Ranking Underworld's album cover art

[holden]

Well, with the announcement of the new album "Strawberry Hotel" and some debate about the album artwork being unusual, or perhaps just unexpected given the aesthetic of the recent singles, I thought it would be fun to look back and rank the Underworld album covers. (Don't think we've done this for a long while...and it's UW-related so putting it in this forum).
Just Mk II-III (Dubno to present), just the main releases, not getting into singles, EPs, boxes/re-releases, live albums or rarities...

As a trained professional artist, my opinion...matters no more than anyone elses! Art is subjective after all. Here's my ranking (1 is tops, 9 is bottom), and a few words why i felt that why:

1. Dubnobasswithmyheadman (1994): Iconic handprint. Layered text and splatters. Mechanical and organic. UW.
2. Beaucoup Fish (1999): Sometimes clean, simple and well-executed holds up well. Plus, the blue color and italic type works for me.
3. Second Toughest in the Infants (1996): Abstract and bold without being overdone.
4. Oblivion With Bells (2007): Kind of a retread of the Dubno aesthetic, all that layered text and black/white. But it's elegant and makes me want to look closely into the images.
5. Strawberry Hotel (2024): While some might be bothered by the saturated colors and all the items going on in the scene, for me it's a) bold, b) no doubt all the items mean something in context of the album as tracks are like glimpes into funky different hotel rooms, c) UW art is not always subtle, so no worries with this, and d) It'll be cool to decipher, find clues, or just look at a decidedly non-boring tableau.
6. A Hundred Days Off (2002): Ok, a blurry photo of a held balloon-man. Not high concept, but it has an identity. Often wondered if a brighter image would work better than the greytone.
7. Barking (2010): Going back to the abstract, layered, "scribbles" again (see # 1, 3, 4). Fine for being vivid and reflecting a scattershot collection of tracks with various guest producers - neither the music nor art really coheres for me.
8. Barbara, Barbara, We Face a Shining Future (2016): Paint effect over photo: yeah, i can do this in PowerPoint. Tomato, c'mon, you're better than that.
9. Drift Series 1 (Sampler) (2019): Just feels tossed together. Random dog with the weird missing shoulder behind the "R", alternating slant lettering. Hill is red for some edgy reason. It's in your face, but not in a good way. (So i have the box set which replaces the dog with a white area between the lettering. Less offensive but even less interesting, especially for such a packed project).

Ok, your turn! No wrong answers, but plenty to debate!

p.s. said i wouldn't rank non-albums, but a couple extra thoughts: I really don't like the recoloration of the box sets (icky yellow, orange and pink). RiverRun-era singles with typographic patterns were delightful.There's a lot to like about the graphics amid the Drift weekly singles (and lots of em). Best single art: i dunno, maybe "Dark and Long" or "Dirty Epic/Cowgirl"? Worst: "Moaner" (Yuck, Batman and Robin!)