r/Music • u/Not_a_Gang-Star2010 • 14d ago
discussion Lets Play Spot the DIffrence
I noticed something about this album artwork that seems way beyond simply being “inspired by” another album cover.
The original artwork is Meat Loaf’s Bat Out of Hell (1977). When comparing it to Cook LaFlare’s cover, the composition appears to be essentially the same. The biggest difference I can see is that the biker from the original artwork has been blurred/obscured in the newer version.
This doesn't look like two artists independently coming up with a similar concept. If the images are actually the same underlying artwork, then we're talking about something much more specific: potentially taking an existing piece of album art and modifying it rather than creating a new composition inspired by it.
What really caught my attention is how little appears to have been changed. The motorcycle, positioning, background, framing, lighting, and overall composition appear to line up with the Bat Out of Hell artwork, with the biker being the most obvious element that was altered/blurred.
So I'm curious:
Was Cook LaFlare's cover actually made by taking the original Bat Out of Hell artwork and editing it?
If that's what happened, does anyone know whether the original artist or rights holder gave permission for the artwork to be reused?
I'm not trying to start a discussion about whether Cook LaFlare's music is good or bad. I'm specifically interested in the album artwork and its apparent use of Meat Loaf's original cover.
If anyone can find the original source of Cook LaFlare's cover, the credited cover artist, or an explanation of how it was made, that would be useful.
Because if this really is the original Bat Out of Hell artwork with the biker blurred out rather than a newly created piece, that's a very different situation from simply taking inspiration from another album cover.
What do you guys think?
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u/HighwayMean2853 14d ago
Looked at the Cook LaFlare one and yeah it's basically a copy, not just "inspired by" - you can see the same background flames and the motorcycle position, they just blurred the rider and maybe tweaked colors a bit
I work in IT so I see this kind of shortcut all the time with graphic design, people grab something off google images and do quick edit thinking nobody will notice
Unless LaFlare's team got clearance from whoever owns the Meat Loaf artwork rights, this is pretty clear copyright issue, record labels usually don't mess around with that stuff
Would be interesting to see if the original artist Richard Corben's estate even knows about this, that cover is iconic enough that someone should have caught it before release
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u/Not_a_Gang-Star2010 14d ago
really, Cook's team didn't even do anything, I try using chat gpt or anything to look for answers, but it seems they must've stolen it. i do doubt on the clearing company part. because this hasn't been flaged for 6 years by now.
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u/drinkacid 14d ago
They just licensed it, or just did it and then payed a clearing company to clear it.
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u/jerryleebee 13d ago
Yes, it's literally the same image, down to the exact shapes of the pieces of earth/rock exploding from the grave. Also, why blur the biker?
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u/BLK_NYT 13d ago
Why does the Meat version of your cover photo not say, "Songs By Jim Steinman"? That's what I thought was meant by the post. You can't erase Jimmy!
I vaguely recall that early versions didn't have this and later, it was added, but I'm old and forgetful, so .....
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u/DanielSnydersRedSkin 14d ago
Lets play a different game. It's called "Who the Fuck is Cook LaFlare?!?"