Haze & Mackie's album covers

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Obviously this shouldn't really be a this one or that. There's room for both artists, but i wonder whose art do you prefer?? Perhaps you feel one represents the band more than the other or just fits visually better. Or maybe you just like the work of one over the other without any consideration for how it represents the music. Or possibly you like both on an equal footing?

For myself i prefer Mackie's work on the album covers to what Haze does. I still really like a few of the Haze covers but as a general rule - Mackie's tend to be more consistent in quality for me. Her work is quite graphic based and strong. Buzz mentioned he wants the album covers to be as visually impactful as a Coca-Cola poster or such. I think what Mackie produces time and time again echoes this concept in spades. Haze of course isn't shooting for that though. Visually he comes at it from a completely different angle and sensibility. You can clearly see a much more down and dirty, i would dare to say "messy" quality. I don't mean messy in terms of being a mess, but in how the pictures mingle and sit. An almost punk rock aesthetic. There is not as much space and balance in his work as Mackie's displays.

Also another win in the Mackie camp for me is her use of colour. For my tastes, Mackie wins this one hands down. Again i don't mean colour as in who uses the most but in the range of colour used and how effectively it is balanced within a cover. I personally think the use of color and space and how both are balanced compositionally are Mackie's two REALLY strong key areas.

But ultimately in a way Haze and Mackie are both polar opposites and weirdly that actually works out quite well.

[rimb]

Honestly I wish they would use some different artists for a change.

The Haze stuff in particular is not my fave...

[black stallion]

I prefer Mackie, also I don't like when original covers are changed in a reissue. If I have to be honest my fav Melvins artworks are the earliest, GpT, Ozma, Lysol, Bullhead, Eggnog..

[vince furnier]

i like both, but lean towards Mackie. that is fading over time though due to the plainness of so many of her covers lately and how many reissues are coming along from Haze these days. for my tastes, Freak Puke was the last great one and Walk With Love & Death is prob the best since.

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Honestly I wish they would use some different artists for a change.

I always liked bands like Sonic Youth who had a distinctly different thing for each release. Working with different artists but at the same time i like when bands keep with one artist. How the albums have a sort of universal theme or constant "look" to them. Storm Thorgerson and Pink Floyd being a great example of that. So in that sense i love the continued use of Mackie for Melvins.

honest my fav Melvins artworks are the earliest, GpT, Ozma, Lysol, Bullhead, Eggnog..

Interesting. My favourites all tend to be the more recent ones. I think Mackie's work has got stronger over the years. Although of course the early years ones will always be classic covers. Except Bullhead though. I hate that one.

for my tastes, Freak Puke was the last great one and Walk With Love & Death is prob the best since.

Really? I totally like PAT and Five Legged Dog too. I think both of those are two of her best! The only Mackie one i don't like very much is The Bulls & The Bees. 

[the bloat]

This is an excellent topic! I’m glad that it was brought up and not sure if it has been covered in other threads.

Coming from a graphic design background, I can definitely appreciate Mackies work and her use of line art / vector and typography. The color choices are pretty great too (someone on this thread had also mentioned that). It’s a funny juxtaposition to see a sludge metal band with pink and neon colors all over the place. It shows that they don’t take themselves too seriously.

I would love to see more artists brought in for cover designs. Each album should have its own look and feel. I think WWG was a departure because they used more of a photo-based approach, but it still has Mackies thumbprint on it.

Hey, I get it though. You can always count on Toshi and Mackie for each release. They might as well be band members at this point. I ain’t complaining! The samey-ness of the AmRep releases are annoying though…

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I can definitely appreciate Mackies work and her use of line art / vector and typography.

Yes certainly with the typography and how it always changes is fascinating to me too. Yet each time it always has that Mackie feel to it. Her style shrines right through all her contributions i think.

I think WWG was a departure because they used more of a photo-based approach, but it still has Mackies thumbprint on it.

She did the same for the first Melvins 1983 album too. Tres Cabrones with the goat picture - which at the time shocked me that it was a photo. Perhaps that will be a recurring 1983 theme! But generally with EVERY new release the band put out the cover art ALWAYS surprises me in some way. I don't think anyone can ever predict what it will be like. It's always something fresh and yet feels familiar as well. I'd love to see the process behind how Mackie makes her album covers. Perhaps it doesn't always work this way, but i know Buzz has said that he has the idea and conveys it to Mackie and then it is her who pieces it together. That he allows her the freedom to come up with it. I would imagine that most of the time she has some reference material that she might work from. Maybe magazine cuttings, photos or illustrations that she likes of flowers or animals or whatever and it is these preoccupations and interests that feed into the final designs. I highly doubt she just conjures up an image out of thin air as it were.

You can always count on Toshi and Mackie for each release. They might as well be band members at this point.

In a way i DO see them as members. Or peripheral members anyway. Same goes for Toshi too. I mean Haze is even credited as being on the recordings of 4 Melvins albums.

[the bloat]

She did the same for the first Melvins 1983 album too. Tres Cabrones with the goat picture - which at the time shocked me that it was a photo.

Good call! Forgot about the goat cover. Yeah, that one is a bit unusual and uninspired. Almost seems like it could be a stock photo. I remember when TBSM came out and I thought the cover was a joke because it was such a departure from her other work.

Not like I could do any better though!

[#2 Pencil]

She also did Mr. Bungle’s California

[amazonAMAZON]

The skateboard is my favorite Mackie work since maybe Colossus (also photographic).

Of pre-Mackie the Bullhead, Eggnog, and Kozik pieces are my faves. Prick and Lysol are good, too. Gluey and Ozma don't really do it for me.

Oh, six songs I love. That diagonal typesetting with the big white space is dope.

I've been occasionally bothered by the sameness of recent Mackie Melvins art. But I can't point to much I specifically don't like. There are some faces I think are just silly embarrassing and not silly funny. I like the flowers and typesetting more consistently. But yes, color! The contrast of colors and not-your-typical-metal schemes are so fresh.

I want more letterpress. I love that style.

Haze is getting shit on a bit here so I also want to say I think he's amazing. The linocut always looks good. I've mentioned before Sexy Pee Story reissue was high art. Generally I like his reissues when he gives a fresh twist on something we already know. But then there is also stuff like Thud. I still want that goddamn non-existent record

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Haze is getting shit on a bit here so I also want to say I think he's amazing.

He has certainly done some good stuff. I really like the earlier Haze works. Hurray For Me Fuk You, the 5 different Melvins 1983 variants, Hot Fish plus the 3 This Machine Kills Artists ones. Also the Six Pack one is cool too. I think it is his last few that have been pretty bad. Mullet, Slithering Slaughter and the new King Dunn one are kinda horrible to me. The Mullet one is the worst!

[Colonel Cheese]

i feel the opposite, i love his(haze) style and all his stuff and linocut art and how it's done. another guy that does it well is attackpeter
I like most of Mackie's stuff too though.

[John Schuller]

I am a huge fan of both Haze and Mackie's work. I like that for pretty much every vinyl release, you get the option of cover art by one or both depending on how many copies you want to buy!

I have a feeling the Melvins have fully settled in - Toshi records at Sound of Sirens, Mackie and Haze do art, Steven, Trevor and Pinkus play bass, Ipecac and AmRep put out the music, Walsby sells merch, Garth roadies.

[Melvy]

Easily Mackie, essential Melvins feel.

I'm honestly not a fan of Haze's artwork at all.

[>>>JZS<<<]

Both artists are Fan-Fuckin-Tastic !
…and that’s all I wanna hear about that.