Are we gonna get different cover art?

[rumborak]

My reactions to DT's cover art has mostly been, well, reserved. I find most of them (BCSL, IAW, ACOS ...) overwrought, too much stuff, no subtlety.
So, from what I could gather over the years, MP was the driving force in the cover art design. Which I guess means we will get new cover art style?

rumborak

[Perpetual Change]

I actually think their covers are getting progressively better.

Not a big fan of Syme, though.

[orcus116]

The last album art I liked was Train Of Thought. Syme's definitely getting a bit stale so a new artist would be fantastic.

[SystematicThought]

It will be interesting because wasn't MP in charge of the overall package and how the CDs were presented? JP was production and all that stuff--MP was the creative end?

I like Syme's work, but BC&SL looked cool when it debuted back in March of 2009, but now it's kind of stale and I'm not the biggest fan of it

[Ħ]

DT albums are hit-or-miss for me.  If there are a thousand random things going on (IaW, Awake, BCSL), it just looks sloppy.  But album covers that are more unified or are at least a unified theme, like ToT, SFaM, or even Octavarium are really cool.  But my favorite cover is definitely SDOIT.

If they do a self-titled album, what do you think the cover ought to look like?

[Jamesman42]

Best ones are definitely Train of Thought and Octavarium. "Quieter" and more subtle. Although I did like BC&SL's cover art a lot better than most.

[j]

Octavarium's is probably my favorite.  I also like ToT, FII, and a couple others.

I'm with rumbo in that the more "cluttered" ones that seem like all kinds of stuff was crammed in don't sit well with me.  But I wouldn't say any of DT's albums have "bad" cover art by any means.  Not even WDADU.

-J

[rumborak]

The last album art I liked was Train Of Thought. Syme's definitely getting a bit stale so a new artist would be fantastic.

Yeah, ToT was pretty good. So was SFAM. And IAW was ok because it was the first one. But the rest was pretty bad.
BCSL I looked at almost in disbelief. At that point I thought DT would finally move on from that type of album design.

rumborak

[Gorille85]

ToT was great, a few others too. I'm really not fan of covers with objects representing each songs and stuff like that...

[orcus116]

BCSL I looked at almost in disbelief. At that point I thought DT would finally move on from that type of album design.

Yeah. I almost looks like a bad graphic design final project.

[hefdaddy42]

They need to get H.R. Giger to do the cover art.

[orcus116]

Better yet why not just a picture of H.R. Giger's face as the album art.

[hefdaddy42]

Better yet why not just a picture of H.R. Giger's face as the album art.

Let's not be hasty.

How about Sergio Aragones as cover artist?

[rumborak]

A dumpster truck, with all the objects from previous albums representing MP songs thrown in

rumborak

[dvargas]

Favorites are FII, SFAM and 6DOIT...

I don't like the ones that look like cheap CGI.

The artsier the better...

[Jamesman42]

A dumpster truck, with all the objects from previous albums representing MP songs thrown in

rumborak

Dangit, I was rolling IRL and I thought you said tractor, from the other thread.

[The Letter M]

How about just a giant Majesty symbol in a single color...maybe silver... on a black background. Nothing else. No words on the front of the cover/booklet. You'll only find the name of the band and album on the spine and the back.

Put all the fancy and colorful stuff inside the booklet. Make us want to read the lyrics and look at the booklet. Prove that you don't need flashy or fancy cover art to get anyone's attention. I think just having DT's recognized symbol as the cover would be a BOLD statement. It'd be like saying - This is a Dream Theater album, we're STILL Dream Theater.

-Marc.

[Jirpo]

I like most of DT's covers. Systematic Chaos and Train of Thought, as well as Octavarium being my favourites. I didn't like I&W or BC&SL too much, and I think 6DOIT is the worst.

[Jamesman42]

How about just a giant Majesty symbol in a single color...maybe silver... on a black background. Nothing else. No words on the front of the cover/booklet. You'll only find the name of the band and album on the spine and the back.

Put all the fancy and colorful stuff inside the booklet. Make us want to read the lyrics and look at the booklet. Prove that you don't need flashy or fancy cover art to get anyone's attention. I think just having DT's recognized symbol as the cover would be a BOLD statement. It'd be like saying - This is a Dream Theater album, we're STILL Dream Theater.

-Marc.

LOVE this idea. That would be most epic.

[pogoowner]

DT has never really had good cover art, in my opinion. SFAM, SDOIT, and TOT are probably my favorites, but even they aren't particularly striking.

[Global Laziness]

How about just a giant Majesty symbol in a single color...maybe silver... on a black background. Nothing else. No words on the front of the cover/booklet. You'll only find the name of the band and album on the spine and the back.

Put all the fancy and colorful stuff inside the booklet. Make us want to read the lyrics and look at the booklet. Prove that you don't need flashy or fancy cover art to get anyone's attention. I think just having DT's recognized symbol as the cover would be a BOLD statement. It'd be like saying - This is a Dream Theater album, we're STILL Dream Theater.

-Marc.

LOVE this idea. That would be most epic.

It's an interesting thought. If I was aware of your description before I saw the cover (maybe one of the guys in the band said something similar, for example), I'd probably think it was cool. But if the Internet didn't exist or something and I saw that album in the store, I'd probably be going "WTF".

[walmartsecurity]

Gustavo Sazes should do the cover art.

A good example of his work is Firewind's new album.

[orcus116]

How about just a giant Majesty symbol in a single color...maybe silver... on a black background. Nothing else. No words on the front of the cover/booklet. You'll only find the name of the band and album on the spine and the back.

Put all the fancy and colorful stuff inside the booklet. Make us want to read the lyrics and look at the booklet. Prove that you don't need flashy or fancy cover art to get anyone's attention. I think just having DT's recognized symbol as the cover would be a BOLD statement. It'd be like saying - This is a Dream Theater album, we're STILL Dream Theater.

-Marc.

A small symbol might work, definitely not large because that screams cheesy. Silver on black is kinda eh as well but there are limitless colors to choose from.

[Jirpo]

How about just a giant Majesty symbol in a single color...maybe silver... on a black background. Nothing else. No words on the front of the cover/booklet. You'll only find the name of the band and album on the spine and the back.

Put all the fancy and colorful stuff inside the booklet. Make us want to read the lyrics and look at the booklet. Prove that you don't need flashy or fancy cover art to get anyone's attention. I think just having DT's recognized symbol as the cover would be a BOLD statement. It'd be like saying - This is a Dream Theater album, we're STILL Dream Theater.

-Marc.

This is a great idea. I agree a small symbol will be better.

[RaiseTheKnife]

How about just a giant Majesty symbol in a single color...maybe silver... on a black background. Nothing else. No words on the front of the cover/booklet. You'll only find the name of the band and album on the spine and the back.

Put all the fancy and colorful stuff inside the booklet. Make us want to read the lyrics and look at the booklet. Prove that you don't need flashy or fancy cover art to get anyone's attention. I think just having DT's recognized symbol as the cover would be a BOLD statement. It'd be like saying - This is a Dream Theater album, we're STILL Dream Theater.

-Marc.

NOPE.   So underwhelming.  Nothing about DT's music is underwhelming, why have a cover convey such?

BC&SL best cover since Awake in my opinion.  More like this please.

[yeshaberto]

how about a picture of the face of the new drummer?


actually, I can't think of any DT cover I don't like, but I am game to see what the future holds

[ariich]

Yeah with BC&SL they moved back to the I&W/Awake-style cluttered art, which I'm not a huge fan, although it was a little slicker than the older ones, but not a great deal so. I prefer the rest of their covers really, but I expect BC&SL was a one-off so I don't think we need to worry.

[Zydar]

I prefer simplistic cover art (Snowfall On Judgment Day for example), no matter how it reflects the complex music.

[jsem]

How about a picture of MP with a big red cross over his face?

[TheKillingHand]

They need to employ Stevetheater!!

[Sigz]

I definitely hope so.

[hefdaddy42]

Gustavo Sazes should do the cover art.

On the basis of a quick Google Images search I just did of his album artwork, I would vote "HELL NO" on this suggestion.

[reneranucci]

I like Octavarium

And cover art is one thing fans are not hoping them to go back to WDADU days.

[Lowdz]

A beautiful Hugh Syme painting like the Grace Under Pressure cover would do it for me, rather than the "cram in lots of symbols from the songs" approach.

[jsem]

Does any1 know who's on the WDADU cover?