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Dream Theater => Dream Theater => Topic started by: Madman Shepherd on September 24, 2023, 01:31:16 PM
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Best I could tell, this poll has not been done in ten years. Also, considering a few DT live DVDs/albums have pretty interesting artwork (and some don't) I added those as an option, including those that were primarily DVD/Blu Ray but had an audio CD component. So the original VHS releases weren't included, but those were really just rehashes of other live albums.
A few thoughts:
-The WDADU album is weird but I actually kind of like the concept
-Almost all of the DT's albums from the first half of their career were too busy for my liking and honestly turned me off from even giving them a chance in the 90s when I first discovered them
-A like the Change of Seasons artwork but only after realizing a long time later what it was. I always just thought it was a kid playing in sand. The execution was kind of poor.
-Hugh Syme seems to be getting a lot of criticism but I think far and above his covers are the best.
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Train of Thought. It’s original and unique. The stark style fits the mood of the album. The clean guitar intros on Endless Sacrifice and In the Name of God, sound like that cover looks. It’s simple but also has symbolism. It has everything I like in album covers.
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Images and Words
Awake
Black Clouds and Silver Linings
And Black Clouds gets my vote for largest disparity between art quality of the cover and quality of the music within.
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And Black Clouds gets my vote for largest disparity between art quality of the cover and quality of the music within.
:lol
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Dream Theater has some killer album covers. If I had to pick my top three, they'd be:
1. Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory: The artwork just nails the vibe of the album's concept, blending mystery and nostalgia in a way that really draws you in.
2. Images and Words: This classic cover art has a timeless feel to it, with its dreamy visuals matching the innovative and progressive music inside.
3. Octavarium: The cover is like a visual puzzle, matching the complexity of the musical compositions on the album. Last ball being off annoys me to no end though.
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Cool!
1. Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence
2. DT12
3. Scenes From A Memory
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ACOS
SDOIT
8VM
3. Octavarium: The cover is like a visual puzzle, matching the complexity of the musical compositions on the album. Last ball being off annoys me to no end though.
What do you mean by the last ball being off?
Also, I love that the balls and birds represent piano keys going from F to a higher octave F, just like the album itself does across the 8 songs. Always a cool nugget.
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images & words and awake's album covers both get more silly the longer you look at them, in a way that makes you realize they're not too far off from the later hugh syme stuff, but in comparison to those they both have this unique atmosphere to them that works well with the vibes of the albums imo
the hugh syme ones are so bad that i would be embarrassed to use them for my band
i think sfam's is pretty cool and i like sdoit in that it is completely inoffensive - if you can't figure out how to do a good album cover, just don't try i guess :lol
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FII for me is my favorite because it just fits the sound of the album not only musically but the open airy production. In their catalogue it stands out for me.
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I, by and large, enjoy all of DT's album art. I think the band has succeeded in presenting a body of work that ranges from 'appropriate' to 'exemplary.'
That said, I chose Six Degrees, Train of Thought, and Octavarium as the three covers that strike me as a cut above.
It helps that I adore those albums as well–while a 'bad' cover won't necessarily detract from my enjoyment of an album, a 'good' cover can really feel like icing on the cake.
Art is so, so subjective–quick anecdote here.
My band is about to release an album some ten years in the making. It was a long, hard, difficult journey, full of numerous set-backs.
Still, at no point during the process did we collectively discuss the art-work. I, personally, have always placed a greater emphasis on visuals with my solo projects, but as a band, that's just not how the five of us get on.
Well, wouldn't you know that, after all these years of hard work, literally at the eleventh hour, we suddenly got into an argument about the art.
It all began with a text: The vinyl place needs the art by midnight...
Of course, we all have different sensibilities, and to make a very long story much shorter, the majority of the band voted for something that I, well, let's just say it wasn't my first choice. In the moment, I was so bummed...I mean, I find the album cover borderline-offensive, but in the weeks that have passed, I've calmed down a bit. In actuality, it's probably the 'right' call, given that it's a stereotypical 'metal' cover, but it's just not something I would ever be excited to look at.
My point? Art is incredibly subjective, and I sincerely doubt you will ever get five musicians in a room and have them all agree on what constitutes a 'cool' album cover.
In the case of DT, I wonder what the lads think of their various covers. I presume, based on their continued relationship, that at least JP is a huge fan of their recent work, and while the band has caught some serious flak over the years for the art, I doubt that it has ever impacted album or ticket sales.
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3. Octavarium: The cover is like a visual puzzle, matching the complexity of the musical compositions on the album. Last ball being off annoys me to no end though.
What do you mean by the last ball being off?
Also, I love that the balls and birds represent piano keys going from F to a higher octave F, just like the album itself does across the 8 songs. Always a cool nugget.
I'd like to know the answer to that as well.
Octavarium is probably my favorite cover. Scenes is up there, as is Six Degrees. The only one I DON'T like is WDADU.
I don't get the hate for Hugh Some, I really don't.
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What do you mean by the last ball being off?
The connection points of the last ball doesn't line up with the rest, meaning if it swung down it would actually hit in the wrong place.
(https://i.imgur.com/ECXlkUD.png)
I vote SFAM. Visually striking and thematically appropriate.
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Oh that, yeah I accepted that a long time ago. Still love the concept, though.
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Yeah, I remember that whole debate. Before it was brought up, I hadn't even noticed. And I doubt I would have noticed to this day. Never bothered me, and I have no idea why it would bother anyone.
As far as favorites, I'm not sure I can rank them. The three I voted for in the poll are SFAM, TOT, and View. I would also put Six Degrees, Octavarium, L@B (yeah, it's simple, but it tells you everything you need to know), the s/t up there as well.
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It's much better than the ADTOE album where the tether is missing at the end.
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What do you mean by the last ball being off?
The connection points of the last ball doesn't line up with the rest, meaning if it swung down it would actually hit in the wrong place.
The string is shorter too, isn't it?
That said, I'd never have noticed it either if someone hadn't brought it up here.
My votes went to ACOS, SFAM and SC (and, in that regard, I'd say SC has the greatest disparity between the quality of the cover and music within).
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scenes for me, i love hugh but it's scenes
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I finally voted. I was only 100% sure about Distance Over Time.
The other one I was mostly sure about what A Dramatic Turn of Events which I HATED when I first saw it. I also hated the name. But all of the hype that came with the drummer documentary, the band turning over a new leaf, me finally reaching financial stability to the point where I could buy a VIP package, and the album absolutely blowing me away, warmed me up to the title and the cover. But is it only because I'm biased based on the emotion of the time? Probably in large part, yes. At the same time, the fact that such a silly cover and odd title won me over is kind of profound.
What sealed the deal is when I went back and opened up the CD for the first time in years. The band started commissioning artwork for every song within the booklet and when I got to the sleeper hit, This Is the Life, and saw the damn unicycle again only this time balancing precariously on the edge of a cliff, I saw a deeper meaning in the weird artwork. That particular song seems to be about someone that has it all and wants something else, but it tears them up not being happy. One wrong move and it's all over. Another song is about the delicate balance of stability such as in Outcry. Even Build Me Up is about someone so celebrated and in an instant is savaged. So that silly clown/mime/whatever has forced me to think way more about artwork that I initially thought sucked. So I guess it wins.
Finally, I chose Greatest Hit. Does that have more to do with the artwork or how uninspired I find a lot of the other album covers? Probably both.
I do love the play on words. DT only had one hit. I love the subversive humor about how a lot of these compilation albums have nothing to do with hits and is just about good shit. Slightly mess with the colors of the title, throw some bird shit on a chair with that typical Hugh Syme contrast, and I do have to say it is a pretty nice cover.
A close runner up was Breaking the Fourth Wall. It reminds me of M.C. Escher and I used to be a big fan.
DT12 would probably rank closely but it is almost TOO simple. Beautiful but it doesn't blow me away like I feel it should. I'd say SC has the greatest disparity between the quality of the cover and music within).
I would agree but I actually don't like the cover and SC is one of my three favorite DT albums.
Art is so, so subjective–quick anecdote here.
My band is about to release an album some ten years in the making. It was a long, hard, difficult journey, full of numerous set-backs.
Would love to see the artwork and check out the band when I get a chance if you're so inclined to share.
I was in a band for less than a year and without going into all the stupid drama, when we were finally going to almost maybe release a CD, I had a pretty cool cover idea that went along with the title. I won't share it here because I may use it later but it had to do with the title track which was about sacrificing comfort for the band lifestyle because it's the only thing that keeps your life on track. I didn't write the lyrics to that one but it was a kind of rock/punk/depressive style. Nothing like DT or many other bands spoken about here.
Anyway, the band hated my idea and kept coming up with stupid ideas like taking a picture of a military tank that's in one of the local parks that had no meaning to anything.
Anyway, my band sucked. We broke up right after the initial tracks were laid down for the album so it was never finished.
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I voted FII before reading that you could pick 3. My next choice would be ACOS, probably followed by OIALT.
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I don't give a ton of thought in to an album cover, my initial thought is usually the final one. The one that I liked the most upon first viewing it has to be Train of Thought, followed by Octavarium. If I spent any significant time looking at it, I might have noticed it was off on my own, but I wouldn't bet on it. Both of those whole booklets are great.
I never really looked at the Live in London artwork because I wasn't interested in buying it, but now that I do, it's pretty neat.
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Falling Into Infinity
Train Of Thought
Systematic Chaos
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I finally voted. I was only 100% sure about Distance Over Time.
The other one I was mostly sure about what A Dramatic Turn of Events which I HATED when I first saw it. I also hated the name. But all of the hype that came with the drummer documentary, the band turning over a new leaf, me finally reaching financial stability to the point where I could buy a VIP package, and the album absolutely blowing me away, warmed me up to the title and the cover. But is it only because I'm biased based on the emotion of the time? Probably in large part, yes. At the same time, the fact that such a silly cover and odd title won me over is kind of profound.
What sealed the deal is when I went back and opened up the CD for the first time in years. The band started commissioning artwork for every song within the booklet and when I got to the sleeper hit, This Is the Life, and saw the damn unicycle again only this time balancing precariously on the edge of a cliff, I saw a deeper meaning in the weird artwork. That particular song seems to be about someone that has it all and wants something else, but it tears them up not being happy. One wrong move and it's all over. Another song is about the delicate balance of stability such as in Outcry. Even Build Me Up is about someone so celebrated and in an instant is savaged. So that silly clown/mime/whatever has forced me to think way more about artwork that I initially thought sucked. So I guess it wins.
Finally, I chose Greatest Hit. Does that have more to do with the artwork or how uninspired I find a lot of the other album covers? Probably both.
I do love the play on words. DT only had one hit. I love the subversive humor about how a lot of these compilation albums have nothing to do with hits and is just about good shit. Slightly mess with the colors of the title, throw some bird shit on a chair with that typical Hugh Syme contrast, and I do have to say it is a pretty nice cover.
A close runner up was Breaking the Fourth Wall. It reminds me of M.C. Escher and I used to be a big fan.
DT12 would probably rank closely but it is almost TOO simple. Beautiful but it doesn't blow me away like I feel it should. I'd say SC has the greatest disparity between the quality of the cover and music within).
I would agree but I actually don't like the cover and SC is one of my three favorite DT albums.
Art is so, so subjective–quick anecdote here.
My band is about to release an album some ten years in the making. It was a long, hard, difficult journey, full of numerous set-backs.
Would love to see the artwork and check out the band when I get a chance if you're so inclined to share.
I was in a band for less than a year and without going into all the stupid drama, when we were finally going to almost maybe release a CD, I had a pretty cool cover idea that went along with the title. I won't share it here because I may use it later but it had to do with the title track which was about sacrificing comfort for the band lifestyle because it's the only thing that keeps your life on track. I didn't write the lyrics to that one but it was a kind of rock/punk/depressive style. Nothing like DT or many other bands spoken about here.
Anyway, the band hated my idea and kept coming up with stupid ideas like taking a picture of a military tank that's in one of the local parks that had no meaning to anything.
Anyway, my band sucked. We broke up right after the initial tracks were laid down for the album so it was never finished.
I'm sure I'll circle back and post about it once it's finally released–this will come as no surprise to most of you, but vinyl production is hella backed up right now, and when we finally have the albums in hand, it will have been almost a year wait.
RE: Your band story–you bring up a solid point that sums up virtually every discussion I've had about album art with my various bands:
There tends to be two schools of thought:
"Super Cool Picture that doesn't mean anything" vs. "Something that ties into the lyrics/theme of the album"
Obviously, the ideal situation is when an album cover satisfies both, but in my experience, people tend to fall into one headspace or the other, and rarely is everyone happy.
Looking back, of the dozen or so albums I've contributed to over the years (either as a session player, solo artist, or key member), I think I 'like' three of the album covers, and there is probably only one that I love. Yikes!
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Best/Favorite Dream Theater Album Covers:
1. Scenes from a Memory
2. Distance over Time
3. A View from the Top of the World
Honorable Mentions:
Octavarium
The Astonishing
Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
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Images and Words
Awake
Black Clouds and Silver Linings
Exactly my vote as well. But Train of Thought and A View came pretty close.
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Love the Train of Thought and FII covers. A View on Top would be my 3rd favorite.
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Voted SFAM, I&W and Awake. But this poll made me realize how unimpressive their album covers are, on the whole. Especially the more recent albums.
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I finally voted. I was only 100% sure about Distance Over Time.
The other one I was mostly sure about what A Dramatic Turn of Events which I HATED when I first saw it. I also hated the name. But all of the hype that came with the drummer documentary, the band turning over a new leaf, me finally reaching financial stability to the point where I could buy a VIP package, and the album absolutely blowing me away, warmed me up to the title and the cover. But is it only because I'm biased based on the emotion of the time? Probably in large part, yes. At the same time, the fact that such a silly cover and odd title won me over is kind of profound.
What sealed the deal is when I went back and opened up the CD for the first time in years. The band started commissioning artwork for every song within the booklet and when I got to the sleeper hit, This Is the Life, and saw the damn unicycle again only this time balancing precariously on the edge of a cliff, I saw a deeper meaning in the weird artwork. That particular song seems to be about someone that has it all and wants something else, but it tears them up not being happy. One wrong move and it's all over. Another song is about the delicate balance of stability such as in Outcry. Even Build Me Up is about someone so celebrated and in an instant is savaged. So that silly clown/mime/whatever has forced me to think way more about artwork that I initially thought sucked. So I guess it wins.
Finally, I chose Greatest Hit. Does that have more to do with the artwork or how uninspired I find a lot of the other album covers? Probably both.
I do love the play on words. DT only had one hit. I love the subversive humor about how a lot of these compilation albums have nothing to do with hits and is just about good shit. Slightly mess with the colors of the title, throw some bird shit on a chair with that typical Hugh Syme contrast, and I do have to say it is a pretty nice cover.
A close runner up was Breaking the Fourth Wall. It reminds me of M.C. Escher and I used to be a big fan.
DT12 would probably rank closely but it is almost TOO simple. Beautiful but it doesn't blow me away like I feel it should. I'd say SC has the greatest disparity between the quality of the cover and music within).
I would agree but I actually don't like the cover and SC is one of my three favorite DT albums.
Art is so, so subjective–quick anecdote here.
My band is about to release an album some ten years in the making. It was a long, hard, difficult journey, full of numerous set-backs.
Would love to see the artwork and check out the band when I get a chance if you're so inclined to share.
I was in a band for less than a year and without going into all the stupid drama, when we were finally going to almost maybe release a CD, I had a pretty cool cover idea that went along with the title. I won't share it here because I may use it later but it had to do with the title track which was about sacrificing comfort for the band lifestyle because it's the only thing that keeps your life on track. I didn't write the lyrics to that one but it was a kind of rock/punk/depressive style. Nothing like DT or many other bands spoken about here.
Anyway, the band hated my idea and kept coming up with stupid ideas like taking a picture of a military tank that's in one of the local parks that had no meaning to anything.
Anyway, my band sucked. We broke up right after the initial tracks were laid down for the album so it was never finished.
I'm sure I'll circle back and post about it once it's finally released–this will come as no surprise to most of you, but vinyl production is hella backed up right now, and when we finally have the albums in hand, it will have been almost a year wait.
RE: Your band story–you bring up a solid point that sums up virtually every discussion I've had about album art with my various bands:
There tends to be two schools of thought:
"Super Cool Picture that doesn't mean anything" vs. "Something that ties into the lyrics/theme of the album"
Obviously, the ideal situation is when an album cover satisfies both, but in my experience, people tend to fall into one headspace or the other, and rarely is everyone happy.
Looking back, of the dozen or so albums I've contributed to over the years (either as a session player, solo artist, or key member), I think I 'like' three of the album covers, and there is probably only one that I love. Yikes!
Trust me, man. I'd never steer you wrong: you need a mascot.
(https://i.imgur.com/RsgB47A.jpg)
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Oh, jeez...that album cover is :huh:
Mascots are indeed cool...in fact, too cool for anything I've been involved in.
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Narita is one of the 50 best albums these ears have ever heard.
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Oh, jeez...that album cover is
Your new one? :) :) :)
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SFAM
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(https://i.imgur.com/RsgB47A.jpg)
Narita is one of the 50 best albums these ears have ever heard.
See...this is one of those situations where the packaging may have killed a good product. I can't tell you how many times I saw that album on the racks and just laughed at how utterly stupid it was. Never even gave a thought to buying it.
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With Riot, the stupider the album cover, the better the record. And there are stupider album covers in comparison.
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(https://i.imgur.com/RsgB47A.jpg)
Narita is one of the 50 best albums these ears have ever heard.
See...this is one of those situations where the packaging may have killed a good product. I can't tell you how many times I saw that album on the racks and just laughed at how utterly stupid it was. Never even gave a thought to buying it.
When I bought Piece Of Mind when it came out, I left the store with two tapes. This was the other one.
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Probably Awake. For some reason it always reminded me of a Dali painting.
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Probably Awake. For some reason it always reminded me of a Dali painting.
I see that.
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With Riot, the stupider the album cover, the better the record. And there are stupider album covers in comparison.
I mean, if you say so.