The Firm - The Firm

This album design is pure evil. It's terrifying in every aspect. The factory-metallic color scheme. The bulk and girth of the letters with epic shadowing. (Why does the band name need to feel so gargantuan?) The uniquely hideous parallelogram shape that puts the words on their side. The triangles that point infinitely in all directions. The lowercase "i," just to remind you that they aren't subject to any rules and have cornered the market on subversion, too. And all this in service of a band and album name that screams corporate omnipotence. You're expected to know what "The Firm" is; further details are unnecessary. Some version of The Firm, in any good dystopian vision, is the system that keeps the individual tightly yoked in service to order.

And just in case you thought this was a twee side project from Belle & Sebastian featuring Zooey Deschanel, nope, it's a mid-80s supergroup starring Paul Rodgers and Jimmy Page. Chilling.