Sqwink Album Art Blog

I was looking through iTunes yesterday when I saw one of the most startling CD cover design I’d seen for a while. The image artwork I saw for the EP ‘Invincible’ by MUSE was just breath-taking - and I found myself loving everything this CD cover had to offer instantly.

The track ‘Invincible’ is from MUSE’s 4th studio album Black Holes and Revelations (image 1), which incidentally also featured fantastic album artwork which was political and thought-provoking, yet original and graphically-mastered professionally.

Obviously, a popular band like MUSE have got a lot of money to throw behind a great CD cover design, but this doesn’t mean that big bucks equates to great design. However in this case, a big budget and a lot of creativity has resulted in an imaginative and powerful CD cover design.

The CD artwork (image 2) for Invincible displays an image probably rendered by a 3D-Graphics application - and has been executed well. I find many CD cover design produced in this way tacky and uninspiring (just like the ‘Now’ CD series), but the image rendered for MUSE truly emboldens what their sound, music and live act is all about. MUSE concerts are award-winning not just for the musical performance - but for the whole experience for the fans who go to watch. So, the lasers, lights, smoke and atmosphere at these gigs are perfectly represented in this design - and fitting with the track ‘Invincible’. Within this design, two faces luminesce with colorful emotion, which merges metaphors for what MUSE is all about - and what this particular song is all about.

I’m aware that there are alternate/additional editions of this EP and a picture disc - which look as stunning as this one, but I’ve run out of time to review those additionally. Although, one thing I will say is that all the typography and logo, as you would expect, seamlessly match and continue the MUSE brand we all have come to admire.

As a Graphic Designer and fan of Muse, I see no reason why this CD cover artwork shouldn’t be awarded 10/10 in my opinion. It’s good to see that well-thought-out CD designs are being produced - and that the sound/artwork relationship, in this case, is maintained and understood by the designer.

If you agree/disagree with this blog or have any questions or comments for me on this review, please feel free to leave them below.

Review by Andrew Kelsall, Sqwink CD Design