Obscure Cover Art-palooza 2020

I don't know about you guys, but there's something about building a new PC that makes me want everything on it to be tidy and clean and fresh: something that's had me side-eyeing the disaster area that was my music collection on several occasions, wondering if this was the time I finally tackled it: tidied everything up, fixed all the broken tags, and, most crucially, got hold of decent cover art for everything.

Well, having starting right after I built my current PC in 2018, only now have I finally finished doing exactly that. The stumbling block that made the whole process take so long: unsurprisingly the lack of good cover art for a large chunk of the VA compilations I've ripped over the years. With the only art available in many cases being some dark, crooked 200x200px photo someone took of the album in 2005, my only option was to scan, clean up and color correct everything myself. Yikes!

While I'm really happy with the end result, with over 90 compilations to take care of, this was definitely no small task. So, in the hopes of maybe saving some other obsessive, oddball music fans some time, I went ahead and uploaded the fruits of my labors. Let's take a look.

So, these are all imgur galleries that you can click into and download the art from in JPEG form, but for all my PNG aficionados out there, I've also put up a zip file with all of this cover art in PNG format. (Well, I say all of it. There were a small number I forgot to save as PNGs that are in there as JPEGs, so, you know, exercise caution.) You can download that here:

high-res cover scans.zip (403 MB)

Okay, to the galleries!

Hits Series High-res Scans

So, first up we have 23 entries in the Hits series - a longtime rival to the UK's Now That's What I Call Music that, despite numerous confusing relaunches, never quite managed to surpass it. Seriously, deciphering the chronology of this series makes the Wonder Boy lineage look like a walk in the park.

(For the purposes of Google searchability) The cover art here includes (and this is, I think, in chronological order): The Hits Album 7, The Hits Album 10, Snap it Up: Monster Hits 2, Hits 96, New Hits 96, Fresh Hits 96, Huge Hits 1996, Hits 97, New Hits 1997, Fresh Hits 1997, Huge Hits 1997, Big Hits, New Hits 98, Fresh Hits 98, Big Hits 98, Huge Hits 1998, Hits 99, New Hits 99, Fresh Hits 99, Big Hits 99, Huge Hits 99, Huge Hits 2000 and Christmas Hits (2007).

Shine Series High-Res Cover Art

Blissfully more straightforward is Telstar TV's Shine series which ran from 1995 to 1998, featuring the best, and, oh boy, the rest of the Britpop era, as well as branching into some alternative US stuff here and there. Not a bad little set of CDs, and always useful to be reminded that for every Pulp or Elastica there were at least two or three Menswears.

The cover art here includes Shine (1995), Shine Too (1995), Shine 3 (1995), Shine Four (1996), Shine 5 (1996), Shine 6 (1996), Shine 7 (1996), Shine 8 (1997), Shine 9 (1997), Shine: The Best of 97 and Shine 10 (1998)

The Album (Virgin)

The Album - a follow-up series of sorts to Virgin's The Best Album in the World ...Ever! series, which was their Shine equivalent as far as I can tell, this ran from 2001 to 2005. I think these albums encapsulate that start-of-the-00's post-Britpop era in UK rock music quite well: lots of downer-ey, middle-of-the-road dad rock from some real second-rate bands, with only the very occasional exception.

But they do also have the little rays of light that made listening to the radio at the time slightly more bearable (And boy, did I do a lot of that back then: this was prime homework-doing time for me.) from a resurgent Ash; to a revival in garage rock in the US and Europe; to innovative, interesting electronic music; even a little hip hop here and there.

Even so, listening to rock radio was still mostly a test of endurance back then: one, I guess, I do have some nostalgia for though. I don't know what's wrong with me. :D

Den Magazine Issue 9 - December 1994

It's been a while since I scanned of these, but just in time for the holidays, I present the Christmas 1994 Den Magazine for your viewing delight. In this issue: All the hot scoops about Nightmare Before Christmas, and Nintendo's replacement for Super Mario Kart (???); searing festive insights from Ant & Dec; the gripping conclusion of The Work's A-Z of the Human Body; an even less cool environmentally-themed super hero than Captain Planet; a crossword that I'm pretty sure is unfinishable, despite this issue carrying the lamest apology for last months's one also being unfinishable; and, for those looking to chill out at Christmas, boy, does this magazine have the Bon Jovi and East 17 VHS tapes for you!

Like last time, I've bundled this issue into a CBZ file for downloading and comic viewer apps, and for the less committed Den Magazine fans out there (boo! hiss! unthinkable!), I've also made an imgur gallery this time. Please enjoy.

Download (CBZ, 63 MB) | Imgur Gallery

And now, a bunch of recycled stuff from this issue that I already posted on Tumblr. :D

So, who wants to win a fantastic CD-I system?….. Anyone?

Squadala!

Searching for that perfect look for the holiday season? While also being trapped in 1994, and a child? Boy, have I got you covered!

I love how defiantly one of the kids must have protested the outfit he had chosen for him for it to get mentioned twice. Rory Murphy: truly the hero The Den Magazine needed.

Also, what’s with the quotation marks around The Prodigy but nothing else? *air quotes* Dance music? Whatever, kid. Now Boyzone: there’s real talent for you.

Dad jokes! You know, for kids!

You know, it’s only by scanning in these old magazines that I’ve been reminded of the travesty that Bird’s Double Thick Milkshake Mix is no longer a product. I never had the chocolate one much, but hot damn, the strawberry was freakin’ delicious, genuinely thick, AND you got to use a plastic shaker to mix it up like a cocktail. This was highly exciting stuff for an eleven-year-old fat kid. :D

Tragically, I don’t think this was actually available for very long though, maybe just a year or so, but it certainly left an impression - so much so that I’ve been desperately craving some ever since I laid eyes on this.

I wonder if thin Angel Delight would would do the trick. I’m guessing that’s pretty much what this was anyway…… Don’t judge me!

Den Magazine Issue 16

In late 1994 RTÉ put out a magazine based on its popular children's programming block The Den. Aptly titled "The Den", it was a mix of pop culture news and interviews, cartoon strips and educational content, leveraging characters from, and contributors to the show throughout.

Aside from its (kind-of-terrible) video game coverage, I don't remember ever particularly enjoying it, but as a fan of The Den itself, I still picked it up whenever I saw a new issue. Being a bit of a hoarder, I still have all of them, and I thought it'd be a neat idea to scan a few of them in and post them here. Classic literature they ain't, but I'm sure someone out there will enjoy them.

Kicking things off is Issue 16 from November 1995, which features, among other things no one cares about, interviews with D:Ream and OTT, guides to ghosts and endangered animals, reviews of the Batman Forever and Demolition Man games, and all the hot news on First Kiss' second single.

Download (53.3 MB)

Note: The magazine is in CBR format, so you'll need CDisplay or something similar to view it.

Retromags Release (Sort of): NOM Issue 79

Retromags may be having some problems at the moment, but that hasn't stopped me scanning some more old magazines (at a sub-glacial pace). Freshly uploaded is the April 1999 issue of Nintendo Official Magazine- as the name would suggest, the official UK Nintendo magazine at the time. This one features reviews of Beetle Adventure Racing, Monaco Grand Prix and Castlevania 64, as well as previews of Hey You, Pikachu!, Pokémon Pinball and Quake II.

It's also pretty terrible, with the writing coming off as desperate attempt to appeal to the young teen audience it seems to be aimed at. Something that could apparently be accomplished by replacing every instance of "your" with "yer", "loads of" with "loadsa", and sticking an apostrophe anywhere it'd possibly fit.

If that sounds like a good time to you, I've put the full 100-page scan up here on MediaFire.

Oh, and if you're wondering what I ordered, it was Pilotwings and Super Street Fighter II for the SNES from Excitement Direct and Doom 64 from Gameplay. Unfortunately, Pilotwings  was the only game Excitement Direct had in stock and Gameplay wouldn't take the cheque I sent them. Ah! The joys of mail order. 

Also, I wonder if Excitement Direct could have come up with a more porn company sounding name if they tried. Always made getting a sterling draft down at the post office a dodgy prospect. :D

Retromags Release: When I'm Sixty-Four Issue 1

Having been a registered member of the Retromags forum for almost four years without either downloading or uploading a single magazine or indeed, posting on said forum, I thought it was about time I changed that a few days ago and started unleashing a few of the old magazines I have in my small collection for the benefit of all. :D

I'm starting off with a pretty obscure one: the first issue of When I'm Sixty-Four, an Irish N64 fanzine made by a chap called Gearoid Reidy from Co. Offaly. I sent away for a copy of it in the Summer of 1998 after hearing about it on RTÉ's teletext service. I wasn't too thrilled by the bundle of photocopied A4 sheets I got in the post at the time, but looking at it now, I'm really impressed by the amount of work that must have gone into writing, laying out and illustrating this thing. This issue issue alone features lengthy reviews of Banjo-Kazooie, Quake, Snowboard Kids and Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon; retro reviews of Secret of Mana and Donkey Kong Country and even finishes up with first part of an original Legend of Zelda comic drawn by the author.

Sadly I don't know what became of the fanzine after this; maybe this was the only issue. Who knows? After thirteen years, this may well be the only copy of the fanzine in existence. :D Whatever the case may be, you can check out the first issue now over at Retromags. EDIT 23/07/17: Nope, apparently not any more. :D But never fear, I just put a fresh, new copy up on MediaFire:

Download (CBR, 73 MB)