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Whose DT cover artwork do you prefer -- Larry Freemantle or Hugh Syme?

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Mebert78:
Hey, everyone.  I was thinking about this recently and figured it would make an interesting poll.  For those that don't know, Larry Freemantle is the artist behind the Images & Words and Awake covers.  But Hugh Syme is the artist that has created the more recent DT covers.  Syme has also done artwork for Rush, Queensryche, Fates Warning, etc.  My question is, whose DT cover artwork do you prefer -- Freemantle or Syme? 

My initial reaction is Syme, because his work is clearly epic and breathtaking.  But then, when I look back at the I&W and Awake covers, there's something about that them that really lingers with me.  I love how Freemantle goes the extra mile to bring the songs to life and he'll incorporate elements of each song into the cover art.  For example, the Awake cover has "6:00" (the moon clock), "Caught In a Web" (the spider web), "The Mirror" (the mirror) and "The Silent Man" (the statue/mirror) themes clearly visible right in the artwork.  Meanwhile, I&W's cover art has elements from "Pull Me Under" (the sparrow), "Wait for Sleep" (the picture frame) and "Learning to Live" (the sacred heart).

Syme's artwork, while beautiful and thought-rovoking as well, doesn't do that.  Not that he HAS to do that.  It just depends on what you prefer, I suppose.  The closest Syme came to an I&W/Awake-type cover was on BC&SL, but the various objects appearing in that cover art (the easel, elephant, the planets, etc.) aren't directly pulled from BC&SL songs like Freemantle's work on I&W and Awake.     

After some thought, I think that I prefer Freemantle's DT work.  I can visually see the songs coming to life in his cover art.  I love Syme's stuff, but I wonder what Freemantle would've done if given the chance to do some of DT's other albums.  So, whose artwork do you prefer?

orcus116:
Freemantle's artwork does capture the essence of the album better than Syme does. Syme's work isn't bad though.

The Letter M:
Syme, hands down. His work on the Octavarium booklet is just amazing - and I don't mean just the cover, I mean the WHOLE booklet. He made the artwork on an epic level equal to the music, and brought the whole concept of the album together, with the cover art and the inside art and all of the inside "nuggets" scattered throughout the artwork.

Also, his artwork on Systematic Chaos wasn't too bad either, but I prefer his art for Black Clouds & Silver Linings a bit more, especially the booklet artwork.

Even if we are just limited to the covers alone, I'd still take the 3 by Syme, but I really do like the attention to detail that Freemantle used on Images And Words and Awake, incorporating all those elements into the cover. I think Syme did a good job recreating that feel with the cover for Black Clouds & Silver Linings, but I think because Freemantle's work is so connected with DT's hey-day and two of their most popular albums, that many people may be more attached to those covers than the 3 latest ones.

As for the cover elements on BC&SL, I'd say they DO connect to the songs, but a bit more obliquely than the more direct, if not entirely obvious elements used on Freemantle's covers. The elephant relates to "A Nightmare To Remember" and "The Best Of Times", songs about memories, a reference to the idiom "An elephant never forgets". The easel relates to "Wither", particularly the lyric "Like reflections on the page / The world's what you create", indicating that you are what you make on a blank page/blank canvas. The planets may refer to the songs that JP wrote the lyrics to, or at least the number of songs he wrote lyrics to, that being four. Also, the elephant stands on four books, which may be another reference to "Wither". These elements are a bit more involved and not as obvious, which I think in some ways is a bit smarter, especially after creating artwork as involved as Octavarium's was.

-Marc.

Gorille85:
I'm not a fan of every song being representing in the cover honestly. What favorite cover would be Train of Thought and Octavarium...So I guess I like Syme better.

Infinite Cactus:
I went with Freemantle. I like both but Awake is probably my favorite album cover

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