This has been my absolute favourite album cover for decades now. I've never even listened to the album.
It's hard to explain why. I just really like the atmosphere, and the colours-- the colours and textures create the atmosphere.
I suppose you could say it evokes a kind of technological dystopia, from a human point of view, but that's not what I think of when I look at it. It actually has something of a retro-futurist feel, and the title colours my view of the picture. It's a moment of ecstasy, not of horror. Maybe my reaction, deep down, is: "Perhaps the future won't be too different from the past, in some way." Also, I've always loved escalators.
It was painted (?) by the same guy who designed the cover for Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd. I've only discovered that right now. You could hardly get a more recognizable album cover than that one.
i like this cover, unfortunately the album is not as good. the duo who made it, hipgnosis, also did a bunch of other classic, instantly recognizable covers (though Dark Side of the Moon is probably the most well known). it's quite possible that there are others made by them among your favorites. they were very big in the seventies.
ReplyDelete.Laeth
Yes, they did some of Led Zeppelin's covers, although I'm not really wild about any of them. Presence is fairly good-- I like that sort of "everyday surrealism".
DeleteI think I started listening to the album once but quickly lost interest. But I'm not sure.