Kanye West’s ‘Banned’ Album Cover Reminds of The Band… And The New Pornographers

The Band’s Music From Big Pink. One of my favorite albums of all  time. When I was trying to figure out what album Kanye’s reminded me of, I kept coming back to Bob Dylan. While Self Portrait sort of kind of could have the same style, the reality is that it’s longtime Dylan collaborators The Band whose painted first album cover really has the same style as the childish art on Kanye’s cover.

But there’s another design element that really caught my eye - the thick red border, mixed with the sexuality in the center. And it turns out that what I was thinking of was The New Pornographer’s Mass Romantic.

On his Twitter Kanye rightfully noted that album covers in the 70s had actual nudity on them; I still get worried I’m going to be arrested for owning the Blind Faith album featuring a topless 11 year old on the cover.