LISTED: 5 Great Albums That Feature a Bird On Its' Cover

In celebrating the release of the brilliant Deftones new album, in which the cover featured an owl, I thought I'd have a stab at compiling some of the greatest album released in this part of century in which the album cover takes on quite similar a theme: birds.


5. Andrew Bird - Armchair Apocrypha
Released: 20 March 2007 on Fat Possum
Bird of Choice: A parakeet

No, the name is not really a dead giveaway because in his last outing (the also brilliant Andrew Bird & the Mysterious Production of Egg), the album featured uh... something. An animal, is all I can conclude. On this one with a parakeet on the cover (though), it's a much tighter affair compared to the last album with a more diverse musical direction taken. It's a lot more electrical too, and that's a good thing.






4. Sufjan Stevens - Seven Swans
Released: 16 March 2004 on Sounds Familyre
Bird of Choice: A swan

"A swan is a swan - it's not a bird" a colleague argued with me. Fine - but that actually sets a really nice tone for the review of this album by the poster boy of the New Weird America movement. It's not what you call delightful, although the songs all sounds delightful; it's not really lighthearted either, although it is very lighthearted. Sufjan Stevens might be rambling on about something, but it doesn't sound intelligible either. One might be tempted to label this album under folk, but this is nothing like it. It is its own type - it is its own species. It is not folk, just sounds folk-ish.


3. Death Cab for Cutie - Transatlanticism
Released: 7 October 2003 on Barsuk
Bird of Choice: A crow

It's an intimately gorgeous and breathtakingly romantic album this. It's like finding new confidence after years of solitude heartbreak - it sounds purposeful. Which kind of makes the cover art a little baffling somewhat. It doesn't project the hope and rejoice that the album contains within when one takes it for a spin.









2. Mogwai - The Hawk is Howling
Released: 22 September 2008 on Wall of Sound
Bird of Choice: An eagle

Many critics opined in 2006 when Mogwai released Mr. Beast that it is their most rocking album to date. Sure, tracks like "Glasgow Mega-Snake" and "We're Not Here" are full-on rocker make no mistake. But the band's interest in metal is no more obvious than this 2008 release. It rocks harder, and sounds more immediate. And "Batcat" sounds like it came straight out of Hell.







1. Deftones - Diamond Eyes
Released: 4 May 2010 on Reprise
Bird of Choice: An owl

Where should I start about the brilliance of this album... I honestly think that this album is pretty much like Arcade Fire's debut - it has this sense of purpose. It was written for an occasion. It was written for the celebration of that occasion. It's not entirely self-aware of its own existence; it's not entirely self-aware of its' own lack of self-awareness. It just happens. Everything just falls into its' place. It feels complete, authentic, earnest. It's a very assuring album. It will make you feel at ease with it, and that's rare to get in an album. Definitely a 2010 highlight.