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1000 Record Covers (Taschen 25) by Ochs, Michael (2005) Paperback
Unique in its scope and choice 1000 Record Covers, in a new flexi-cover format, illustrates how Rock is not just music but a way of life, an attitude and a style. By definition, rock music is for the moment; today's hit is tomorrow's oldie, probably destined for oblivion. The same applies to album covers. Designed by innovative artists and photographers, they hit the popular nerve of the moment and a good cover can help underwrite an album's success. 1000 Record Covers collect the most important covers of the Rock Era, from Megahits to obscure collectors' a history of almost half a century's music in miniature.
Paperback
First published January 1, 1996
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About the author
Michael Ochs
22 books3 followersMichael Ochs is an American photographic archivist best known for his extensive collection of pictures related to rock music dating back to the 1950s and 1960s. The Michael Ochs Archives, located in Venice, California, contained 3 million vintage prints, proof sheets and negatives which were licensed daily for use in CD reissues, books, films and documentaries.
The Los Angeles Times called Ochs "America's preeminent rock 'n' roll photo archivist" and described his archive as "the dominant force in the rock image marketplace"; The New York Times called it "the premier source of musician photography in the world". Ochs sold the archive to Getty Images in 2007.
The Los Angeles Times called Ochs "America's preeminent rock 'n' roll photo archivist" and described his archive as "the dominant force in the rock image marketplace"; The New York Times called it "the premier source of musician photography in the world". Ochs sold the archive to Getty Images in 2007.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 70 reviews
February 19, 2018
(the author pic - *very* much early-90s style, especially those jeans and shoes XD )
This is a collection of album covers, well-known and less-known. They are roughly grouped by the decade (1960s, 1970s, and 1980s-early1990s: all getting a short introduction), some appearing in other decade than their own. Each cover is accompanied by artist name, title, record label, your (or rough guess - I do wish there had been some more insisted searching), then design/collage/art/photo by, if known (but put sometimes just as 'unknown'). Sometimes there's a further comment added (these and the introduction are also in German and French).
One does notice that each decade has its own 'looks', which can date it there a bit. Some with similar themes or style are grouped together. There is good, bad and ugly (sexism, underage person(s)) covers, though that might sometimes depend on the reader's taste.
Sometimes there are 2-3 versions of the same cover - like The Mamas & The Papas' "If You Can Believe..." album. Sometimes the back covers or the whole folding of the covers are shown (like Small Faces' "Ogden's Nut..." vinyl); elsewhere unusually-shaped types and picture discs (the latter have been appearing since the 1940s (of which two examples are shown). Here and there appears some that have some kind of 'promo copy' sticker in them, a few have a corner clipped or pierced.
Some famous artists and designers I recognise: Norman Rockwell makes one cover that is clearly just for the album and not borrowed from somewhere else (Mike Bloomfield & Al Kooper - "The Live Adventures Of..."). There is at least 3 Andy Warhol works, two that use Escher, and Hipgnosis' odd art gets its pages.
Finally, there is the index for each artist. I do wish there could've been included some more covers, but I guess they have to stick to that number - and the book *is* pretty thick already.
Not necessarily an essential purchase, but if you like album covers - and you might find some really great ones to stare at - this is a great enough book. :)
This is a collection of album covers, well-known and less-known. They are roughly grouped by the decade (1960s, 1970s, and 1980s-early1990s: all getting a short introduction), some appearing in other decade than their own. Each cover is accompanied by artist name, title, record label, your (or rough guess - I do wish there had been some more insisted searching), then design/collage/art/photo by, if known (but put sometimes just as 'unknown'). Sometimes there's a further comment added (these and the introduction are also in German and French).
One does notice that each decade has its own 'looks', which can date it there a bit. Some with similar themes or style are grouped together. There is good, bad and ugly (sexism, underage person(s)) covers, though that might sometimes depend on the reader's taste.
Sometimes there are 2-3 versions of the same cover - like The Mamas & The Papas' "If You Can Believe..." album. Sometimes the back covers or the whole folding of the covers are shown (like Small Faces' "Ogden's Nut..." vinyl); elsewhere unusually-shaped types and picture discs (the latter have been appearing since the 1940s (of which two examples are shown). Here and there appears some that have some kind of 'promo copy' sticker in them, a few have a corner clipped or pierced.
Some famous artists and designers I recognise: Norman Rockwell makes one cover that is clearly just for the album and not borrowed from somewhere else (Mike Bloomfield & Al Kooper - "The Live Adventures Of..."). There is at least 3 Andy Warhol works, two that use Escher, and Hipgnosis' odd art gets its pages.
Finally, there is the index for each artist. I do wish there could've been included some more covers, but I guess they have to stick to that number - and the book *is* pretty thick already.
Not necessarily an essential purchase, but if you like album covers - and you might find some really great ones to stare at - this is a great enough book. :)
March 10, 2019
‘1000 Record Covers’ (2002) by Michael Ochs – is essentially an interesting photo collection of album covers throughout the decades – but ultimately this amounts to nothing more than a vanity project for its author/curator Michael Ochs.
Ochs informs us of his initial aim in life, to listen to every rock record ever released and in addition, that this book represents a very small proportion of his 100,000+ collection of albums.
Although each section here is divided by decade – Ochs makes some attempt to group album covers together based on similar image or artwork (often very tenuous) with varying degrees of success and to what purpose is unclear?
Ochs also provides us with a written preface to each decade of covers, a resume of key developments in popular music which is somewhat cursory and futile to say the least.
It goes without saying, that there are many great album covers included in Ochs book here – but vicariously or otherwise that doesn’t mean it amounts to a great book – mildly diverting at best.
Ochs informs us of his initial aim in life, to listen to every rock record ever released and in addition, that this book represents a very small proportion of his 100,000+ collection of albums.
Although each section here is divided by decade – Ochs makes some attempt to group album covers together based on similar image or artwork (often very tenuous) with varying degrees of success and to what purpose is unclear?
Ochs also provides us with a written preface to each decade of covers, a resume of key developments in popular music which is somewhat cursory and futile to say the least.
It goes without saying, that there are many great album covers included in Ochs book here – but vicariously or otherwise that doesn’t mean it amounts to a great book – mildly diverting at best.
May 31, 2011
Ok. I sorta have a unique perspective on this book. When I first moved to Los Angeles, the first job I got was at the famous and now deceased Rhino Records store in westwood. My first job literally for the first month was sitting in a room with this one other guy and going through and pricing the entire Michael Ochs collection. Thats right. After making this book, Michael Ochs sold his entire record collection. I think it was around 300,000-500,000 records. And let me tell you, this book in no way showed the pick of the litter from his collection. In fact this book is pretty generic in terms of record collecting. No overall theme here. Sure its fun to look at and reminisce about that KANSAS record you used to roll spliffs on in 1984, but over all this is just one of those crappy books you get for you dad for his birthday cause you don't know what the fuck else to get him.. hell, some of the records in this book really aren't all that rare. Sure the SATANIC MAJESTY's REQUEST rolling stones record looks cool with that lenticular cover, but... in the days of ebay, its not really all that difficult to find a copy.
This is not that original of an idea for a book. Brad Benedict (the guy who produced all of the ultra lounge records that were popular in the mid 90s) put out a book in 1977 called PHONOGRAPHICS: CONTEMPORARY ALBUM COVER ART & DESIGN.
On a side note... After Rhino bought his collection, Michael Ochs came into the store and I asked him after so many years of collecting, why he would want to get rid of it all. He told me a story about how he kept all his records in his basement, and one time it began to flood. so he started panicking and frantically moving all these records to safer ground. While doing this he looked down and saw a Bill Cosby record that he had never listened to. and he realized. what the fuck is he even bothering keeping all this shit around for. so he decided to get rid of it all.
This is not that original of an idea for a book. Brad Benedict (the guy who produced all of the ultra lounge records that were popular in the mid 90s) put out a book in 1977 called PHONOGRAPHICS: CONTEMPORARY ALBUM COVER ART & DESIGN.
On a side note... After Rhino bought his collection, Michael Ochs came into the store and I asked him after so many years of collecting, why he would want to get rid of it all. He told me a story about how he kept all his records in his basement, and one time it began to flood. so he started panicking and frantically moving all these records to safer ground. While doing this he looked down and saw a Bill Cosby record that he had never listened to. and he realized. what the fuck is he even bothering keeping all this shit around for. so he decided to get rid of it all.
October 5, 2014
Some people say this is just a bunch of small photos of album sleeves slapped together with minimal thought and little point except to encourage the drools of the nostalgically excitable.
But I demur. Although I do see the funny irony in celebrating the art of the LP sleeve by reducing the reproductions to about a quarter of the size of a cd cover.
Still, I would never have seen all these sleeves gathered in one place myself, so yeah.
Mr Ochs is a man of few words. 99% of these sleeves are presented without comment. The comment is all in the juxtaposition. But very occasionally he rouses himself to make an observation, usually on one topic :
The Five Keys cover is rare because the thimb on the far left might have been misunderstood as an exposed penis. Most copies have the thumb airbrushed out.
These compilations are of primarily black recording artists, yet, once again, only white people are shown on the covers.
The original cover was changed soon after release and a white couple was put on the cover to get the record carried in the South.
Some covers really stop you in your tracks, however many times you flip through these 768 pages - this time for me it was :
As words have now failed me, I will stop.
But I demur. Although I do see the funny irony in celebrating the art of the LP sleeve by reducing the reproductions to about a quarter of the size of a cd cover.
Still, I would never have seen all these sleeves gathered in one place myself, so yeah.
Mr Ochs is a man of few words. 99% of these sleeves are presented without comment. The comment is all in the juxtaposition. But very occasionally he rouses himself to make an observation, usually on one topic :
The Five Keys cover is rare because the thimb on the far left might have been misunderstood as an exposed penis. Most copies have the thumb airbrushed out.
These compilations are of primarily black recording artists, yet, once again, only white people are shown on the covers.
The original cover was changed soon after release and a white couple was put on the cover to get the record carried in the South.
Some covers really stop you in your tracks, however many times you flip through these 768 pages - this time for me it was :
As words have now failed me, I will stop.
March 14, 2018
True, this hardbound version has fewer than a thousand record covers since it omits the 1950s covers found in the original softcover book, but it's still plenty of fun. If you're like me (Boomer), it's a veritable trip down memory lane, full of fondly remembered album covers and others temporarily forgotten. Would make a great gift, too, for people who didn't live through the era in which the LP cover was a deliberate art form unto itself. Getting vintage "cover art" shrunk to CD size usually isn't very attractive.
December 27, 2017
Beautiful book of album covers with very sparse notation and intros by Ochs. I like the pictures a lot--especially the 50s and 60s--but thirst for a sentence on each one, not just an occasional note. And why no Bowie and very few Pink Floyd? But still.
February 7, 2024
A fun romp through yesteryear and the history of music and society as told via the covers of record albums. This superbly curated collection of covers gives the reader an eye-catching trip through the history of the art (and it was an art) of album covers while also giving a brief encapsulation of the world of music through the decades.
April 17, 2010
Impressive collection, although I understand Ochs sold his albums after 'writing' the book. It covers about 3 decades and a half, from the 60's to mid 90's. Musically speaking, I wish I had seen more of my fav artists, but anyway, being a rock and roll addict (Ochs, obviously), most of them are in there.
The covers are as they are: original, unoriginal, kitschy, artsy, stunning etc.; a little bit of everything. Sometimes artists themselves got involved in creating them (hurray for Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell or John Lennon; bad, bad choice for Fish, although I love Marillion), other times famous photographers got to work on them - Annie Leibovitz or Storm Thorgerson, and let's not forget the famous cover Andy Warhol created for The Velvet Underground. I wish I could share my preferences, but too many links are involved and making choices is pretty difficult anyway.
The covers are as they are: original, unoriginal, kitschy, artsy, stunning etc.; a little bit of everything. Sometimes artists themselves got involved in creating them (hurray for Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell or John Lennon; bad, bad choice for Fish, although I love Marillion), other times famous photographers got to work on them - Annie Leibovitz or Storm Thorgerson, and let's not forget the famous cover Andy Warhol created for The Velvet Underground. I wish I could share my preferences, but too many links are involved and making choices is pretty difficult anyway.
January 2, 2023
The footprint is smaller than A4 but it made it easier for me to hold and so I'm more than happy with the format.
This is a Taschen book and the quality of the images is superb. The contents range from the 1960s to the 1990s and it would make a good gift for the older music lover in your life!
This is a Taschen book and the quality of the images is superb. The contents range from the 1960s to the 1990s and it would make a good gift for the older music lover in your life!
July 15, 2024
Buenas fotos, poca información.
January 12, 2023
There were a lot of terribly misogynistic album covers back in the day and this dude apparently really liked a lot of them. Not as a coffee table book, not as a collection of hipster music cred, not even as an art project would I recommend this.
November 3, 2018
Típica publicación carne de expositor de tienda de aeropuerto o de centro comercial. Un recorrido más o menos cronológico que busca puntos en común por portadas seleccionadas dentro de la colección de Michael Ochs, que se intuye algo aleatoria y muy del gusto norteamericano. Pese a que los textos y anotaciones son demasiado escasos, siempre es agradable revisar portadas de discos de las que nadie se acuerda.
May 8, 2024
Lots of pictures and not as much writing. I thought the book would be a little bigger. Overall it was very interesting.
July 1, 2017
There's not a lot to actually *read* in this 50-year survey of LP record-cover design, but the absence of text is more than compensated for by high-quality photo reproductions of a huge representative sample of what was a thriving art-form until the demise of vinyl records in the 1990s - and may yet become so again now the format has regained popularity.
The pictures are arranged first by decade, then thematically by image, rather than by more detailed chronology, by musician, or by designer. This gives the advantage of enabling one to see correspondences, similarities, visual echoes between individual designs that can be fruitfully mined for their contemporary social and psychological significance. Perhaps here some additional text might have been of use, but on the other hand its absence ensures the observer must use his or her wit, perception and knowledge to establish connections and draw conclusions about the Zeitgeist. Some of the 1970s images, implying rape or other sexual exploitation, are highly disturbing to the contemporary sensibility, and it's telling to speculate on how they could not have been so when originally produced.
Scrutinising the cover of an LP record used to be a major part of the pleasure of acquiring and acquainting oneself with it. The form - a basic 12" x 12" framework - lent itself to as much detail as the artist cared to put in or to leave out, to instant impact, to portability, to duplication or triplication via the gatefold format, and presented itself as an artefact as solid as the record it contained. The miniature versions encasing tape cassettes or CDs were never quite the same. This book - this album, indeed- reminds us of how vivid and powerful a medium it was, and still is.
The pictures are arranged first by decade, then thematically by image, rather than by more detailed chronology, by musician, or by designer. This gives the advantage of enabling one to see correspondences, similarities, visual echoes between individual designs that can be fruitfully mined for their contemporary social and psychological significance. Perhaps here some additional text might have been of use, but on the other hand its absence ensures the observer must use his or her wit, perception and knowledge to establish connections and draw conclusions about the Zeitgeist. Some of the 1970s images, implying rape or other sexual exploitation, are highly disturbing to the contemporary sensibility, and it's telling to speculate on how they could not have been so when originally produced.
Scrutinising the cover of an LP record used to be a major part of the pleasure of acquiring and acquainting oneself with it. The form - a basic 12" x 12" framework - lent itself to as much detail as the artist cared to put in or to leave out, to instant impact, to portability, to duplication or triplication via the gatefold format, and presented itself as an artefact as solid as the record it contained. The miniature versions encasing tape cassettes or CDs were never quite the same. This book - this album, indeed- reminds us of how vivid and powerful a medium it was, and still is.
December 18, 2023
1000 Record Covers es un libro de 1996 escrito por Michael Ochs, un archivista musical, disc jockey, periodista y ex ejecutivo de Atlantic Records. El libro presenta una selección de las mejores portadas de álbumes de rock de los años 60 a los 90.
El libro está dividido en décadas, con cada década presentando una selección de 100 portadas de álbumes. Las portadas están organizadas alfabéticamente por artista. Cada portada está acompañada de una breve reseña que proporciona información sobre el álbum, la banda y el artista.
El libro es una excelente fuente para los fanáticos del rock que buscan una visión general de las mejores portadas de álbumes de la era del rock clásico. Las portadas están bien seleccionadas y representan una amplia gama de estilos musicales, desde el rock and roll de los años 60 hasta el grunge de los años 90.
Las reseñas son informativas y concisas, y brindan una buena introducción a cada álbum. El libro también incluye una introducción del propio Ochs, que proporciona una visión general de la historia de las portadas de álbumes de rock.
El libro está dividido en décadas, con cada década presentando una selección de 100 portadas de álbumes. Las portadas están organizadas alfabéticamente por artista. Cada portada está acompañada de una breve reseña que proporciona información sobre el álbum, la banda y el artista.
El libro es una excelente fuente para los fanáticos del rock que buscan una visión general de las mejores portadas de álbumes de la era del rock clásico. Las portadas están bien seleccionadas y representan una amplia gama de estilos musicales, desde el rock and roll de los años 60 hasta el grunge de los años 90.
Las reseñas son informativas y concisas, y brindan una buena introducción a cada álbum. El libro también incluye una introducción del propio Ochs, que proporciona una visión general de la historia de las portadas de álbumes de rock.
December 13, 2025
Books like question the reviewing process. As usual with Taschen, it is very nicely made. There are a few minor things that could be improved. The book totally excludes country music without explanation. The small section introductions are pretty content free (and printing them black on dark solid colour is an odd design gaffe for a publisher than is generally careful). Given the comments about formats, it is perhaps less than ideal that the cover reproductions are even smaller than CD inserts. There is also a theme idea (a couple of pages of record covers with bows and arrows) but nothing is made of it (and it isn't clear if anything could be.) But if you want to look at lots of album covers, this book can hardly be bettered. So should it get a 5 because there is not much more that could be done? Or is it a 3?
April 7, 2020
This is, in my opinion, a weird book, composed of, as the title indicates, of photos of 1,000 record covers - one guy's albums. This is not a book that I would have picked up; my son gave it to my husband for Christmas, and I thought that someone should look at it.
By my tally, I had owned, or my brother or roomates did, about 36 of these albums. (14 from the 1960's; 17 from the 1970's; 5 from the 1980's and 90's) Many I had not even heard of either the album or the group. The limited text is in English, German and French, so maybe some are European artists. My only observation is how many of the albums, from all the decades presented, used suggestive images, usually of women, that had seemingly little to do with the music
By my tally, I had owned, or my brother or roomates did, about 36 of these albums. (14 from the 1960's; 17 from the 1970's; 5 from the 1980's and 90's) Many I had not even heard of either the album or the group. The limited text is in English, German and French, so maybe some are European artists. My only observation is how many of the albums, from all the decades presented, used suggestive images, usually of women, that had seemingly little to do with the music
February 17, 2023
1000 Record Covers provides a fun, if superficial, look into rock history. Michael Ochs has been an obsessive music since the 1950 and this book provides a sampling of the 100,000 or so albums that he owns. We see how cover art evolved over time. Ochs provides interesting bits of information here and there, such as that picture albums were first produced in the 1940s. The covers mostly focus on rock albums, which I think is a shame. I wish Ochs could have included more covers from jazz, blues, and metal acts.
Title: 1000 Record Covers
Author: Michael Ochs
Year 2001, originally published in 1996
Genre: Nonfiction - Music
Page count: 768 pages
Date(s) read: 2/14/23-2/15/23
Reading journal entry #47 in 2023
Title: 1000 Record Covers
Author: Michael Ochs
Year 2001, originally published in 1996
Genre: Nonfiction - Music
Page count: 768 pages
Date(s) read: 2/14/23-2/15/23
Reading journal entry #47 in 2023
January 6, 2023
An amazing walk through the history of the last decades via music, album art, and titles! (cultural, social, political - as in anti-war albums- etc)
While I - of course - don't know all of the albums, this book of visual art really got me. It flows like a novel of our times. Black artists sometimes would only see white people on their covers, probably a manager's choice. The photos, graphic illustrations, and later, the psychedelic art are great.
The sounds I can imagine, the scenes are there.
Hard to explain better - just get it.
While I - of course - don't know all of the albums, this book of visual art really got me. It flows like a novel of our times. Black artists sometimes would only see white people on their covers, probably a manager's choice. The photos, graphic illustrations, and later, the psychedelic art are great.
The sounds I can imagine, the scenes are there.
Hard to explain better - just get it.
February 18, 2023
I bought this book to see covers that I wouldn't normally run into. I read this book by looking at covers, reading the fun notes and finding good jams for listening. I felt like Tarantino directing his movie and finding in records some lost forgotten music.
Even thought this book has little text, just looking at covers your brain starts to develop context: American propaganda, hippie movement, gender issues, racial context and you can see that the records shown here say a lot about the collector who owns them.
It's an enjoyable book whom you can pick up any day to find some inspiration.
Even thought this book has little text, just looking at covers your brain starts to develop context: American propaganda, hippie movement, gender issues, racial context and you can see that the records shown here say a lot about the collector who owns them.
It's an enjoyable book whom you can pick up any day to find some inspiration.
March 12, 2018
A Christmas gift from my wife, this is an excellent book for anyone who loves music throughout the decades. I learned a ton looking through it and saw some very interesting record covers. There isn't much text in the book, mostly just pictures and credits for the art work. Would have been nice to get a short sentence or two about each one, that's my only suggestion, because I'm sure there are interesting stories about each one, even if it's just a factoid or two. Really enjoyed it.
April 7, 2019
1000 capas de discos ao longo das décadas. A escolha podia ser mais variada, a nível de estilos musicais, anos, países e continentes. Foram retiradas de uma colecção privada e nota-se que faltam capas míticas e critérios de selecção. Alguns anos estão fora da respetiva década onde foram enquadrados. Ganharia também ter mais informação/legendas e não apenas imagens.
Não obstante, muitos rebuçados para os olhos, como as capas feitas pela Hipgnosis.
Não obstante, muitos rebuçados para os olhos, como as capas feitas pela Hipgnosis.
January 15, 2025
I paged through looking at the pictured album covers. Enjoyed seeing a few I'd forgotten. Got a special tingle when I saw one I still have myself upstairs. Missed seeing some I thought should have been included if there was any rhyme or reason to this other than someone's personal collection. I was surprised (but maybe I shouldn't have been) and the sexual aspect of many of these, and the oh so many different ways to display the female body. And rarely with subtlety or cleverness.
March 18, 2025
This book sucks. I didn't like almost any of the music in this book. Too much rock n roll ,blues,metal..
A book from 2018...where is the 2000's and 2010's decades music?
All vinyl records? Where are CD's?
Theres only American music and what americans like in here,
did not even see Indian Classical Music, or Mohammed Abdelwahab or Teresa Teng....all very important.
Only a few records in this book are very good. i saw The Prodigy's album.
A book from 2018...where is the 2000's and 2010's decades music?
All vinyl records? Where are CD's?
Theres only American music and what americans like in here,
did not even see Indian Classical Music, or Mohammed Abdelwahab or Teresa Teng....all very important.
Only a few records in this book are very good. i saw The Prodigy's album.
November 22, 2018
If you're looking for a history of album design, I don't think this is it. I bought it because I think album covers are cool to look at, and this provides hundreds of them, from simple "This is what we look like" photos to wilder art and concept images. Flipped through this in my spare time over a couple of months and enjoyed it.
May 29, 2023
We’ll that was underwhelming and self-indulgent. What was the point? The text at the start of each each decade was really quite dull and bore little or no relation to the album covers that followed. The grouping of the covers was also a bit random and on occasion the decades were mixed. Very disappointing.
January 13, 2020
It's basically a huge pinterest board in printed format. There are a bunch of iconic covers missing from the book. Would have loved to know a bit more about some of the more famous artworks and their respective designers.
August 31, 2020
Some history here but pretty much just record covers. For someone who was in the music and record business from mid-1960s to mid-1980s it was a waltz down memory lane. Of course I'd probably pick different covers for about half of these! LOL!
October 19, 2022
This book makes a good coffee table read.
Not a lot of text,but as is common with Taschen,beautifully reproduced album covers(sleeves).
A fabulous source material book for those who are new to the vinyl game.
For us older ones, a great memory jogger of all those albums we used to,or still,have.
Not a lot of text,but as is common with Taschen,beautifully reproduced album covers(sleeves).
A fabulous source material book for those who are new to the vinyl game.
For us older ones, a great memory jogger of all those albums we used to,or still,have.
December 29, 2017
History of music through album covers 50’s to 90’s. The photos are beautiful and I found it to be very nostalgic.
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