New Album “Distance Over Time’, First Set of 2019 Tour Dates announced!

[Mladen]

However, if I had Dream Theater's budget, I'd always get original art. When I make albums, even without any kind of budget, I still stage my own photography and pay artists to turn it into something unique. Or like Ayreon who gets an artist to design 100% unique album covers.

Why they choose to go with stock image collages at their level and with their budget is a bit perplexing, but such is life. People be odd.

This is pretty much my take on the issue. I would be cool if they put their money and thought into creating something authentic instead of opting for stock images.

And yet the NYT are applauded and linked to at design sites for the ingeniuity of their version of that same image.

I'm not sure how much they're worthy of that praise, though. They also put some stock images together. Can anyone let me know why this is considered genuine or original?

[ariich]

They also put some stock images together.

Did they? What do you base that on? My understanding is that the NYT would have taken an actual photograph (I could be wrong of course but I've not seen any indication that it's stock images). [EDIT: I partially take this back - seems from the description on the NYT site that it was a combination of photography, photo illustration and CG].

Thing is, I sort of disagree with Adami. These two covers look incredibly similar, based on the same concept, composition and imagery, and the quality is high in both. The fact that Syme used stock images is moot if the result is the same, as far as I'm concerned, and if doing so means lower cost, then it's fairly sensible.

[Adami]

Which part of what I said are you disagreeing with? I'm not sure I said that the two covers look different. I said two things, to my memory. Which I admit is faulty.

1) I, personally, as Adami, not as anyone else, find it perplexing that a band with Dream Theater's budget doesn't hire an original artist when they easily could.

2) Who cares if the NYT are being praised for their image?


You mention lower cost. How much does Syme cost? I'm fairly confident DT could get a very cool original piece of art from an unknown artist for a few hundred bucks tops. Is Syme doing this for THAT cheap that doing so is the best decision for them financially? They probably spend more money on coffee than they would on an original piece of art.

[ariich]

Sorry for not being clear, I wasn't saying you made any inaccurate claims or anything, I just meant I didn't share your view (and in fairness I did say "sort of disagree") that it was perplexing that DT didn't go for original art. And the comparison I was making, again probably not very clearly, was that using stock images is cheaper (generally) than creating something from scratch but can yield equally good results.

To be honest though, I've no idea how much this sort of stuff costs and whether it's even vaguely material to the total budget of a DT album.

[Adami]

APOLOGY NOT ACCEPTED GOOD SIR!


But yea, it might just be me. And I'm fine with that. But I know that whenever I make an album, I would kill for a high enough budget to pay an artist to collaborate with me and create a unique cover that is just mine.

[noxon]

But to 99,9% of the people who look at the artwork, they're not going to go "oh my god, that is a stock photo!" They're gonna look at the album cover and the material connected to the album release, and see the image for what it is. To them, it's original as they've not actually seen that - it takes a special level of geekery to go take an album cover and reverse image search it to find the images it's based on

And the reaction of the 99.9%, frankly, is all that matters

[RMGadelha]

With all that said... GIEF ME TRACKLIST. Jk, I can be a good boy and wait... maybe.

[Adami]

But to 99,9% of the people who look at the artwork, they're not going to go "oh my god, that is a stock photo!" They're gonna look at the album cover and the material connected to the album release, and see the image for what it is. To them, it's original as they've not actually seen that - it takes a special level of geekery to go take an album cover and reverse image search it to find the images it's based on

And the reaction of the 99.9%, frankly, is all that matters

Okay then.

[Dave_Manchester]

I like the new album cover, it'll probably end up edging into my top 5 DT covers (am I in the minority in thinking DT12 is absolutely beautiful?). Octavarium is still their best though, to my eyes. I love that artwork, it's up there with my very favourites, alongside the heady likes of Dark Side of the Moon and And Justice For All.

[Architeuthis]

I agree on DT12, Octavarium, and TA are beautiful!  DOT cover is at the bottom 2 for me, along with WDADU..  Those are the only two covers I really don't like..  I think SDOIT could have been better, but not bad.  SFAM is just bizarre but ok. 

[ReaperKK]

SDOIT is their best cover IMO.

[Fritzinger]

Don't like the Six Degrees cover at all, I just don't really get what it's supposed to be.
Octavarium is still my favourite and I like the dark vibe of Black Clouds a lot. Systematic Chaos has an awesome concept, too. So yeah I think those 3 are the best for me.

DoT looks cool, but doesn't blow me away. I agree that it would be cooler to have some less known (and maybe cheaper) artist make the cover. I always likes Syme's style but ever since those sloppy watermarks on DT12 I'm not that into the dude's work anymore.

Why not make a "contest" for fans and artists to submit their own ideas and covers and then one lucky guy wins? There's so much fan art out there, I imagine there will be plenty of cool stuff submitted.

[Kocak]

I still dream of the day we'll get a 55-minute "tight and focused" DT album.

[MirrorMask]

Why not make a "contest" for fans and artists to submit their own ideas and covers and then one lucky guy wins? There's so much fan art out there, I imagine there will be plenty of cool stuff submitted.

Well, an album cover should have some meaning or relation to the album itself, so while the idea is cool, the contenstants should have to know details of the album beforehand... for example, how can you have a fan contest for The Astonishing's cover without giving away to the world well in advance what the Nomacs are?

[Mladen]

But to 99,9% of the people who look at the artwork, they're not going to go "oh my god, that is a stock photo!" They're gonna look at the album cover and the material connected to the album release, and see the image for what it is. To them, it's original as they've not actually seen that - it takes a special level of geekery to go take an album cover and reverse image search it to find the images it's based on

And the reaction of the 99.9%, frankly, is all that matters

That's true and it's the way it should be, I don't think the majority of fans should be too bothered by whether or not the artwork is completely original. However, in recent years, I have developed the ability to sort of recognize the usage of stock photos and it leaves a kind of a sour taste. That's also probably the case with the remaining 0.1%.

It would be more appealing to me if they took the same idea and gave it to an artist that would create something completely their own - however, I understand that that kind of "trouble" wouldn't be worth it in order to try to satisfy a minority.

[Anguyen92]

Well, Loudwire had posted an article about this.  I presume other outlets (Ultimate-Guitar, Blabbermouth, etc.) will run away with this and cause a lot of clickbait articles and blow everything out of proportion.   

https://loudwire.com/did-new-york-times-magazine-rip-off-dream-theater-new-album-cover/

[Adami]

That's a damn shame.

[cramx3]

Why is that a shame?  Is it not note worthy that these two images were released around the same time?  Isn't this publicity for Dream Theater if nothing else?

[Adami]

Cause DT, since Portnoy left, have been all about the high road.

This is a pretty low road. Someone else pointed out that the robot hand holding a human skull has been done MANY times before. So this story implies that DT is SO huge and revolutionary, that the NYT, in their struggle to convey an original thought, went to steal work from DT.

I dunno. Maybe most people read it and love DT more for it. It leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Luckily I know DT themselves aren't involved with this. But it just seems petty, spiteful, and childish.


But since I appear to be in the minority here, and the minority (as has been stated) don't matter, I'll back away. Carry on.

[Ben_Jamin]

Well, Loudwire had posted an article about this.  I presume other outlets (Ultimate-Guitar, Blabbermouth, etc.) will run away with this and cause a lot of clickbait articles and blow everything out of proportion.   

https://loudwire.com/did-new-york-times-magazine-rip-off-dream-theater-new-album-cover/

Haha...Crazy how something so simple can cause such fuss.

I do agree though, the timing of both pictures being released is a great coincidence, and odd.

[cramx3]

I don't understand what is low about it?  I think the response to Gail was a bit ridiculous, but the initial joke about how similar they are is not low IMO and completely natural, I mean we've been discussing here since it was released about the same thing.  Why is it low that someone associated with the band took that thought and made it public?   

And Adami, I don't see why you need to back away.

[fadetoblackdude7]

Don't like the Six Degrees cover at all, I just don't really get what it's supposed to be.
Octavarium is still my favourite and I like the dark vibe of Black Clouds a lot. Systematic Chaos has an awesome concept, too. So yeah I think those 3 are the best for me.

DoT looks cool, but doesn't blow me away. I agree that it would be cooler to have some less known (and maybe cheaper) artist make the cover. I always likes Syme's style but ever since those sloppy watermarks on DT12 I'm not that into the dude's work anymore.

All of this!

[Peter Mc]

Nothing low about this, it is weird that the NYT picture is almost identical to an album cover released by DT. It may well be an amazing coincidence but don't see the harm in someone asking a question and bringing it to people's attention.

For people saying it's rude, who cares? It's not rude to ask someone how they managed to come up with exactly the same idea as DT just weeks after they released the album artwork. How do you politely ask someone if they plagiarised your artwork?

[Ben_Jamin]

What is interesting to me that I just noticed.

Since BC&SL, the album art has been taking us on a journey. It starts with the door being opened. As we walk through, we're in the sky seeing a trapeze artist and a plane, although the former seems to meet his end as the rope is tearing. We continue along the rope that ascends into space, seeing the darkside of Earth as a star pierces the edge. As we soar through space, we enter a far distant futuristic dystopia, with these machines called NOMACS. Now, those NOMACS have grown arms and either destroyed humanity or are on the brink.

Haha, I guess I have too much time on my hands today.

[cramx3]

  seems plausible

[Fritzinger]

What is interesting to me that I just noticed.

Since BC&SL, the album art has been taking us on a journey. It starts with the door being opened. As we walk through, we're in the sky seeing a trapeze artist and a plane, although the former seems to meet his end as the rope is tearing. We continue along the rope that ascends into space, seeing the darkside of Earth as a star pierces the edge. As we soar through space, we enter a far distant futuristic dystopia, with these machines called NOMACS. Now, those NOMACS have grown arms and either destroyed humanity or are on the brink.

Haha, I guess I have too much time on my hands today.

And now humanity has to wake up and realize that their lifestyle is not right!


awake part two confirmed

[ToT-147]

What is interesting to me that I just noticed.

Since BC&SL, the album art has been taking us on a journey. It starts with the door being opened. As we walk through, we're in the sky seeing a trapeze artist and a plane, although the former seems to meet his end as the rope is tearing. We continue along the rope that ascends into space, seeing the darkside of Earth as a star pierces the edge. As we soar through space, we enter a far distant futuristic dystopia, with these machines called NOMACS. Now, those NOMACS have grown arms and either destroyed humanity or are on the brink.

[Lax]

*snip*

Enjoy this wonder

[MoraWintersoul]

But to 99,9% of the people who look at the artwork, they're not going to go "oh my god, that is a stock photo!" They're gonna look at the album cover and the material connected to the album release, and see the image for what it is. To them, it's original as they've not actually seen that - it takes a special level of geekery to go take an album cover and reverse image search it to find the images it's based on

And the reaction of the 99.9%, frankly, is all that matters

That's true and it's the way it should be, I don't think the majority of fans should be too bothered by whether or not the artwork is completely original. However, in recent years, I have developed the ability to sort of recognize the usage of stock photos and it leaves a kind of a sour taste. That's also probably the case with the remaining 0.1%.

It would be more appealing to me if they took the same idea and gave it to an artist that would create something completely their own - however, I understand that that kind of "trouble" wouldn't be worth it in order to try to satisfy a minority.

I feel the same. It's silly how this is the second time it happened to them, with the ADTOE cover it's understandable that the monocycling guy appeared on a few other covers, because it's such a specific element and it's not like you're gonna take a photo when there are stock photos available. This is a simple concept and easy to photograph, and the fact that it's a few stock elements + background just makes it look kinda cheap and like the cover doesn't matter much to them at all.

It's no biggie, but going from such strong cover concepts to this is 100% attributable to how Syme has declined as an artist and I wish they wouldn't hire him anymore. Next time they should just look into some picture galleries and purchase a finished cover that fits the album concept or title song.

[The Letter M]

https://youtu.be/4nSJ5KRBkFg

In the studio interview, part 2

-Marc.

[bosk1]

*snip*

Enjoy this wonder

Aside from the fact that the post is completely off topic, the rules about not posting official content are very specific.  Official content from unofficial sources is strictly forbidden.

[DreamerTV]

https://youtu.be/4nSJ5KRBkFg

In the studio interview, part 2

-Marc.

At this point i'm convinced JM is tapping some kind of secret message on that bottle 😂

[Ben_Jamin]

https://youtu.be/4nSJ5KRBkFg

In the studio interview, part 2

-Marc.

At this point i'm convinced JM is tapping some kind of secret message on that bottle 😂

He speaks in hand gestures. He put up four fingers in the beginning.

[Ben_Jamin]

Hmmm....is Myungs riff the song that ended up being song 10?

[fivestring]

Hmmm....is Myungs riff the song that ended up being song 10?

That, or the bonus track.

Seems JM steered a lot of this albums musical ideas. In the Pt. 2 video, MM said JM playing his riff caused at least 3 other songs to be created.  I hope the mixing and mastering gives us some great bass sounds and tones in these songs!