Last week, our community of album art lovers reached a milestone of 2,000 subscribers. Meeting fellow record crate diggers and exploring the art history of music over the past year and a half has been such an unexpected, joyful experience. I want to express my gratitude to each and every one of you for signing up for this newsletter. Thank you, thank you!
In celebration, I’ve put together a list of my favorite album art released in the year 2000, along with a special offer of 20% off both annual and monthly subscriptions. The Art of Cover Art is and will continue to be a free educational and inspirational resource, but as I always mention at the end of every newsletter, if you have $5/ month to spare, it would be super helpful in furthering my research. Or, if you think a friend might enjoy this newsletter, the best way to pay it forward is by sharing!
Below, enjoy the wide spectrum of visuals the turn of the century experimented with. From muted color palettes of rising artists to the comically tacky aesthetics of mainstream pop artists. For better and for worse, we’ve seen many of these trends repeat themselves with the return of 2000s trends in fashion and beyond.
Outkast, Stankonia released 2000 on LaFace Records. Photography by Michael Lavine. Art Direction & Design by Mike Rush.
PJ Harvey, Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea released 2000 on Island Records. Photography by Maria Mochnacz. Design by Rob Crane and Maria Mochnacz.
Sade, Lovers Rock released 2000 on Epic. Photography by Albert Watson and Sophie Muller. Design by Intro Design.
Erykah Badu, Mama’s Gun released 2000 on Motown. Art Direction by E.Badu and Mickey Whitfield. Photography by Robert Maxwell.
Blonde Redhead, Melody Of Certain Damaged Lemons released 2000 on Touch And Go. Artwork credit unknown.
Broadcast, The Noise Made By People released 2000 on Warp Records. Photography & Design by Julian House.
The 6ths, Hyacinths and Thistles released 2000 on Merge Records. Artist credit unknown.
Elliott Smith, Figure 8 released 2000 on DreamWorks Records. Photography by Autumn DeWilde. Art Direction & Design by Autumn DeWilde and Dale Smith.
Black Eyes Peas, Bridging the Gap released 2000 on Interscope. Photography by Anthony Mandler. Art Direction by Vinnie Arnone, Seth Friedman and Will Adams. Design & Illustration by Vinnie Arnone.
D’Angelo, Voodoo released 2000 on EMI. Art Direction by Len Peltier. Photography by Thierry Lesgoudes.
N’SYNC, No Strings Attached released 2000 on Jive. Art Direction by Jackie Murphy and Nick Gamma. Design by Nick Gamma. Photography by Mark Seliger.
Lil' Kim, The Notorious KIM released 2000 on Atlantic. Photography by David LaChapelle. Art Direction & Design by Lynn Kowalewski.
B.G., Checkmate released 2000 on Cash Money Records. Artwork by Pen & Pixel.
The Art of Cover Art is a free educational and inspirational resource. If you have $5/ month to spare, it would be very helpful in furthering my research. Or, if you think a friend might enjoy this newsletter, the best way to pay it forward is by sharing!
Cash money records!
Congratulations on 2000! Hard to believe some of these records are now almost old enough to rent a car. Yeesh.