At the news that David Bowie had resurrected from the dead rock stars, the blogosphere almost exploded, and everyone got very excited,…including Iman, who reviewed the single ‘Where Are we Now’. But have you seen the cover of his upcoming album 'The Next Day'? This large white square in the middle of the cover of Bowie’s classic album ‘Heroes’ is pretty disappointing… it’s not even a new picture and it has been partially covered? What's the deal?
Designer Jonathan Barnbrook explained the whole thing on his personal blog, and this is what he said about the choice of the picture:
‘We wanted to do something different with it – very difficult in an area where everything has been done before – but we dare to think this is something new. Normally using an image from the past means, ‘recycle’ or ‘greatest hits’ but here we are referring to the title The Next Day. The “Heroes” cover obscured by the white square is about the spirit of great pop or rock music which is ‘of the moment’, forgetting or obliterating the past.
However, we all know that this is never quite the case, no matter how much we try, we cannot break free from the past. When you are creative, it manifests itself in every way – it seeps out in every new mark you make (particularly in the case of an artist like Bowie). It always looms large and people will judge you always in relation to your history, no matter how much you try to escape it. The obscuring of an image from the past is also about the wider human condition; we move on relentlessly in our lives to the next day, leaving the past because we have no choice but to.’
Who would have thought that there was so much deep philosophical reasoning behind this simple alteration of an old picture? Yeah, it’s pretty deep and I needed his input. And what about the choice of ‘Heroes’?
‘If you are going to subvert an album by David Bowie there are many to choose from but this is one of his most revered, it had to be an image that would really jar if it were subverted in some way and we thought “Heroes” worked best on all counts. Also the new album is very contemplative and the “Heroes” cover matched this mood. The song Where are we now? is a comparison between Berlin when the wall fell and Berlin today. Most people know of Bowie’s heritage in Berlin and we want people to think about the time when the original album was produced and now.’
Barnbrook also explained that obscuring Bowie’s picture was a reference to the fact that ‘he has been absent from the music scene for the past ten years’, and that the choice for a black and white cover, ‘a monochrome palette’ ‘seemed most appropriate’ to ‘question the nature of existence’… so yeah, this is why most modern art goes way above my head most of the time, I realize I really, really need some explanations but I have always the impression to have been bullshitted a little bit!
But for some reasons I am not totally convinced this cheap cover is a great one. Anyway, Bowie’s fans may be the last ones who still care about album covers.