A real CD with artwork and liner notes!

January 19, 2012 | Posted in Blog | By

Today I received a CD copy of a heavy metal project I worked on calledFarewell to Graveland by Martyn Lucifer. It was a project that was recorded internationally with vocals, guitars and keyboards recorded in Italy, Bass in Ukraine, and drums recorded both in London and here at my studio with my friend drummer “Grom” Meraviglia.

When I worked on it it was very basic, just some midi drums and guitars to a click track as placeholders for Grom to drum to, so of course it had come a very long way when I heard it again the following year.

What impressed me the most was not only how well the album turned out but also the album sleeve. Not only were there full liner notes with credits and thank you’s but the artist also included lyrics with creative artwork as well as photos of all the players! Even down to the detail of which tracks Grom drummed on as opposed to which Adrian Erlandsson tracked in London.

It was very enjoyable listening through the tracks while absorbing the liner notes as they were intended. However, I am finding this is becoming a rare thing.

I think too many artists these days skimp out on the liner notes on their releases and I think its sad. To me, lyrics, notes, credits, artwork and the like give me the listener more levels to connect with you the artist while listening to your album. It adds the sensations of feeling and looking to the listening experience, making more concrete my mental connection with your music.

Sure it costs a couple more bucks to make, requires more time in design and demands that you carefully curate credits and proof read your revisions, but it also tells a story. And in the end, isn’t that what we do?