It’s not only the quality of music that can decline the longer a recording artist’s career spans, but also the artwork on their album covers.
Early career album covers of Elvis Costello, David Bowie, Bob Dylan, U2, and Madonna, are compared with their latest releases, and yes, there’s a definite pattern visible.
Another reason is that, past a certain age - or perhaps a certain stage in a career - most acts’ new album cover designs lose that singular, epochal quality that was so common to their early releases. That is, where an act might once have released iconic albums replete with cover art that not only reflected their time but also defined it, those acts’ older, mid-life incarnations tend to release album covers that only lamely follow ripened trends.
