“The Best Album Cover Designs of 2022”.
Each year since 2016 Jerome has cast his discerning eye over the design and layout of various record cover designs. Once again he reveals his cosmopolitan, penetrating and perceptive side to present this year’s
Top Record Album Cover Designs (regardless of their musical genre and content)

Here they are presented alphabetically by the artist's name ...and at the very bottom that Album Cover judged to be the BEST FOR 2022!

1 Amy Speace - Tucson.
Stark and elegant. Depth of field used beautifully in a black and white photo.

2 Black Slag Roots.
Brutish, turbulent and confronting.

3 David Quinn - Country Fresh.
A charming painting with a delightful folk art-ish naivety.   

4 El Camino – 10.
The typeface is garish but the stylistic rendering of the band is delightful (straight out of the 'modern' late 50's and early 60's era).

5 Erja Lyytinen – Waiting For The Daylight.
Sensuous and sumptuous. Behold the linear clarity and detail! Love those blue, red and yellow hues.

6 Igor Levit – Tristan.
An evocative sepia photo of the musician and his instrument. A dramatic atmosphere created by a beam of light and wafting smoke.

7 The Infamous Stringbusters - Toward the Fray.
Welcome to Ukraine Circa 2022! Perhaps somewhat cliched imagery but non- the-less powerful.

8 John Primer - Hard Times.
A Bluesman and his guitar ..smokin' in the bar room!

9 K. Leimer – The Starting Errors.
A lot of "Ambient Music" cover designs have caught my attention this year. This is one of them. An engaging and well composed photo.

10 Kevin Devine – Nothing’s Real, So Nothing’s Wrong.
Nothing like a face full of lavender!

11 Mentana – Rise from the Wreck.
Look son, it's Superman! Enchanting, nostalgic and mysterious.

12 Mystic Sisters – City of Caterpilla.
Grainy, black and white, fractured, distorted and eerie ...take me to the City of Catapillar!

13 Nancy Mounir – Nozhet El Nofous.
The movement within the multiple exposure image of Mounir playing the violin echoes the rhythm of her music.

14 Nils Frahm - Music for Animals.
Clever! Simply matching the water level in the plastic bag with that of the horizon creates such a striking yet tranquil effect.

15 Sara Syms – The Darkest Light.
"Chiaroscuro" the treatment of light and shade in painting
... and the dramatic contrast of light and shadow in a photo.

16 The Dip - Sticking With It.
A delightrful play on "stick".

17 The Smudges - Song and Call.
An elegant still life painting alluding to the music within!

18 Bird Streets - Lagoon.
Captivating organic, amorphous and fluid forms create an ambiguous space. Wow! There is a lot to engage the eye here!

19 The Taproots – Tales Of Wonderland.
OK! ...so I have selected yet another album with a painting on the cover. OK! ...so it's yet another nostalgic folk art-ish type of painting. So what! Just feast your eyes on all of what is going on here. Isn't it enchanting?

#20 Desensitized – Chaos in Premonition.
Desensitized (to be made less aware) may be the name of the band but that amazing cover enhances, intensifies and sharpens your awareness!

21 Vanilla Fudge - Vanilla Zeppelin.
It's a re-release! I missed this album when it first came out. Imagine the heavy rock of LedZepplin in the acid rock hands of Vanilla Fudge! Be prepared for some crash and burn drama ahead!.

22 Zander Schloss – Song About Songs.
A delightful charcoal study of the musician. Broody, contemplative and introspective ...suggesting the isolated milieu of a singer-songwriter.

23 Ben LaMar Gay – Certain Reveries.
A striking silhouette.

Which brings me to THE BEST ALBUM COVER OF 2022...

Logan Farmer – A Mold For The Bell.
A striking photo ...evoking the mood and tone of our times. Drama is added to the downcast figure by strategically placing it at the meeting point of those strong diagonals in the background.

Despondency is part of the human experience and helps one psychologically adapt to the challenges that life throws at you. In a way it is similar to the blues. One might be burdened and dejected but arising out of that state is a type of music that releases those endorphins and elevates one's mood and spirit.