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AI recreates album covers based on what they were nearly called
Take a look at these classic albums as you’ve never seen them before…
Image: WMG Agency using Midjourney
It’s easy to forget that some of our favourite albums once upon a time existed under a different working title. For example, the Beatles‘ landmark Abbey Road album was almost called Everest. We’d argue those in charge of naming made the right call on that one.
But what if such albums retained their original titles; how would their respective album covers look? That’s a question posed and answered by digital marketing company WMG, who have used AI tool Midjourney to reimagine classic album covers based on the titles they once bore.
Aside from Abbey Road, other iconic albums to be reimagined include Nirvana‘s Nevermind, Fleetwood Mac‘s Rumours and Michael Jackson’s Thriller. Other artists to have albums recreated include Arctic Monkeys, David Bowie, and Queen.
Ian Lloyd, managing director for WMG, said, “It never fails to amaze us just how incredible AI can be, especially when it comes to creating visual assets, and it’s certainly has been fun experimenting with AI for these reimagined album covers.
“Despite having used AI for several client projects, we’re still taken aback by some of the incredibly detailed imagery the AI tool, Midjourney, can cook up using just a few prompts from us.
“That said, it’s our belief that some album covers are truly iconic and therefore could never really be anything other than the ones many of us know and love!”
The Beatles’ Abbey Road was almost called Everest after the cigarettes engineer Geoff Emerick smoked while they were recording the album. Thus, the recreated cover features the famous mountain rather than the band walking across a zebra crossing.
Nirvana’s Nevermind was almost called Sheep, or Sheeple, so rather than the famous swimming baby, the recreated cover shows a flock of sheep in some rather foreboding lighting.
Arctic Monkey’s 2011 album Suck It and See famously dons a simple black text on a block cream-coloured background. But that album was reportedly in line to be called The Rain-Shaped Shimmer Trap. And the AI-generated cover is markedly more complex.
To learn more and to check out some more album covers that never were, head to WMG.
Elsewhere in the AI world, earlier this month, interior design company Bobbi Beck generated a range of armchairs based on classic albums through AI, with albums from the likes of The Beatles, Pink Floyd, and Prince used. However, they aren’t available in physical form just yet – we just get to look at some cool pictures for now instead.