Coalesce

A New Language
From Functioning on Impatience

In 1998, Coalesce released this, their second full length album. The music was typical of the band: loud, fast, hard, angry, and intentionally confusing. Its seven songs (spanning a mere, though blistering 20 minutes) were recorded in a whirlwind 3 days and released by the relatively new record label Second Nature Recordings. They turned to a “Matt Jones” (who, as far as I can tell, has disappeared into obscurity) for the album design. This was the greatest decision Coalesce ever made as a band.

The cover of Functioning on Impatience is nothing short of graphic design perfection.

This is the standard by which all album covers should be judged. Working with what must have been a shoe string budget, Matt Jones and the members of Coalesce created a work of art. Since its release, the style has been mimicked and outright copied, but even after 8 years, it remains remarkably modern. It took years even for major marketing studios to properly utilize the design elements that are seamlessly represented on Functioning on Impatience. Some design techniques still look years ahead of their time.

In short, they did everything right. It is so good, in fact, that I bought the album on vinyl just so I could own a 12 inch version.

What makes this album cover so remarkable? It’s a combination of design tricks. The use of vellum (including reverse printing), metallic silver ink, non-clear plastic for the jewel case (it’s a kind of foggy tan), multi-layered design, clear and readable text using non-standard fonts while avoiding font overkill, clearly recognizable CD design, and an instantly recognizable shelf presence even from the side. I have never seen a better designed cover ever.

By the way, you will probably hate this music. But if you don’t already own this album, get it. It is worth whatever price you will pay just to enjoy this cover.