Do you think the band is aware of the "bad planet cut" in their album cover?

[wolven74]

The only difference I can clearly see is that they've changed the planet color from black to blue, which does make a distinct difference. It looks a lot cleaner.

[Marion Crane]

I seriously can't believe this thread is 5 pages deep

[Implode]

If the thread puts you off, and you aren't going to add anything meaningful to the discussion, perhaps it's better if you stop checking the thread.

[Makukula]

it is still compressed like hell.... and no, it's not because it's a jpeg file, actually the image is not compressed, only the planet in the background

What causes the horrible blurry/blocky look of the planet?

It may be a number of things (there is no way to know what the designer was trying to accomplish) but the most probable cause is that the original image was not the size it needed to be so it was scaled up a bit and then added a blurred layer to compensate for the artifacts caused by the scaling. But it can also be that the designer wanted a depth of field effect (the Majesty logo closer to us and the planet far away) but executed poorly.

[Frank]

Letting something like this through the cracks taints Dream Theater's image in a myriad of ways (makes them seem lazy, they have a lack of attention to detail, they don't care or can't be bothered, they're cheap, they're amateurish, the list goes on but these are the big points).

Except for the fact that it doesn't.

While I wouldn't go quite as far as Bolsters in his statements, I do think he has a basic point. Let's say the band releases the album and the cut is very noticeable on the physical copy. That would make them look like they couldn't be bothered with the details. Whether or not that's a bad thing is a different discussion, but I do think that point is valid and sound. I personally would feel a bit uncomfortable to show that sort of cover to a friend introducing them to DT. It would simply look sloppy especially for an error that presumably is easy to fix (and I'm glad it is now). There's a huge difference between not liking a cover for what it is and being put-off by a cover because of flawed execution, especially for a band that has access to a huge myriad of resources and is as well-established as Dream Theater.

Also, the fact that the error was in actuality somewhat subtle might have actually made it a bit more jarring, in my opinion. Think of the uncanny valley. If there was a much more noticeable error (difficult to surmise in a picture with a basic concept as this, but I'm speaking more abstractly now) it would still be bad but it wouldn't have the same gnawing feeling that a subtle thing would, perhaps.

[DarkLord_Lalinc]

I seriously can't believe this thread is 5 pages deep

lol

[The Fatal Tragedy]

I'll admit it. I had always been disappointed with how DT's record labels fail to provide the public with high resolution versions of album cover artwork in the past. But, yesterday, while snooping around Road Runner Records' website, I found a 3000x3000 at 300dpi version of DT's new album artwork. btw, this is still the old version with the sliced planet.



Also, if the mods are interested, this image is stored on their file storage server in the exact same way as every other picture posted on Road Runner Records' website is.

[Zook]

Would be funny if they just used Blob's fixed version.

[rumborak]

Do we know who created the image? I have to say, it just reeeeks of Syme's "quick afternoon job" work.

[Implode]

Nice find! Then case closed. We have nothing to worry about.

[BlobVanDam]

Do we know who created the image? I have to say, it just reeeeks of Syme's "quick afternoon job" work.

It's Hugh Syme.

Given that not only was the cut-off planet fixed, but also the colours tweaked to be a more saturated blue, I think it's likely the cover wasn't finalized when we saw it, otherwise the only change would have been fixing the cut-off.
The other possible scenario is that DT found out about the issue, and cared enough to have it fixed.

I think both scenarios should ease people's minds about how much DT care about presentation.

[wolfking]

That new cover looks a lot better, good to see.

And to the people posting that they can't believe this thread is 5 pages deep, blah blah blah....if that original image was released on an album cover, someone should be fired over it.  Wether you think it's a big deal or not, it's just poor.  The album cover is a representation of the music inside, and when I'm listening to the album, I don't want to look at a novice like cover with half the image cut out, to me, that could possibly impact on the enjoyment of the album.  Not much, but a little.

So again, thank god it's been fixed.

[ariich]

Good to see that the image has been fixed!

For those saying that it doesn't even slightly matter, and that artwork is meaningless anyway, then if that's the case, why would they bother having any artwork? Why spend time and money designing a cover if it's so pointless?

The artwork is part of the product, and an important part to a lot of people. If there was a similar error in the production of the music itself, people would have a problem with it, so this would have been the same had it remained.

As Blob said though, it was likely an early draft. Maybe the band knows that Syme can be quite sloppy and the fanbase can be incredibly obsessive, and so likes to release the artwork early so we can effectively "proof read" it for them.

[Lynxo]

Maybe the band knows that Syme can be quite sloppy and the fanbase can be incredibly obsessive, and so likes to release the artwork early so we can effectively "proof read" it for them.

That would actually be quite funny. Like a test screening of a new movie.

[Mladen]

That's much more like it! Well done, Dream Theater. 

[ZirconBlue]

The artwork is part of the product, and an important part to a lot of people. If there was a similar error in the production of the music itself, people would have a problem with it, so this would have been the same had it remained.

Yeah, just imagine if one of the songs just abruptly cut off.

[Sycsa]

The artwork is part of the product, and an important part to a lot of people. If there was a similar error in the production of the music itself, people would have a problem with it, so this would have been the same had it remained.

Yeah, just imagine if one of the songs just abruptly cut off.

Why, that is unheard of. Imagine the chances of such a song becoming a hit.

[Full Speed]

So happy they fixed it. Looks much better now.

[atmyne]

So happy they fixed it. Looks much better now.

Wow yes. wasn't expecting this at all!
I could always notice it on my lcd acer computer monitor from the getgo:regardless of brigthness and image size, and my screen isn't even up that bright!

[Dublagent66]

Do we know who created the image? I have to say, it just reeeeks of Syme's "quick afternoon job" work.

It's Hugh Syme.

Given that not only was the cut-off planet fixed, but also the colours tweaked to be a more saturated blue, I think it's likely the cover wasn't finalized when we saw it, otherwise the only change would have been fixing the cut-off.
The other possible scenario is that DT found out about the issue, and cared enough to have it fixed.

I think both scenarios should ease people's minds about how much DT care about presentation.

Makes perfect sense.

Nice find! Then case closed. We have nothing to worry about.

As Blob indicated, there was really never a reason to be worried in the first place.

[DarkLord_Lalinc]

I think it's more likely the band noticed and had the thing fixed, it doesn't make lots of sense to release an "unfinished" version of the cover. Oh, Hugh Syme....    Glad it's ok now.

[Mebert78]

Good job by the band, and whoever else played a role, in getting the artwork fixed.  I agree that the artwork in part of the package, and I always get a lasting mood or vibe from the artwork in connection with the music.  Thanks, DT.

[ZirconBlue]

I think it's more likely the band noticed and had the thing fixed, it doesn't make lots of sense to release an "unfinished" version of the cover.

It may not "make sense", but getting draft versions of the cover has been something of a pattern with DT. 

[DarkLord_Lalinc]

I think it's more likely the band noticed and had the thing fixed, it doesn't make lots of sense to release an "unfinished" version of the cover.

It may not "make sense", but getting draft versions of the cover has been something of a pattern with DT.

Of course they get draft versions so they can give their input or something like that, but what doesn't make sense is releasing one of those drafts to the internet. It wouldn't have hurt them to release the thing 2 days later with the 100% finished version of the cover and no one would have complained. That's why I think it was a Syme mistake, and they all saw it on time to get it fixed.

[ZirconBlue]

I think it's more likely the band noticed and had the thing fixed, it doesn't make lots of sense to release an "unfinished" version of the cover.

It may not "make sense", but getting draft versions of the cover has been something of a pattern with DT.

Of course they get draft versions so they can give their input or something like that, but what doesn't make sense is releasing one of those drafts to the internet.

And, yet, they've done it on at least 2 other occasions.

[Makukula]

Doesn't make sense to me to release unfinished artwork on an announcement about the song titles... and the artwork! It was a final version with 2 mistakes. They fixed one of them and replaced the prior version without much noise...

[DarkLord_Lalinc]

Doesn't make sense to me to release unfinished artwork on an announcement about the song titles... and the artwork! It was a final version with 2 mistakes. They fixed one of them and replaced the prior version without much noise...

This. It's like if the band released a pre-mastered version of the song and people complained "it's not loud enough!" or something, and then they release a full mastered version. I don't think it's cool to release drafts to the public (unless they're Ytse Jam bootleg material or something olol), that's why I think Hugh Syme made a mistake that was spotted and corrected.

[Kotowboy]

INB4 LOCK

[DarkLord_Lalinc]

 

[Kotowboy]

YYYYEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH 

[Plasmastrike]

Good to see they fixed the planet cutoff. Unfortunately, the planet still looks like a very low resolution .jpg.

Still a sleek cover.

[lonestar]

YYYYEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH 

[rumborak]

The Genesis Planet from The Search For Spock. Was actually the first thing I thought when I saw the cover.

[Marion Crane]

I am so glad they fixed the cover. I was literally losing sleep over it

[chrisbDTM]

i wonder if RR just selected the wrong file and accidentally uploaded a work in progress.