Reading is always better with lots of pitcures

It's time I start reviewing music on here. Past regular features have been trainwrecks, dead-ends, superfluous and unsuccessful, but this might be one I can get excited about. At least for some time. I'll try to review new stuff, but I'll dedicate just as much effort to talking about older albums, especially ones I think not a lot of people listen to. First up is a more recent release though:

As I Am by Alicia Keys

As we all know you're supposed to judge a book by its cover, but this ain't a book, so what the heck am I supposed to do now? Just have a look:

Now I might be saying this because we saw a bona fide batmobile here in Secaucus last weekend while doing the laundry, but Holy Cover Copy Batman, can you spot the similarities!?

Leona Lewis Spirit

Guess what I also just found out. They were released on the same exact day. So weird. I actually saw the other cover in the store the other day and thought it was kinda odd, and I started wondering what other covers have a close-up like that, and look who else is in on it:

Britney Spears In The Zone

That Britney! Of course. If you think this is a perogative of young female singers though, you're dead wrong:

Gavin Rossdale Wanderlust

Yeah, this thing is big. But we've only just licked the top of the ice-berg with the tip of our tongue. Check this out:

Phil Collins Face Value	Phil Collins No Jacket Required

Phil Collins friggin' loves the close-up. But of course there's more, and look, even some of music's greatest have joined in, offering some variation:

Miles Davis Tutu	Aretha Franklin Spirit in the Dark
Billy Joel Piano Man	Joni Mitchell Blue

That's a total of 10 so far. There's no stopping this, the close-up cover is popular across genres, decades and sexes:

George Michael Older	Fiona Apple Tidal	Mos Def Black on Both Sides

You know what's missing? Some Greatest Hits type compilations. But of course:

Sade The Best of Sade	Rob Zombie Past, Present & Future	Sinéad O'Connor So Far...The Best of Sinéad O'Connor

Yeah, that's Rob Zombie. So, do your homework and find other albums that have a close-up of the artist's face on the cover. They have to be official releases though and be proper close-ups. I wouldn't count this one for example, on account of you can see too much of his chest, and the hands. You know how you can tell that an album is really awesome? When even John Mayer's guest appearance doesn't ruin a song.