Dixie Melody Boys – neat idea, but amateurish-looking
5. CrossWay – They’re more in the water than on it…
6. Blackwood Brothers – maybe some younger hands would be better?
Brian – on your #2 – that’s actually simple enough. That’s an old-fashioned pose for an old-fashioned photo. Back in the old days (late 1800s), it would take quite a few seconds (or maybe minutes) for a camera to take a photo. It’s hard to hold a smile perfectly fixed for that long, so that evidently played into it being the style at the time to strike a serious/dignified pose for photos.
Serious is one thing…Glen and George are scowling at me.
1. Cathedrals (This was easy)
2. Dixie Melody Boys (I love chess)
3. BFA
4. Crossway
5. Crabbs
6. Blackwoods
1. Crossway
2. Dixie Melody Boys
3. Cathedrals
It was easy to pick those as the top three, because each communicated the concept of the album cover without being cheesy. (I might have ranked the Cathedrals’ one higher except that the cover alone only communicates half of the idea.)
4. Blackwood Brothers – Decent but not spectacular
5. Brian Free & Assurance – fine, but nothing out of the ordinary
6. Crabbs – cheesy
1. Cathedrals – Love the old timey look.
2. Crabbs – I think it’s a neat photo and fits the theme
3. Crossway – Sharp
4. BFA – Very classy, but blah.
5. Blackwoods – Almost too simple
6. Dixie Melody Boys – Good thought, not so good execution. Not sure why the chess pieces. Had they made the picture head shots that looked like an oil painting or something it would have been better.
1. Crossway – Neat concept yet classy looking
2. Crabb Family – Great illustration for the “Pray” title
3. Brian Free and Assurance – Classy but kind of boring
4. Cathedrals – Too cheesy for me
5. Dixie Melody Boys – Again too cheesy
6. Blackwood Brothers – Kind of creepy
Come to think of it, the Blackwoods one does remind you a little of a horror movie or something…
You almost had them in order for me.
1. BF&A – Classy
2. Cathedrals – Excellent execution of a good concept
3. Blackwood Brothers – Simple
4. Crabb Family – Also simple, but the title is too small and I don’t like the idea of leaving the artist name off especially when the artist isn’t in the shot.
5. Crossway – Obvious concept, borders on tacky, and poor execution. They appear to be walking IN the water rather than ON it.
6. Dixie Melody Boys – Poor execution of a mixed concept. Either use the frame to convey “masterpiece” or use the chess board.to convey “pieces.” Using both doesn’t work, and the tilt doesn’t help either.
1. Brian Free & Assurance (Even though it looks like they took it in front of their shed at home. )
2. Crossway (Just Jesus and Peter, guys.)
3. Cathedrals (Taken in Gatlinburg. )
4. Blackwood Brothers (Halloween prop.)
5. Crabb Family (Tear?)
6. Dixie Melody Boys (LAME)
1. Brian Free and Assurance
2. Crossway
3. Cathedrals
4. Dixie Melody Boys
5. Blackwood Brothers
6. Crabb Family
1. Crossway
2. Crabb Family
3. Brian Free and Assurance
4. Cathedrals
5. Dixie Melody Boys
6. Blackwood Brothers
[...] *Speaking of SG Back Row, Steve has come up with yet another fresh, cool column idea in “What’s In an Album Cover??”. Steve will present a weekly batch of six album covers to be ranked by his readers, and at the end of the “tournament,” he will pick out the ten best and ten worst for final voting. Here’s the first round. [...]
1. Cathedrals
2. Brian Free & Assurance
3. Cross Way
4. Dixie Melody Boys
5. Crabb Family
6. Blackwood Brothers
1. CrossWay. (The idea may be a bit bad, but the picture itself is definitely very pretty.)
)
2. Brian Free and Assurance.
3. Masterpiece. (Some are saying it’s cheesy, but I think it’s a neat idea
4.The Crabb Family
5.The Cathedrals. (I think they tried to look too serious and ended up just looking rather silly.)
6.The Blackwood Brothers. (It looks like the cover of a horror film. I can see what they were trying for. Maybe it would have helped if they hadn’t used the solid black background.)
1.Cathedrals
2. Brian Free and Assurance
3.Crossway
4. Dixie Melody Boys
5. Crabb Family
6. Blackwood Brothers
1.Crabbs-loved this one,kind of a little children shall lead them concept.
2.Cathedrals-i like anything antiquey and old timey.
3.BFA-sharp pose but the backdrop made it look like they were standing in a walk-in freezer or the back of a semi.
4.Crossway nice pose but, a little cheesy for me.
5.DMB-the title didn’t match the pose .
6.Blackwoods-nope,too much like hands in a coffin.
1. BFA
2. CrossWay
3. Crabb Family
4. Cathedrals
5. DMB
6. Blackwoods