DT in the studio again!

[?]

I can't say I'd be sad if that wasn't the album cover

[robwebster]

Possible new DT album cover:



It was in Hugh Syme's portfolio and it doesn't really say anything about it.

Hahahaha - I did that before BCSL!! I found the Black Clouds cover a couple of weeks before it was officially released. When SC was revealed, we later found it had been on mendolaart for a little while. Did the same thing two years later, and... ha!

I kept the secret. Partly cos I didn't want to be "that guy," but also cos I quite liked knowing something nobody else knew. Title and everything. That said, I think that looks rather more like his commercial work. Plus, BCSL turned up with a logo and title all over it.

[GasparXR]

I'd say it could be booklet artwork so the sequel to These Walls -- the workers are building the wall back up, after they were broken, or tore down.

[Perpetual Change]

Well, things can really only go up from the clown.

[me7]

Possible new DT album cover:



It was in Hugh Syme's portfolio and it doesn't really say anything about it.

Looks like a King Crimson cover to me, doesn't feel like DT.

[Perpetual Change]

It's pretty slopilly down regardless of what it is-- the rocks just kinda fade into the smooth tunnell wall in a jarring, phoney way, and the water up against the rocky wall looks bad, too. But most of Syme's recent work, including DT stuff, has been pretty sloppy.

[dparrott]

I'd say it could be booklet artwork so the sequel to These Walls -- the workers are building the wall back up, after they were broken, or tore down.

No, it's a sequel to BMU, BMD called "Build Me Up Again".   

But yea, that looks more of booklet art.

[VincentMDO]

If you go to the website where this picture has been taken - https://altpick.com/hughsyme - (which is not his official one, btw) you'll see that there's a pic of a snake, right after this one, resembling the shape of a colon, while the walls of this pic resemble the inside of a colon (maybe damaged by some IBD - lol). My point is that they may belong to the same idea, which I think there's nothing DT related.

[dparrott]

Actually, that IS the album cover.  The album's called "Construction Time Again".   

[GasparXR]

I like the one with the two hands around the clock thing, with a ferris wheel faded in the background. Does that belong to anything?

[Lucien]

I like the one with the two hands around the clock thing, with a ferris wheel faded in the background. Does that belong to anything?

Clockwork Angels album booklet art for Carnies.

[JPX]

Well, things can really only go up from the clown.

LOL. Exactly why I had a DTF member photoshop that clown out of the album cover for iTunes. It was a horrendous design choice.

Why can't DT be progressive in their approach of album design. Do you know how many amazing young graphic artists/painters/photographers there are out there - yet they choose these awful Syme designs time after time.

[Lucien]

Well, things can really only go up from the clown.

LOL. Exactly why I had a DTF member photoshop that clown out of the album cover for iTunes. It was a horrendous design choice.

Why can't DT be progressive in their approach of album design. Do you know how many amazing young graphic artists/painters/photographers there are out there - yet they choose these awful Syme designs time after time.

Lol you made me imagine my graduate school sister making an album cover for Dream Theater

[ZirconBlue]

A lot of people here seem to hold FII in high regard because it has the most songs and assume that the new album will be the better the more songs it has.

I consider FII to be one of their weakest albums and I think that the large amount of short songs is just an expression of the lack of inspiration they had back then. Trying many different things but most of them not properly fleshed out.

Yeah, with FII, less would have really been more.

Which is why I've always kinda been amused by MP's idea that the album was bad because the label wouldn't let them do a double album. Even though most of the outtakes are better than songs which actually made the record, listening to the FII demos in their entirety is an absolute chore, so I have a hard time believing that better production and mastering alone would make them that much better. .

I couldn't disagree more.  And MP's main problem was the label/producer interference in the songs themselves, not a desire to do a double album.  The only reason they had so much material for the album in the first place is because the label wouldn't let them go into the studio to record the album, so they just kept writing songs.

[JPX]

Well, things can really only go up from the clown.

LOL. Exactly why I had a DTF member photoshop that clown out of the album cover for iTunes. It was a horrendous design choice.

Why can't DT be progressive in their approach of album design. Do you know how many amazing young graphic artists/painters/photographers there are out there - yet they choose these awful Syme designs time after time.

Lol you made me imagine my graduate school sister making an album cover for Dream Theater

Ha - even a high school rendering would probably be a fresher take than what we've had the past few albums.

And while there are many established artists out there, I mentioned young just because there are scores out there who would do amazing work and are looking to make a name for themselves and promote their style. They'd also be more affordable cause I imagine getting Mars-1 or Doze Green to do your album cover ain't cheap.

[krands85]

Possible new DT album cover:



It was in Hugh Syme's portfolio and it doesn't really say anything about it.

Is nobody going to put 'Dream Theater' in the classic font on that, with a realistic sounding album title? 

I actually quite like that image, but not sure how it'd look as the cover. Though it doesn't really bother me too much, the only DT album cover I really like is 8VM. I generally prefer fan made ones - the ADTOE thread for that had some great designs.

[ariich]

It's pretty slopilly down regardless of what it is-- the rocks just kinda fade into the smooth tunnell wall in a jarring, phoney way, and the water up against the rocky wall looks bad, too. But most of Syme's recent work, including DT stuff, has been pretty sloppy.

I don't agree at all, unless it's supposed to look realistic, in which case yeah it's sloppy. But I feel fairly confident that it is meant to be fairly surrealist, in which case I really like it, more so than any of Syme's album covers for DT!

[Lucien]

Possible new DT album cover:



It was in Hugh Syme's portfolio and it doesn't really say anything about it.

Is nobody going to put 'Dream Theater' in the classic font on that, with a realistic sounding album title? 

I actually quite like that image, but not sure how it'd look as the cover. Though it doesn't really bother me too much, the only DT album cover I really like is 8VM. I generally prefer fan made ones - the ADTOE thread for that had some great designs.

Very true.

[JPX]

Possible new DT album cover:



It was in Hugh Syme's portfolio and it doesn't really say anything about it.

Snuggets

[emtee]

^That's kind of interesting. Hmmm...

[Lucien]

We haven't taken the direction (tunnel) of a concept album in a long time, let's polish it up?

[TL]

That's more like it.

[Lucien]

 

[Ad134]

Is nobody going to put 'Dream Theater' in the classic font on that, with a realistic sounding album title? 

Like this?

[tartarus250]

Could it be called "the hole that james dug"

[wasteland]

If that is an ear channel, are those people removinc apocalypctic mind debris? 

[robwebster]

Possible new DT album cover:



It was in Hugh Syme's portfolio and it doesn't really say anything about it.

Is nobody going to put 'Dream Theater' in the classic font on that, with a realistic sounding album title? 

No, but I am going to put massive black bars on it, squash the DT font a little bit, add a snarky and unrealistic album title and make sure all text is stylistically off-centre.

[bosk1]

That's more like it.  Except that I think it should be titled "rebirth."

[KevShmev]

Which is why I've always kinda been amused by MP's idea that the album was bad because the label wouldn't let them do a double album. Even though most of the outtakes are better than songs which actually made the record, listening to the FII demos in their entirety is an absolute chore, so I have a hard time believing that better production and mastering alone would make them that much better. .

I couldn't disagree more.  And MP's main problem was the label/producer interference in the songs themselves, not a desire to do a double album. 

True, but almost all of the changes made by the producer were either for the better or made the song no worse.

[JayOctavarium]

omg


There needs to be a shovel somewhere in the book artwork

[Lucien]

Is nobody going to put 'Dream Theater' in the classic font on that, with a realistic sounding album title? 

Like this?

[Super Dude]

I wouldn't want it to be the new DT cover, but it's honestly not as bad as you're all making it out to be.

[darkshade]

Possible new DT album cover:

Looks like the ContruKtion guys from the early 2000s King Crimson covers working on the Looney Tunes tunnel.

I sincerely hope this isn't the cover art for DT12.

[WildeSilas]

Possible new DT album cover:

 

[cramx3]

 

I should send that to my friend and make him believe that is really the album cover and title.