On Dec. 19, pop singer Ava Max revealed the new cover for her sophomore album, Diamonds & Dancefloors.
“Finally the wait is almost over…” she said in the caption on Instagram. “My official album cover is here.”
But this wasn’t the first time fans had seen an album cover for Diamonds & Dancefloors.
On June 1, 2022, the “Million Dollar Baby” singer announced her second album on social media and on The Today Show.
The original cover art showed Max’s face and cherry red hair surrounded by diamonds, with another diamond in her red-lipsticked mouth. Max dyed her hair red in early 2022, which signaled to fans that a new era was coming.
“So proud to announce that my new album 💎 DIAMONDS & DANCEFLOORS 💎 is out October 14th,” she said in an Instagram post at the time.
Max hasn’t commented on what spurred the album cover change, aside from a pushed back release date slated for Jan. 27.
However, some fans speculated that it was due to backlash surrounding the original cover’s design.
“Thank god you listened to us and changed the cover,” one person commented on Instagram.
“Love Ava Max for taking all the criticism on her album cover so well and making a better one,” another fan said in a tweet that gained over 50,000 likes.
On the original album cover post, someone commented, “Worst cover ever.”
Another fan weighed in on the cover on Twitter, “An art student here (also do graphic designing), and that first one is so reminiscent of s— coming out of an anus.. it’s just not hitting.”
“The jewels look like they came from the dollar tree,” another fan complained.
Someone else added, “The ‘gems’ look like just silver misshaped rocks not diamonds or anything luxurious, the diamond on her mouth is awkwardly just resting there, and her face looks suffocated in the rocks vs seductively coming out. Just my thoughts.”
Overall, many fans were excited about the cover change, calling it “a serve.”
“The response has proven that the decision for this new album cover was a good idea!” an Ava Max update account said on Twitter.
Max has released four singles from the album, including lead single “Maybe You’re The Problem,” and most recently, “Dancing’s Done” on Dec. 20.
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