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Bedtime stories album cover


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On 11/2/2019 at 3:27 PM, ditasgarden said:

I was just having this debate with someone on Twitter and stumbled onto this forum/thread while searching for more information. I created this account in order to add my thoughts, which are in agreement with what @deathproof has been positing. 

Like many of you, I purchased the CD the day it was released in NYC and vividly recall many of the advertisements and promotional materials reposted here (as well as others) which show Madonna right-side up (chin at the bottom). In those carefree days I would wander into record stores to check out the Madonna section for fun. This was the cover that I undoubtedly consider to be the original design and it wasn't until much later (at least a year I'd guess, but perhaps even longer) that I started noticing upside-down printings popping up.

It's important to keep in mind what @deathproof reminds us regarding Fabien Baron's status as an art director. The album cover is the central piece of key art in a record campaign, and Madonna was the biggest star on the planet in the 90s. An image this important gets put in front of SO many eyes before going to print - designers, the art director, photographer, record company, publicists, the star. Printing proof sheets, which get signed off on by handfuls of these people, are big collectibles online. 

That is why I'm adamant that to say "Oh, they just made a mistake" (which conjures the idea of some intern at the printing press rotating the image to appear right-side up) is a cop-out. Even though it's not the way the photograph was shot, this is how the album cover was designed by Baron. And I think he made a brilliant choice - it's inviting and dreamy and draws you into her eyes, whereas the upside-down is much more alienating in my opinion.

So the question remains - why did they change it for certain pressings? That I cannot say - only speculate. Was there an agreement with Patrick Demarchelier that both would be produced? Did someone important later have a change of heart? Knowing Warner, perhaps they wanted a variant because they know we'll buy everything we can, including the same album multiple times LOL. What would be really cool is if someone could get a statement, on the record, from whoever was involved with the re-design. ✌?

s-l1600.jpg

Oh my!!! Where's that artwork proof from?

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Hummm tbh I’ve been going through this thread for almost an hour... & I’m lost... up side down, right down up... down left side right... WTF?!?! Guys it’s easy... just go & check all the reissues including the vinyls & also iTunes/Spotify... & her official Twitter account... that artwork is definitely the original/official one. ??

 

now this is for y’all to enjoy.... 

 

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  • 3 months later...

I readed all of your speculations about album cover - can you can tell me why they change it (considering that a couple of you are saying that the "chin on the bottom" was the original cover without a mistake)? It doesn't make sense. So i believe that they wanted a original ("upside down") pic as a cover, but somebody just fucked it up. Maybe it was on purpouse, they relesed too versions at diffrent times, used diffrent versions on promotional materials to grow sales a bit?

They took this picture in photoshoot as a "upside down" so there's no reason to switch that.

Edited by Mateusz Klimecki (see edit history)
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On 03/10/2020 at 11:52 AM, BadGurlMadge said:

A though question, but the only continent that has the upside down cover is North America, and even the reissued versions have the regular non upside down cover, so i consider that one as the official 

Exactly. All reissues are the right way up, any singles that advertise the BS album on the back cover use the right way up version. And there is not one single vinyl version that uses the upside down pic, including the US promo vinyl that came out before the commercial release. 

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On 10/3/2020 at 6:52 AM, BadGurlMadge said:

A though question, but the only continent that has the upside down cover is North America, and even the reissued versions have the regular non upside down cover, so i consider that one as the official 

I'm in Canada, and I've always only seen the right side up cover in stores (first in a blue case, and then years later in a white case). I kinda like the upside down shot better (makes it a bit more original), but I've never ever come across it in person.

@deathproofI think you're right since the upside down cover was (if I'm not mistaken) only used for US physical releases (and that Japanese box set). All other markets incl. Canada got the right side up one, and it's the one used on Spotify, iTunes/Apple Music and other portals.

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8 hours ago, Arckangel said:

I'm in Canada, and I've always only seen the right side up cover in stores (first in a blue case, and then years later in a white case). I kinda like the upside down shot better (makes it a bit more original), but I've never ever come across it in person.

@deathproofI think you're right since the upside down cover was (if I'm not mistaken) only used for US physical releases (and that Japanese box set). All other markets incl. Canada got the right side up one, and it's the one used on Spotify, iTunes/Apple Music and other portals.

The first jewelcase in America was baby blue, then over the years I've seen a white one and of late a transparent/clear one

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On 2/2/2021 at 12:32 AM, Arckangel said:

I'm in Canada, and I've always only seen the right side up cover in stores (first in a blue case, and then years later in a white case). I kinda like the upside down shot better (makes it a bit more original), but I've never ever come across it in person.

Lately I've seen Bedtime Stories in Canada with a black tray. The first time I saw it I thought it must be a one off, but that's how they've all seemed to be since then.

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On 2/5/2021 at 11:56 AM, brank000 said:

Lately I've seen Bedtime Stories in Canada with a black tray. The first time I saw it I thought it must be a one off, but that's how they've all seemed to be since then.

Even worse... Does it cost them that much to print it in a blue tray? The blue tray fits the cover the best.

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