I was immediately impressed with the artwork for the new Beastie Boys album, Hot Sauce Committee Part Two. With the album now in my hands I feel confident enough to say that this is the best album artwork and packaging of the year so far.

Not only is the front cover of the CD striking with its bright colours and hard edges but the inner sleeve contains images of hand-drawn characters including ‘Cowboy’, ‘Mind Reader’, and one named ‘Bourgeoise’. These same characters are also appear on the reverse of the lyrics sheet which in itself is a thing of beauty.

Lyrics to each of the tracks are printed in a mixture of the same bright colours used on the front cover.  There are even annotations to the lyrics from the Boys themselves, including an explanation to the line ‘Adrock’s in the bath filled with chocolate fondue’.

The rappers helpfully explain that “This is in reference to the common occurrence of hotels on tour providing Mr. Adrock with a chocolate fondue set up by his bath. This is how we roll.”

All in all it is a very beautiful piece of packaging that more importantly contains a fantastic album inside.