What makes an album cover great? Is there any benefit in having a hideous cover? I'm just wondering about it for my album.

I've always liked a good photograph, including the artist somehow. A good casual shot in the right setting (playing or not) seem to be a good balance of artsy but not fartsy. Or even the posed shot for the Daniel Romano cover for Sleep Beneath The Willows, with him looking at the camera while laying on a couch, I dug that.

Come to Boston, I'll shoot a fucking mile of film for you.

It's like any art—it's subjective.
But I think that there has to be a way of connecting to the image, in a way other than, "My 5-year-old could have done this." Unless that 5-y.o. aesthetic really connects the listener/viewer to the music in some way or other.
My favorite album covers of all-time are the ones done for Blue Note in the 50s and 60s and many of the ones done for 4AD in the 80s and 90s. They were just very evocative.
And, digging deeper, all those albums seem to have a single color that dominates the image: the Blue Note covers, more obviously, with their monochromatic photographs of the artists. But the 4AD covers are (usually) somewhat blurry and/or surreal, with a pallete that, while not monochromatic, certainly features a dominant hue.

And that is my pseudo intellectual analysis of some of my own personal favorites.

this guy made some of the best:

R.I.P. Storm Thorgerson

those old blue note record designs were top notch

Man, this is going to be tough. How do you shop around for an artist when you're not sure what you want?

I would recommend the guy that did this album cover:


I like everything of his that I've seen.


And:
Do you have a title for the album yet?
That's always good inspiration for the image.

Although, I have an image for your album cover:

I would crop out the bike, though. (Just seems to be a bit much.)
Not sure how you feel about that. Bad taste? But I know that it means something to you.

Shit just hit up an artist you like, like Cats. Or go to coffee shops / galleries in town (which is fun anyway), find someone whose shit you like, and set up a conversation over beer. "Hey so I want an album cover, delivered as a suitably high resolution tiff file (or whatever). How much for that?"

I was thinking about calling the project The Nasty Rumors and titling the album Have you heard The Nasty Rumors?

I always liked the name and was bummed that that project imploded, and some of these songs were from that era, but unrecorded.

I was thinking about the photograph from the accident. There's one I like more of my friend lisah holding my hand while I was out.

but maybe not.

My 2 cents: Have a photo from the accident on the back or the inside if you want, but the music is good enough that the back story might really distract from it.

Thanks, I appreciate it.

Yeah man. Really wish I were there so I could at least try to get some shots for you. No big deal if they weren't "it." But if they were, hey, free cover art.