So, I've been listening to aload of Janis Joplin, lately, and earlier today, when I was putting on Kozmic Blues, I was looking at the cover, and I was thinking how dumb it is that they used that same one on CD's and tapes. I like the cover, it's pretty, but it would look terrible if it wasn't LP-sized. I don't own the album on any other formats, but I can't imagine it looking good. Then I got to thinking how most album covers look better when they're that big. Some don't matter, Let it Be springs to mind as an example, for some reason. But ones with any sort of intricacies look horrible. I've got a tape of Sgt. Pepper's, and I can barely make out any of the faces in the crowd. A CD wouldn't be much better.

But then even on the simpler covers, they look so much nicer on the bigger size. You can buy a record and really scrutinize all of it like you can't do on smaller formats. It's just one aspect of vinyl I guess I've taken for granted. Like, I can remember going to the store, buying a record, and sitting in the car looking at the cover the whole drive home. If I ever bought one of those digital download albums, even the ones that come with a picture that's supposed to be the cover, I can't really see looking at it. Or at least not near as much. Most of the time I spend looking at album covers is on the way home, or if it catches my eye when I'm putting it on. If it were just there in a file, I don't think I'd both opening it, and even if I did, I can't see myself staring at a computer screen for as long as I would a cardboard sleeve. I don't know. I've just never really thought about it before.