The Best Album Covers of All Time ,Top 5 - By Readers of Rolling stones

Continuing with the Top album covers series,here is the Top Five of Best Album Covers -as chosen by the readers of Rolling stone magazine.

5. The Clash, 'London Calling'
Pennie Smith was snapping photos of the Clash at New York's Palladium in September of 1979 when she captured one of the most iconic images in rock history. Paul Simonon was annoyed by the relatively quiet audience, so he began smashing his bass against the floor.

4. The Beatles, 'Abbey Road'
They shot the cover on August 8th, 1969 outside of Abbey Road studios. Tourists flock to the spot in droves, and it's been parodied countless times – sometimes by members of the Beatles themselves, as Paul did on the cover of his 1993 LP Paul Is Live.

3. Nirvana, 'Nevermind'
Spencer Elden's (the naked baby) parents were paid just $200 for the session, but Elden has been paid more than that a handful of times to recreate the famous photo. He wears a bathing suit for those, though.

2. Pink Floyd - Dark Side Of The Moon
The initial inspiration for the designers was a photo of a prism on top of some sheet music. It was black and white, but a color beam was going through it. Using that as a jumping off point, the team at Hipgnosis created the iconic cover for Dark Side Of The Moon in the year 1973.

1. The Beatles, 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'
The cover of the Beatles' 1967 LP Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is, without a doubt, one of the most iconic images in the history of rock & roll. The photo was originally going to show the Beatles (in their Sgt. Pepper's outfits) playing in a park. That slowly evolved into the final concept, where they stand amidst cardboard cutouts of their heroes.

While the music industry tries to keep up with technological and cultural shifts, the role of album cover which has transformed packaging into an art form is certainly to change, and digital forms of packaging will continue to surface, which, to some degree take the place of physical packaging. Both the consolation if i may put it that way is that MP3 and WMA music files are able to contain embedded digital album artworks in jpeg format.The close-up of Lady Gaga’s face for Born This Way, and the Red Hot Chili Pepper’s fly on a pill for I’m With You are examples of this.

source:rollingstone

The Best Album Covers of All Time (10-6) - By Readers of Rolling stones

In the age of the MP3, the album cover is really a lost art – which probably explains why 90 percent of the albums that readers selected come from the 1960s and the 1970s.

We have broken the list into two parts,here is the first containing the bottom 5 greatest album covers of all time as picked by the readers of RollingStone magazine.

10. The Velvet Underground, 'The Velvet Underground & Nico'
Early versions of his famous banana print cover said "peel slowly and see," and there was a peel-away banana sticker that revealed a pink banana underneath. With drug songs like "Heroin" and "I'm Waiting For The Man," some have interpreted the album's cover as a reference to the old schoolyard rumor that smoking a banana peel will get you high. Whether or not that was Andy Warhol's intent, the cover remains one of his most famous works.

9.Pink Floyd, 'Wish You Were Here'
This picture of two Hollywood stuntmen Ronnie Rondell and Danny Rogers was taken on the Warner Bros. backlot in 1975. Rondell wore a business suit over a flame retardant suit and shook Rogers' hand while his clothing was on fire.

8. Bruce Springsteen, 'Born To Run'
The cover of Bruce Springsteen's Born To Run was shot by Eric Meola during just two and a half hours in June of 1975

7. The Beatles, 'Revolver'
German-born artist and musician Klaus Voorman was a longtime friend of the Beatles, and an obvious choice to draw the Revolver cover.Klaus asked the Beatles to give him old photos of themselves, and he pasted some of them onto his own drawings. He had trouble with George Harrison's face, so he pasted newspaper photos of eyes and lips onto it.

6. The Rolling Stones, 'Sticky Fingers'
The second album on our list designed by Andy Warhol, Sticky Fingers was the Rolling Stones' first album for Atlantic Records.Contrary to legend, the man in the underwear is not Mick Jagger. It's one of Warhol's
associates, though nobody seems to be able to agree on exactly who it is.

The top 5 covers will be posted on next weeks blog...

Source:rollingstone.com

Music Therapy : Music Relaxation and Stress Management

With all the ways music affects your body, one can probably already clearly see how music can be used as an effective relaxation and stress management tool. In addition to the many physical changes that music can bring , music is especially helpful in relaxation and stress management because it can be used in the following ways:

    Music and Physical Relaxation: Music can promote relaxation of tense muscles, enabling you to easily release some of the tension you carry from a stressful day (or week).

    Music as an Aid in Stress Relief Activities: Music can help you get ‘into the zone’ when practicing yoga, self hypnosis or guided imagery, can help you feel energized when exercising, help dissolve the stress when you’re soaking in the tub, and be a helpful part of many other stress relief activities.

    Music and a Meditative State: As mentioned before, music can help your brain get into a meditative state, which carries wonderful stress relief benefits with it. For those who find meditation intimidating, music can be an easier alternative.

    Music to Promote a Positive Focus: Music, especially upbeat tunes, can take your mind off what stresses you, and help you feel more optimistic and positive. This helps release stress and can even help you keep from getting as stressed over life’s little frustrations in the future.

    Music and Affirmations: The way you see the world and the type of self talk you habitually use can also have a profound effect on your stress level, which is why positive affirmations that create more positive self talk are so helpful. Music that has affirming lyrics can bring the double benefit of music and positive affirmations, helping you to surround yourself with positive energy and more often look on the bright side, letting stressful events more easily roll off your back.

These are some of the reasons that music relaxation is among the easiest and most effective forms of relaxation available, and music is such a great stress management tool.Given all these health benefits of listening to music there no wonder music has made its way into our lifestyle and our very being....be it the cassette player or the Ipad, music in any medium has always and will be a integral part of our lives..

source:about.com and photo credit: stress-and-relaxation.com

Music Therapy : How Music Affects Us and Why

 Research has shown that music has a profound effect on your body and psyche. In fact, there’s a growing field of health care known as music therapy, which uses music to heal. Those who practice music therapy are finding a benefit in using music to help cancer patients, children with (attention deficit disorder)ADD, and others, and even hospitals are beginning to use music and music therapy to help with pain management, to help ward off depression, to promote movement, to calm patients, to ease muscle tension, and for many other benefits that music and music therapy can bring.

This is not surprising, as music affects the body and mind in many powerful ways. The following are some of effects of music, which help to explain the effectiveness of music therapy.

Brain Waves: Research has shown that music with a strong beat can stimulate brainwaves to resonate in sync with the beat, with faster beats bringing sharper concentration and more alert thinking, and a slower tempo promoting a calm, meditative state. Also, research has found that music can bring lasting benefits to your state of mind, even after you’ve stopped listening.

Breathing and Heart Rate: With alterations in brainwaves comes changes in other bodily functions. Those governed by the autonomic nervous system, such as breathing and heart rate can also be altered by the changes music can bring. This can mean slower breathing, slower heart rate, and an activation of the relaxation response, among other things. This is why music and music therapy can help counteract or prevent the damaging effects of chronic stress, greatly promoting not only relaxation, but also health.

State of Mind: Music can also be used to bring a more positive state of mind, helping to keep depression and anxiety at bay. This can help prevent the stress response from wreaking havoc on the body, and can help keep creativity and optimism levels higher, bringing many other benefits.

Other Benefits: Music has also been found to bring many other benefits, such as lowering blood pressure, boost immunity, ease muscle tension, and more. With so many benefits and such profound physical effects, it’s no surprise that so many are seeing music as an important tool to help the body in staying (or becoming) healthy.

While music therapy is an emerging field, music iteslf has many benefits for health and stress management, and can be used in daily life to relieve stress and promote wellness.Our next blog on this same series will explain more on how music can be an especially effective tool for stress management, and can be used in daily life.Till then plug in your ear phones and listen to some good music...

source: about.com & photo credit: 360five.com