Album Cover of the Week continues to salute the weirdly ornate with this week’s entry: “Joy” by the Ventures (also known as “The Ventures play the classics”). This cover is all about the beautiful text of the word JOY, calling to mind the sonic filigree and aural complexity that defines classic music. It’s like a stain-glass window or an old illustrated book. I love this cover because it’s such a simple and gorgeous visual analogy of the music within (The Ventures rearrange a bunch of well-known classical pieces on this record). It’s also very much of its time (1970s), which is another thing I love. Album covers are like little time capsules of the design aesthetic of their respective eras, something that this album demonstrates nicely.
