One of the worst covers of the year... apparently.

[Martinman300]

https://www.musicradar.com/news/guitars/the-15-worst-album-covers-of-2011-516299/15

[SystematicThought]

I think it's far from awful. I really like the cover and find it to be a big change from the bleak covers from before. Even if this one is a bit depressing in the fact that the rope is about to split taking the clown with him.

The cover for me is deep and the 12x12 artwork is stellar. I really love this cover

[Elite]

While I agree on some of the inclusions there, what is ADTOE doing there?

[Mebert78]

I loved the cover from day one.  It's simple and clear and it sticks in your brain.  And, despite the writer's sarcastic comment, yes it does make you think about the artwork's symbolism -- for instance, who is the clown suppose to respresent, and why is it a clown as opposed to just a regular person, etc. 

Prog covers are a unique thing and not for everyone, so it doesn't bother me that some random writer doesn't like it.   

[Bongasti]

Black Clouds could maybe be there (though it's not from 2011) but definitely not ADTOE. The picture is absolutely fantastic.

[kirksnosehair]

I wasn't crazy about the cover, but I don't think it belongs on that list either.

[Mind Trail]

I loved the cover from day one.  It's simple and clear and it sticks in your brain.  And, despite the writer's sarcastic comment, yes it does make you think about the artwork's symbolism -- for instance, who is the clown suppose to respresent, and why is it a clown as opposed to just a regular person, etc. 

Prog covers are a unique thing and not for everyone, so it doesn't bother me that some random writer doesn't like it.

Yes.

[DarkLord_Lalinc]

I couldn't care less for the album cover.

It's a shame, because there is some pretty art inside the album.

[TL]

Sure, the article writer is a dumbass, and ADToE definitely doesn't belong on that list, but look at it this way; Almost all of the entries in that article are pretty mainstream. As DT becomes more popular, they're going to get more attention, and sometimes that means winding up on stupid lists like these.

[yorost]

It is bad.  It made a list for bad covers.  Oh well.

It's a shame, because there is some pretty art inside the album.

Yeah, they had much better choices for the cover, but even just removing the clown and rope I would have liked the cover a lot better.  Of course, things would probably need to be rearranged.

[Lynxo]

I think the cover is awful. It's a good thing the music is as good as it is.

[LieLowTheWantedMan]

The cover is horrible. Their worst aside from WDaDU.

[FsF]

Agree with DarkLord on this one. Think the front cover is pretty dire, but I do love the landscape above 'This Is The Life' on the LP sleeve and some of the others.

[Phoenix87x]

I didn't like it initially, but it has since grown on me significantly.

I'm a fan of Syme's early work, but he's been phoning it in for quite some time now.

[Fluffy Lothario]

On a different note, the Beady Eye cover on that list is fantastic.

[Mladen]

I'm not too crazy about the cover, although I dig its brightness.

[rumborak]

I'm not surprised it made that list, it is a pretty damn bad album cover. I don't understand why they still stick with that Hugh Syme guy; he is so overdone at this point (IMHO).

rumborak

[Nekov]

I don't like ADTOE's cover. It realy doesn't say anything to me. As LLTWM said, worst cover after WDADU.

[black_biff_stadler]

I couldn't care less for the album cover.

It's a shame, because there is some pretty art inside the album.

Same here. I don't despise it but I only softened toward it once I began enjoying how good the music was. I guarantee that people would have a much lower opinion of it if the music was as poorly received as Systematic Chaos has been in general or Falling Into Infinity was at the time of its release. I still remember a fair amount of people having a strong "whooooaaa" (negative whoa that is) regarding it when the artwork was originally released and the Circus Maximus ripoff angle didn't really help matters. Not trying to be a hater as I strongly stand by the album's music but I just think a lot of folks let their love of the musical output sway their true opinion of the artwork. In the end, I'll take great music over great artwork any day if I can only have one obviously.

[TL]

I just think a lot of folks let their love of the musical output sway their true opinion of the artwork.

For me, not even slightly.
Sure, the ADToE cover definitely isn't their best, but I legitimately can't understand the mindset of someone who looks at it and thinks it's easily one of their worst.
Systematic Chaos swings back and forth between second last and last on my list of DT albums. That said, I like its cover. On the other end of the spectrum, I love IaW and Awake, but neither of those covers is great. IaW's cover especially is far too busy and cluttered. At least in my opinion, ADToE has a better cover than IaW.

[theseoafs]

I legitimately don't understand what's to hate about the cover. It's a simple concept that was executed rather well (minus some flubs with the rope and wheel, but these can't be noticed without looking at the high-res picture anyway). It's also a nice change of pace from most DT covers, which are overly dark and cluttered.

[Elite]

I just think a lot of folks let their love of the musical output sway their true opinion of the artwork.

For me, not even slightly.
Sure, the ADToE cover definitely isn't their best, but I legitimately can't understand the mindset of someone who looks at it and thinks it's easily one of their worst.
Systematic Chaos swings back and forth between second last and last on my list of DT albums. That said, I like its cover. On the other end of the spectrum, I love IaW and Awake, but neither of those covers is great. IaW's cover especially is far too busy and cluttered. At least in my opinion, ADToE has a better cover than IaW.

I think Awake's cover is easily Dream Theater's best.

[Jamesman42]

Not surprising.

But I guess it makes for a good analogy. Ugly girl, but man can she fuck. *motorboat noises*

[rumborak]

I legitimately don't understand what's to hate about the cover. It's a simple concept that was executed rather well (minus some flubs with the rope and wheel, but these can't be noticed without looking at the high-res picture anyway). It's also a nice change of pace from most DT covers, which are overly dark and cluttered.

I can only speak for myself, but it is just so utterly devoid of any message, despite having such clearly placed and obvious objects. A clown unicycling on a tight rope, over an airplane? What does that mean? I have yet to hear any deeper explanation than "randomly placed objects".

In my book, 6DOIT is far the best album cover they had, by a long shot.

rumborak

[VioletS16]

At first I wasn't sure about the cover art but I like it now. It's a breath of much needed fresh air: a step away from the darkness that the cover art of BCASL brought us. BCASL's cover art was fine, but this album is done in a refreshing style. It's not very dark. It fits the music perfectly, and certainly doesn't deserve to be on this list.

[WindMaster]

I think the cover art is pretty good, though their worst cover. The article writer is a complete jerk. (#sarcasm, really? Not necessary).

But I liked his Justin Bieber jokes...

[FlyingBIZKIT]

Honestly, it's one of my favorite album covers. I've always liked really simple album art, and I think this is a very refreshing cover.

[BlobVanDam]

I'm not surprised it made that list, it is a pretty damn bad album cover. I don't understand why they still stick with that Hugh Syme guy; he is so overdone at this point (IMHO).

rumborak

I don't think the ADTOE cover is great, and BCASL is perhaps my most disliked DT cover, but I still love a lot of what Syme does for the inside album artwork. And I think the SC and 8V covers were really good for DT.

I think they should maybe stick to him, but give more direction on what they want, because at the moment I get the feeling it's more like "do whatever", which results in the randomly placed objects you spoke of.

[rumborak]

I don't understand why they didn't give Dung Huong (who made the 6DOIT cover) another project. Syme always looks the same, and he does covers for other related acts (e.g. Rush) as well.

rumborak

[Jamesman42]

I will say that ADTOE has more refreshing cover art than the last 2 albums.

[theseoafs]

I legitimately don't understand what's to hate about the cover. It's a simple concept that was executed rather well (minus some flubs with the rope and wheel, but these can't be noticed without looking at the high-res picture anyway). It's also a nice change of pace from most DT covers, which are overly dark and cluttered.

I can only speak for myself, but it is just so utterly devoid of any message, despite having such clearly placed and obvious objects. A clown unicycling on a tight rope, over an airplane? What does that mean? I have yet to hear any deeper explanation than "randomly placed objects".

In my book, 6DOIT is far the best album cover they had, by a long shot.

rumborak

When considering the album's themes - sudden and revolutionary change - I don't think it would take too much discussion to justify the clown-unicyclist whose rope is about to break. Regardless, BCSL has committed far greater sins in the "random objects" department, and that cover never got a whole lot of flack.

[skydivingninja]

I only know Hugh Syme's other work from Rush, and every single Rush album he's had a hand is so much better than any DT artwork that isn't Octavarium or Train of Thought (which kick the ass of quite a few Rush covers).  So it baffles me how he made such boring covers like BC&SL or ADTOE.  With BC&SL it was understandable since MP liked having a heavy hand in the artwork, but he's got free reign for ADTOE...and he came up with that. 

On topic: The cover isn't good, but it certainly isn't one of the worst.  I'm sure there are quite a few prog bands out there with worse covers.

[rumborak]

When considering the album's themes - sudden and revolutionary change - I don't think it would take too much discussion to justify the clown-unicyclist whose rope is about to break.

To me it's a biiig stretch. A tight-rope walker whose rope is about to snap indicates some precarious that is at the point of breaking. That's not at all the  same as an upheaval; two very different concepts. And the clown on the unicycle; god knows.

Regardless, BCSL has committed far greater sins in the "random objects" department, and that cover never got a whole lot of flack.

It certainly got flak from me, but I agree, overall it didn't nearly as much as ADTOE.
My best guess is, the expectations just weren't high for BCSL. We all knew MP loved those collage art works, so when BCSL was another Syme collage, everybody just shrugged their shoulders and said "eh, another one". I certainly had gotten tired of the "Where's Waldo" approach to DT's album covers. It was sorta cutesy for IAW and Awake, but after that it had jumped the shark.

rumborak

[BlobVanDam]

The only link to the music I can think of on ADTOE is the rope representing the "bridge in the sky", as that was the original album title. Aside from that, I've got nothin'.
I dislike the BCASL artwork a lot more because I hate the IaW/Awake style mishmash collage style they were going for, but much like those albums, the elements for the most part obviously represent the songs. I think the reason BCASL got less crap is because it is a similar style to IaW/Awake, and because it feels more "nuggety" (I apologize for even going there). BCASL has a lot more going on, so there's a lot more to analyze and speculate on. But when it's a clown and a plane, it seems more obvious that it's just a clown and a plane, and not some grand conceptual idea.

[rumborak]

My guess regarding the plane would be that he probably started out with the tightrope walker high up over the clouds, and then found himself needing to shoehorn the DT logo in there (which is another pet peeve of mine). So, there you got the plane fin.

Who knows. I wouldn't even be surprised if Syme just took something he had lying around for a while.

rumborak