Pixellated Album Covers by CodyWalton, Imploding and TheDorkReport

You know what I love? Album art. In this day and age of non-physical media, it seems like album covers are becoming less and less critical - most people will download an album without ever looking at the album's cover, much less purchase that album based on its visual presentation. Having said that, a good album is often defined by its cover, and while music should always speak for itself, album art can complement and amplify a record's themes and motifs.

Cody Walton, Imploding and The Dork Report are a trio of artists who have taken it upon themselves to demake classic album covers by presenting 16x16 versions of them. For the most part, these album covers are so iconic that even within the confines of just 256 pixels, the original is pretty readily recognisable.

Mouse-over the images if there are any you aren't immediately familiar with, or you just want to compare the 16x16 version to the original. (Note that this is a pretty image-heavy post, so wait for the page to load fully for the mouse-over to work.)

Beastie Boys, "License To Ill" (by Cody Walton)

The Velvet Underground, "Peel Slowly And See" (by Cody Walton)

Soundgarden, "Louder Than Love" (by Cody Walton)

Bjork, "Homogenic" (by The Dork Report)

Nine Inch Nails, "The Downward Spiral" (by Cody Walton)

Nine Inch Nails, "The Fragile" (by Cody Walton)

The White Stripes, "White Blood Cells" (by Imploding)

The National, "The National" (by Cody Walton)

The Hold Steady, "Stay Positive" (by Cody Walton)

Massive Attack, "Blue Lines" (by Imploding)

Guns 'n Roses, "Use Your Illusion I" (by Cody Walton)

Green Day, "American Idiot" (by Cody Walton)

Gorillaz, "Gorillaz" (by Imploding)

The Clash, "London Calling" (by Cody Walton)