nice contrast of poses....i especially like the CD cover, its as if he's trying to entice you onto the stage or pull you into the picture.

cheers
Kes.

He's pointing at me !!!

....me I tell you !

Excellent art! The Mozfather in all of his glory.

Does anyone know if the Earls Court CD is a compilation of the last five shows or whether it's the full Earls Court show? I've heard so much back and forth now that I'm confused.

Can't wait for the releases!

- mozfatherfan! -

Joke. BUT, people on this site have taken better pictures than the one on the cover of the CD. I GET what they were going for, but couldn't they get one where his open mouth doesn't look so funny?

Love the typeface tho.

Both a really great covers. Yes the DVD reminds me a bit of Elvis but so fucking what? Moz never became the "fat Elvis" thank you. What a cheek! Besides some Elvis stuff is really good.

...looks like a bootleg but I really like the dvd cover!

They look too tacky and mainstream.

And I'm not one of the normal whingers. I actually quite liked most of his covers last year.

This cover is a nice rendition of George W. doing something nasty with the Invisible man.

Another annoyance.

shit. Ive knocked up better covers at home. Im stuck in my old ways , where are the cover stars , i really miss em. I really like the covers for satan or alma , i thought we had gone back to the good old days.

Well, I like these covers better than that of YATQ - BUT - the DVD pic of him pointing upwards looks cheesy. I think I prefer the CD cover. It seems that Morrissey has now abandoned the "style" of cover art he was previously renowned for - I certainly can't believe that he's had no input into this!

So, I think I like the Earl's Court cover, and I quite like the DVD cover, except the horrible pose - it just looks incredibly fake.

But better than any album/single cover from the Quarry project I think.

Hope he changes tack for the next album though, and tries either something different to this "commercial" artwork (i.e. maybe an abstract cover with no picture of him) or goes back to the old style of artwork. Not sure I especially like the obviousness of these new covers. I know it sounds nitpicking, but it's all part and parcel of the aesthetic.

Also, pity 'Friday Mourning' and 'Munich' are gonna be on the CD - they're weak b sides IMO. 'Symphonies' is good, but didn't seem to translate well live. I would've rather had 'Now My Heart Is Full' or even another version of 'Jack The Ripper'. The other tracks, esp. 'Bigmouth', 'Ignore Me', 'Gang', 'November', 'How Soon' and 'Irish Blood' should be ace though.

I think the actual content of the DVD will be excellent.

Nice to see no expense has been spared with the earls court one anyway, that font is bleedin' awful! So un-Morrisseyesque! But the main point here is that at least they are getting released, which is only a good thing! More material the better Sanctuary, it will all get bought up (dreams of a MOVE concert DVD, more chance of Elvis turning up at Sunderland Dogs for his pie and peas than that happening though) :(

Deano

with a tummy like that, I would guess he has been enjoying plenty of cheesesteaks and hamburgers

what a set of bitches we have here......

these are terrible. imean, the photos arent that bad- if they were taken by an amateur photographer. we've seen many, many better concert photos from 2004- im sure icould google up ten rightnow that are far and away better. and the fonts are terrible to boot. its supposed to be cover artwork- there is nothing artistic about anything here.

maybe it was too much to hope for something as striking [and sexy] as the covers of Your Arsenal or Beethoven Was Deaf, but my only mistake is ikeep hoping.

Who Put the 'M' in Manchester? -

"Look everyone, it's an Aeroplane!!" (just before taking off backstage)

Live at Earl's Court -

"No, Guards? Get that one away. No. Damn it."

Two live releases, altogether pulling from as many as seven different performances, documenting the world tour in support of his most successful record ever, and people whine about the covers. Sad, really.

I think most of the recent artwork has been sub-standard. I think he should stop putting himself on the cover and get some moody photographs in. Interlude, Roy's Keen, The more you ignore me, and Boxers are all good. Mono/duo tone misery is the way to go (back to). :-)

I hate to say this (I really do) doesn't the SS on the live CD look like the Nazi ss?

i really like both covers. i hope i don't have to run across town just to get a copy of them.

- especially the 'Earl's Court' one. I cannot comprehend how anyone could possibly complain about any aspect of them . . . and even if they weren't good covers, what would it matter? Morrissey is releasing a new CD and DVD! It is a joyous occassion!

Of the two I prefer this one. I really like the way Moz is leaning out trying to grab somebody.

As a CD cover it looks like he is pleading for someone who has never heard or seen him live to give the cd a go.

I especially like the SS's on Morrissey's name. It is very similar to how he signs his name with that childlike scrawl.

Hey guys,
We all know how much Moz was into the sleeves w/ the Smiths and some of his solo work why do you think the quality has dimenished? Is it Moz being lazy? Is he really happy with the final product? Does he have as much of a say as he did when he was with the Smiths? Does he even care anymore about the sleezes?
Just Curious....

Hey, that's a great songtitle!...
Honestly, his covers increased with his music and especially with his terrible B-Sides of late.

Like my dad's Louis Prima records or Tom Jones
live in Vegas. And the fat Vegas years are upon
us kids. The Pop Art album covers of The Smiths
are over. I wish he would finaly just do it and
get a year round residency at Mandalay Bay. Just
take the elevator up to his floor and live like
a Vegas Maverick. I think Dr Nick is still in buisness so it will never be a dull night. I
heard they are already installing the teleprompter ! Oh Yeh

I really like that first one, but that second one looks like he's ready to take on Mothra or something! Or as if he's about to injest a fan in the crowd! WAIT! Maybe I DO like the 2nd one afterall... Lucky fan!

DAMN YOU NHL!!! DAMN YOU TO HELL!
Maplefreak

I really like them.. Especially the Earl's Court one.
Very tastefully done. Truly evocative of the crooning style that is Morrissey.

Sorry, but they’re both awful. I was hoping the ‘temporary image’ provided to online retails would indeed have been the template for the final design (yes, he was wearing the ‘collar’ in the shot, but at least it was a tasteful and beautiful photo). However, like the final-released ‘Quarry’ sleeve, my hopes were dashed. I always champion a “less is more” approach to sleeve design. Anyone else think the DVD sleeve looks slightly similar to David Showie’s latest DVD release?

One of my favourite “Live” album covers was the ‘retro’ approach WEA provided Marc Almond’s “Twelve Years Of Tears” with … Too bad Sanctuary couldn’t do something similar for a timeless such as Morrissey …

I *like* the way some of his recent imagery (including the stage backdrop) suggests Elvis' latter years. Luckily Moz' personal dress sense is muuuccchh better than Elvis was at the same age.

Morrissey *is* our Elvis, wouldn't you say? The last of the great crooners, iconic, with a fanatical fanbase of men and women and teens, not to mention a love of quiffs and sideburns. His lyrics are what make him a legend instead of just a pastiche. The imagery might be trad, but with songs like "I Have Forgiven Jesus" and "Don't Make Fun of Daddy's Voice" still coming out, he's by no means softened with age.

Can DVDs be burned to vinyl? Coz the Manchester cover is perfect for that format.

Oh dear oh my don't care for this at all who does this art and can we find a new one I'll pretend I never saw it if you do as well that picture of Morrissey with the PETA turkey was better than this more Tom Jones than Elvis really and I hate Elvis in any case.

Translation: I think the covers are worse than anything my imagination can hold.

The DVD lay-out is actually quite nice, whereas the CD cover is absolutely dreadful! Who can seriously think, that this one is "good". In the end it's a matter of taste, of course, but somtimes I tend to think about that phrase twice...

can somebody tell me?
One of the many talents that made Mr.Morrissey famous worldwide was his clever eye for catching and memorable sleeves... has he lost it?
It's such a pity that this masterpiece of an album has had such bad and tasteless sleeves...
even the graphics of the t-shirts of the tour were BAD-BAD-BAD, sad and cheap-cheap-cheap...

Please, why, WHY on earth that ugly font on the Earl's Court cd cover???? why?
We'll keep on hoping for that superb and mighty "PEEPHOLISM" artworks quality

The sleeve covers are fantastic and are only let down by one tiny detail. Where is the apostrophe in "Earl's Court"?

I'd better sign off now and get back to my train spotting and stamp collection.

These are always a bit of a disappointment to me, particularly if you were at the concert. They can never capture the atmosphere and the live organic sound of the music. Live CD's always sound slightly dull in comparison and slightly tame.
 
I do play Beethoven was deaf from time to time but its not the first Morrissey CD I Reach for.

I'll definitely be buying the CD/DVD though and am happy to add a few more coppers to Moz's pension fund. I'm sure it will bring back many happy memories of 2004.

The art director at Sanctuary needs hung up by his heels. We wants our GOOD Morrissey cover artwork back!! No more faux-bootlegs!
Get a grip, Sanctuary!

I like the artwork. It really shows Morrissey as he is today.

No glamorous pictures, just an honoust image of a popstar who's in his golden days, the aftermath of his career.

Enjoy him while he lasts!

I'm not normally blatantly negative about Mozzers career but this time my first impressions of those covers are one of utter indifference. For the DVD cover (the best of the two) the "Elvis" type red letters feature predominantly and they were basically never very original. It's been done before and I had hoped this blatant pastiche would remain on the stage rather than feature in any official artwork. I know Moz likes Elvis but it would be similar to an artist who loves Pink Floyd touring with a big "brick wall" in the background. Zero out of ten for originality there I'm afraid. His triumphant looking pose on the DVD cover looks pretty good though, a nice photo but pity about the background.

As for the album cover, it suffers from the same problem and unfortunately his pose is truly cheesy this time. He's desperate to look like Frank Sinatra there so again zero out of ten for originality. I own Peepholism and I've always found the previous album/singles artwork top notch, but with YATQ he's produced some of his worst covers. It's obvious, bland and too much of a rip off of his idols. "Having tea and hugs" with the perma-tanned "desperate-to-cling-to-my-youth" Nancy Sinatra has done him no good obviously.

Sinatra's shit anyway, never liked his music. I've always found it curious how Moz could love him so much as Sinatra's ballads catered for popular, well groomed "achievers" and Morrissey is more of a champion of the awkward underdog. (Or at least he was.)

How about : SCREW the US market ?!

Is www.morrisseymusic.com a special branch of the Foreign Office designed to humiliate the European fans?

Or do we have to apply for a green card just to granted the right to enter Sanctuary special offers?

I think this is gross. I can't wait to lay my hands on this material though.

...Fantastic!

Earl's Court cd cover... horrendous. It does look like a bootleg, because of the horrible font being used and the picture is very unflattering. Morrissey has produced some of the most iconic cd covers of the last 20 years and has been reduced to this.

I have been either delighted or disgusted at the recent artwork and this particular cover is as bad as FOTGTD dining room door cover.

Is moz saying 'let me get my hands on your mammory glands?'

Morrissey is a good looking guy and doesnt need a picture from this angle giving him an extra chin.

He looks thin in the top photo. Lets club together and send him some apricots.

If this photo from Earl's court will definetely be the cover of the live cd I think I'm gonna buy the same live with much more beautiful covers from people who sell bootlegs in ebay. Worst Morrissey photo ever!!!

I suppose its nice that these covers have moved away from the smiths, but they both are terrible. worse then first of the gang in my opinion. i think the cd cover is dull, it doesn't look too proffesional and certainly not artistic, which is what I expect. the dvd is better but is still boring. i'll buy both but only with a heavy heart.

... designed by fans in rural South America, they won a Sanctuary's contest (who nobody knew about it) called : "Win a chance to be bitched to death in morrrissey-solo.com by simply designing the new live CD and live DVD covers". The conditons were no use of professional pictures, use only fonts downloaded for free from the net and have the guts to be martirized stone trowing inhabitants bitches of morrissey-solo, those who complain all the time about the CD's and DVD's artworks but don't have the courage to seat at their lousy PC's , design a cover by themselves and post it in here to get a soup of their own fucking chocolate .
JesusFuckingChrist, Amen.

those indeed are bad covers. so what? life moves on, children. don't sit at your computers and complain and brood. all this negative talk hangs heavy on our tiny hearts. stop mithering about everything. go outside and live your lives. and whoever made mention of this being the aftermath of morrissey's career has clearly been asleep for the past year.

i fucking love you.
you are gorgeous and sooooooooo sexy

I recently bought Oye Esteban.
Is Morrissey wearing the same shirt for the videos "Seasick, Yet Still Docked" & "Tomorrow?

God knows I need it.

enough about the covers.

What's more interesting is that we get to hear professional recordings of Alain's renditions of songs vs. Jesse's. The two shows have these tracks in common:

First of the Gang to Die
Irish Blood, English Heart
Let Me Kiss You
I Have Forgiven Jesus
Don't Make Fun of Daddy's Voice
The World is Full of Crashing Bores
There is a Light That Never Goes Out
Subway Train (intro only)
Shoplifters of the World Unite

So that's 5 Alain songs, 1 Boz song, 2 Smiths songs and part of a NY Dolls song. Have I missed any?

In fact i'd probably say that these are among the worst Morrissey covers i've ever seen. "I do not mean to be unkind, but i must speak frankly" and say they look like something knocked up in 10 minutes on a basic paint program.But in the end it's the musics that i buy and not the cover art. In conclusion... MUST DO BETTER NEXT TIME.

As this news item is a couple of days old now, this will probably be among the last words posted on this subject.

Firstly, I think both covers look superb. Why? Well, lets take a look at the DVD first. This is a live DVD of a Morrissey concert filmed last year... so what's wrong with having a cover which reflects the look and atmosphere of those concerts. I can't understand why so many people are complaining about this one. The photo is classic Morrissey - arguably as statuesque and iconic as any photo of Morrissey I have ever seen. Classic on stage movement - frozen in time as a Vegas style pose. The bright red neon Morrissey lights were apparent at nearly all the shows, so it figures that they should be incorporated somehow into the design. The DVD cover at worst is practical but really, it actually is very coulourful, eyecatching and fits exactly with Morrissey's current look, genre and themes. Very well done all round I say. My only gripe is with the title... Who put the M in Manchester is an appalling title.

Now the CD. Again, very eyecatching. I think the photo - taken from the perspective of an adoring fan squashed in the mosh pit at a gig - hits the spot yet again with what I feel Sancuary were trying to acheive. This isn't airbrushed Morrissey - this is a live CD. Morrissey looks exactly like this if you are up the front at one of his concerts. He is reaching out to the fans and horror of horrors...he is singing!! What do the complainers want instead? Old Smiths style covers? How about we get tasteful black and white photos of all the old "Carry On" film stars who haven't features on one of his covers yet, put them in a bag and draw them at randeom for each subsequent release. Or surely there must be some old gangster, boxer or actor who hasn't been yanked from obscurity yet.

Get the picture? Why stick to the same old same old. Morrissey has moved on BIG TIME. His shows are bold brash and colourful. These covers both portray this in different ways and both get the point across perfectly. Even the typeface on the CD is "so bad it's good"

TT