IX- The changing

Today, with the rebirth of progessive rock, some talented new artists have emerged. The majority of them gave up the brush and the xerographer for the computer and Photoshop, since the CD format requires a modified approach to the design of ‘album covers.’ The large frescos with innumerable details have disappeared, to be replaced often with images centered on a single subject. On the other hand, the topics remained the same: science fiction and fantasy, tales and legends, mythical characters and odd photographic collages flower again on the booklets of compact discs. Some of these new ‘album covers’ give us a hint as to the best new artists, some of whom are already establishing themselves and creating bright futures.

For example, Per Dennis Nordin is the creator of album covers for the progressive "supergroup," TRANSATLANTIC. In the picture, a spaceship flying over an unbounded ocean offers a simple and traditional image of science fiction conceived by computer. The advantage here is that the image can be easily modified, and Nordin has done just that: two different album covers for the US and European markets - and some interesting variations - are presented on the band’s website. Nordin has also designed album covers for FLOWER KINGS.

Antwerp artist Jef Bertels’ cover painting for AYREON’s ‘Into The Electric Castle - A Space Opera’ is a beautiful surprise. She points out the fairy-like world of the comic strip “Lanfeust de Troy.” Beautiful lettering, beautiful colors, the subject detailed and schematic: the attention is immediately grabbed, and one wants to see more of this strange planet. Bertels exhibits the same mastery on AYREON’s ‘The Dream Sequencer.’ Thomas Ewerhard does not take such a ‘progressive’ or fantastical approach, but has nevertheless designed some beautiful album covers for SPOCK'S BEARD (‘Day For Night’), THRESHOLD (‘Clone’) and especially ENCHANT (‘Station-Wagon’), which captivate by their depth, light and colors.



Rodney Matthews, a specialist in sci-fi and fantasy, is not actually new to album cover art, having created more than 70 album covers since his first work for THIN LIZZY in 1969. However, within the framework of progressive rock, he is known for his splendid illustrations of three albums by ASIA (‘Aqua’ in 1991, ‘Arena’ in 1995 and ‘Archiva’ in 1996), as well as the album ‘Jabberwocky’ by Clive NOLAN and Oliver WAKEMAN in 1999.

Let us finish with the group GLASS HAMMER which, for its album ‘The Middle-Earth Album,’ used the Internet to research images illustrating the ‘Lord of the Rings’ of J.R.R. Tolkien. By chance, they fell upon the website of David Wyatt, whose fabulous composition, “The Grey Havens,” was retained to illustrate the cover of the CD booklet. And there is much more great art to be discovered in large format on the site of the author of this article.



[ Per Nordin ] [ Ayreon ] [ Rodney Matthews ] [ David Wyatt ]