NEW ALBUM ARTWORK : lady gaga - ARTPOP

AND FINALLY to catch my Gaga posts up (oops) - here is the Jeff Koons designed album cover, which I am in love with! Drawing inspiration from the painting 'The Birth Of Venus', the artist used multiple techniques to make it. Koons created a new art piece (a sculpture of Gaga), which he photographed and collaged with images of the renaissance painting. He also hand crafted the typography, creating a bespoke font exclusive to the release. It is simply gorgeous!

Gaga also revealed that the first 500 000 copies of the album will have a specially foiled element to the type (how Koons intended it to look), which she uploaded images of to Twitter:

#soexcited

NEW SINGLE ARTWORK : lady gaga - do what u want (ft. r kelly) & dope

After the 'ARTPOP' era seemed to have quite a solid aesthetic to it at first...these promo singles (and the alternate covers for 'Venus') all feel so different, I'm really questioning how the album art will turn out, ha! But you can't argue with Stefani's buns...ooft!

...Or her gnarled teeth for that matter... Is anyone else getting Gorillaz vibes from this one?

NEW SINGLE ARTWORK : lady gaga - venus (3 versions)

The original second single from Gargs' 'ARTPOP' album, was unveiled to have three alternate artworks...all with a weirder look than the last. Check out the slightly NSFW, Steven Klein photographed pieces below...

NEW SINGLE ARTWORK & PROMO PIC : lady gaga - applause

SO! simonsez has been majorly slack the past couple of months...oops! Blame it on me finishing Uni, moving home, looking for jobs and gettin' myself a mans :P As always, the pop music world doesn't stop turning - so there is A LOT to catch up with and what better way to start then with a Gaga post....

Gargs set the net a buzzin' the last couple of weeks by slowly dropping a steady stream of promo images that would get the little monsters slobbering for the 'ARTPOP' era. Above is the cover for the album's first single and here is an image of Lady G working on creating the sad clown/Batman's Joker masterpiece:

The collection of promo images revealed so far are pretty interesting too, giving hints at what to expect from the new era. Futuristic, lots of technology nods and big hair...what else could you want??

NEW SINGLE ARTWORK : kendrick lamar - bitch don't kill my vibe (ft. lady gaga)

Gaga and Kendrick decided to unveil the demo of the song they worked on together (but originally was never going to be released) - including its very own artwork, featuring a photo from Gags' halloween party! Check it ouuuut:

RANDOM : has lady gaga revealed the visual direction for 'ARTPOP'?

So this all starts with more Terry Richardson photos being unveiled (the photographer who helped Ms. Germanotta with her photo book 'Gaga' last year and who has been photographing the behind the scenes of the 'Born This Way Ball Tour') and one of the images shows this scene:

Nothing too special here, you think? Sure Gargs is looking faboose, all made up to perform at the best night of many Lil Monsters' lives - but it's nothing new. Right? RIGHT?...

Wrong! Look in the top left of the mirror:

So, eagle eyed fans pestered Gargs to fill us in on what this image was - a new artwork maybe?? She then released this image on littlemonsters.com:

Accompanied by this statement:

"i found this image. i want to study and re-interpet this pose. it feels like the music. dancing, clean, full of energy, balanced and mysterious. but most of all its elegance is so art pop. am i a rich russian princess turned popstar?"

But some Monsters began to express their worry that the next albums visuals would be black and white, much like 'Born This Way', when 'ARTPOP' feels like a more colourful era. She replied:

"yes will be color, album is color full"

WOW! So much to think about and get excited for with this era!! The image (a photograph from a "Vanity Fair" issue in 1953, by Mark Shaw FYI) will be an inspiration for Gaga and gives us an idea of what sort of music videos/artworks will be unveiled in the future - hopefully something with the essence of this photograph. Also - is that type she's used going to be seen again?

Get excited Monsters :P

PROMO PIC : lady gaga second 'fame' fragrance poster

After stunning us all into silence with her nudity and tiny men in jockstraps-heavy first poster, Gargs is back with the second - this time flip reversing in and covering up(ish) in a leather catsuit. Meow. Dive in below:

p.s. Does this look remind anyone else of Mel B's video for Mel B's defining video for single 'Word Up'... anyone?

p.s. Check out this delicious image of the full range of the 'Fame' fragrance products :P YUM!

PROMO PIC : lady gaga 'fame' fragrance poster

Oh wow, oh yes, oh yay! Gargs has unveiled the first official one sheet for her debut fragrance and it is stunning! Shot by Steven Klein, it evokes some 'Alejandro'-video realness (male bare bottoms and slicked back blonde hair :P). I love it, it's so Gaga, so gay, so dramatic and just the injection the industry needs. Can't wait for the advertisement!

NEW PROMO PIC : lady gaga 'fame' fragrance body & shower gel (?)

This picture has surfaced supposedly featuring the body gel and shower gel packages from Gaga's debut fragrance line. Take it with a pinch of salt, some of the alignments look a little bit off (it could be as it is LQ) - I'll update when I know for sure!

NEW PROMO PIC : lady gaga 'fame' fragrance packaging & poster

Delecious-ness awaits your hungry eyes below: Gaga has unveiled the bottle and packaging for her debut fragrance 'FAME'!! Stating on Twitter earlier today: "Looks like photos of my perfume are being leaked. Oh you fashion editors I could just crinkle my hands at you!". I had seen photos floating around the net, but didn't want to post anything (or ruin the surprise) until the official confirmation. Soooo, dive in below :D

Who else could pull off having a BLACK fragrance (which becomes "invisible once airborne" - as it states on the back of the packaging below) and the logotype harking back to her 'Fame' album era is a beautiful touch. She hasn't disappointed :)

UPDATE : The first advertisement poster has been unveiled! The tagline reads "The first ever black eau de parfum" - so they're really playing on that fact as it's unique selling point. Expect more posters unveiled closer to it's launch (hopefully sporting some new shots of Ms. Gaga).

UPDATE 2 : More and more pictures keep surfacing now :D This time, a fan has taken a photo of how the perfume's lid can also be used as a stand.... AMAZING!

NEW LOGO ARTWORK : lady gaga 'the born this way ball' tour

the other day i posted about the alternative 'the born this way ball' tour poster, which was a little more reserved then the photoshopped mess that also made the rounds. below is a high quality version of the new logo. enjoy!

! updated ! NEW PROMO PIC : lady gaga - the born this way ball tour

so after my see-light rant about the new 'the born this way ball' tour poster, an image of a newspaper ad for the tour has been unveiled and it seems someone had the same idea as me...in cutting that mother fudger down and recolouring it black and white! simonsez knows his design :)

(posted by "ivan" on littlemonsters.com)

NEW PROMO PIC : lady gaga - the born this way ball tour

mad excited for this tour (the idea of "the monster pit" is sending me into a frenzy!!) and the lady has slowly been eeking out details over the past week. today saw the unveiling of the official tour poster...and it isn't great. there are some redeeming qualities: the logo (that impact-style type is still hitting the spot for me), the snippets of the new stage (turrets! TURRETS!!) and gargs voguing it the hell up with a piano dress (i have it in blue). but what in the sweet sam hell is going on in the top half?! why has that olllld promo pic been photoshopped into the clouds :/ i don't get it...and the ugly turquoise/pink shades seeping out of the sky are just eww. on first thoughts it is nothing on the the monster ball tour poster in my opinion.

whadda you think?

p.s. for reals...cut off the top half and k.i.s.s. (keep it sexy & simple, mya-style) with straight black and white. BOOM!

NEW SINGLE ARTWORK : lady gaga - heavy metal lover (?)

amazon.com has put up a page for 'heavy metal lover' as the latest gaga single, along with this artwork. is it the official or a filler for now?... (i'm thinking it isn't the real deal, gargs has been creating original covers for the last three singles, not just relying on the album's photoshoot. we'll have to wait and see!)

NEWS : gaga and lauryn hill make surprise entries on yahoo's iconic album covers list!

yahoo.com recently revealed a list of what they thought was the top 10 most iconic album covers, among them were the usual suspects: nirvana's 'nevermind', the beatles' 'abbey road' etc. etc...but there was also two surprising entries: lady gaga and lauryn hill. the deluxe edition cover of gaga's 'born this way' came in at number 7 and lauryn hill's legendary 'the miseducation of lauryn hill' came in at number 9. it really surprised me that that the standard version featuring the full image of motorbike-gaga of 'born this way' wasn't chosen, personally i find that cover much more "iconic" than the zoomed in deluxe version. i do love that lauryn is being shown some love, not only is her album a solid masterpiece (we're all still waiting for the follow up...) but the artwork has always stayed with me as one of my all time favourites. check out the rest of the list here.

(source: yahoo.com)

NEW REMIX SINGLE ARTWORK : lady gaga - bloody mary (clinton sparks remix)

SIMONSEZ'S TOP TEN COVER ARTWORKS OF 2011!

2011 is over and what a year it's been for cover artwork and limited edition releases! as a way of rounding up the year and also thanking you for your support of the simonsez-CD blog, i thought i'd make a run down of my top 10 favourite cover artworks from the year :)

SO what are you waiting for?? look below to see who made the top ten....

10. melanie c - the sea

(album artwork)

for me this artwork was a return to form to her 'northern star' hey day (i've always loved that album's artwork). simple, elegant and hella cool.

9. florence + the machine - ceremonials

(album artwork)

effortless.

8. natalia kills - kill my boyfriend

(single artwork)

only released in the latter part of the year, this artwork still managed to strike a chord with me...something about the image and that red/turquoise colouring to the collage around the type. it works and it works well.

7. lana del rey - video games/blue jeans

(single artwork)

2011 was the jumping off point of larns' career (i'm sure 2012 will see her rise even higher) and with this being her debut artwork, the only way is up :) ... something about the 50's throwback in the palette and the logo really get me going! this is the type of cover artwork which makes me want to get the vinyl edition of it to put on my wall!

6. the saturdays - all fired up

(single artwork)

was i the only one who was so happy to see the return of "a different colour for each saturday" in 2011?! ...and i still heart their logo! i'd say that this era's artwork has been a tad hit and miss, but this definitely stands strong as an awesome cover artwork!

5. lady gaga - the edge of glory

(single artwork)

so, i had a difficult time picking an artwork from gargs' discography from 2011...i remember the feelings i felt when the 'born this way' single cover was revealed (my heart leapt and there was definite shaking n' crying...) and i love 'you and i's use of joe calderone. but there was something extra about the then-buzz single 'edge of glory's artwork, when it was released in the countdown to the album's release. to me, there was no fault to be found with it. flawless-gaga-fierce-ness.

4. dev - in the dark

(single artwork)

i still wish this had been the album cover. grace jones' artwork has always been an inspiration to me and i love the reference to it in dev's sky scraping wig and the choppy image of this cover.

3. natalia kills - perfectionist

(album artwork)

delicious to the extreme! the film noir-inspired visuals of kills have given my 2011 life. you can't falter a black/white 'n' red combo and the cross over her eyes has always kept me happy :) perfection indeed.

2. nicola roberts - cinderella's eyes

(album artwork)

NICOLA ROBERTS A.K.A. THE PATRON SAINT OF COVER ARTWORK! who knew in january that in the year ahead the red head from girls aloud would emerge as a bonafide solo star with such an eye for cover artwork! i want to take a moment to specially mention the 'beat of my drum' cover... DELECTABLE! and the 'lucky day' artwork...AMAZING! and also the 'yo-yo' artwork... INSPIRED! snaps to nix for a solid visual theme throughout all of her covers, for keeping it real and for being errryone's new fave girls alouder! :D:D

AND HERE IT IS... simonsez'S TOP COVER ARTWORK FROM 2011...

1. mýa - k.i.s.s. (keep it simple & sexy)

(album artwork)

miss mýa may have not been at the top of the charts for some time, but that has not stopped the girl's grind to keep releasing music. as she is not funded by a major record label it has sometimes led to piss-poor cover artworks (check out 'someone come get this bitch'...disgraceful). but from nowhere, this beauty of an album cover appeared! i have loved it all year and felt that my-my should come out of 2011 with at least one number 1 hit :)

p.s. love the shout out to janet's 'control' artwork (another fave) with the hand drawn markings running through it :D

and there we go. another end to another year. hope you all keep safe and well in 2012 and keep checking back to see the latest single, album and limited edition pop/r&b artwork :D:D

NEW SINGLE ARTWORK : lady gaga - stuck on fuckin' you

lady gaga decided to say "merry christmas" to all the little monsters by posting a previously unheard song 'stuck on fuckin' you'...it's not a single, but it's a lovely present with it's very own artwork:

! updated ! NEW REMIX SINGLE ARTWORK : lady gaga - marry the night (the remixes)

UPDATE : this is the official 'marry the night (the remixes)' cover :)


i had originally posted what i thought was the official remix artwork, but now this cover has emerged...is it real?...that image has been used on the 7" vinyl...i'll update again when confirmed...