The theme appears to be the discord between a life in showbiz - with dog kings and bird queens and regal white elephants being ridden by clowns - and its dark underbelly. I was as amazed as anybody."Ī second entry by Mark Ryden to this list, and this time there is an astonishing firework display of symbolism on offer. Hahaha! I mean, if you wanted to see it, you could see it. The Telegraph asked him about it in 1995, and he admitted he had to go back to the original print to check what the fuss was about: "Well, I had a proof of the cover on my wall, so I went and turned it upside down and sure enough. This revelation, while persuasive, came as a surprise to John Berg, who had taken the Polaroid picture used for the cover. Fans started seeing Beatle faces everywhere, including in the knobbly tree bark on the cover of Bob Dylan's John Wesley Harding, but only if you hold the album upside down. To repay the favour, the Stones hid images of the faces of the four Beatles on the cover of Their Satanic Majesties Request. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, another pored-over album cover, there was a doll wearing a jumper emblazoned with the message "Welcome the Rolling Stones". But this is perhaps a peak moment in looking for things that aren't there, unless they are. Matching Radiohead fans for both tenacity and tenuousness, Bob Dylan fans are arch cryptographers who see significance in the tiniest things. With a 10-second crossfade between songs, they seem to blend together naturally, as if on purpose.Īlso, if you look at the yellow blob behind the R of the red Radiohead, it looks a bit like a balloon with a smiley face drawn on it. In fact, some fans claim that the first five tracks on In Rainbows were sonically designed to be combined with the first five songs on OK Computer, starting with Airbag, then 15 Step and alternating onwards until you stop at Karma Police. So what? There's a fan theory that this is to highlight that In Rainbows is a companion album to OK Computer (working title: Zeroes and Ones, which is 01 in numerals).
SYSTEM OF A DOWN ALBUM COVER ART SERIES
And In Rainbows came out on October 10, or 10/10, having been announced to the world just 10 days earlier with a series of 10 cryptic messages leading up to the big day. It's to emphasise the number 10, also the number of letters in the album's title. Look at the way the letters are arranged at the bottom of the cover, for starters. But there are so many signs and signifiers around the release of 2007's In Rainbows that at least some of it must be on purpose. Let's face it, Radiohead fans are going to read significance into everything whether the band wants them to or not.
Mixing the devout with the hardcore is a subtle nod to the album's least likely song Blinded By Your Grace, a devotional moment of faith amid Stormzy's more traditional grime bangers. Unlike in Leonardo's original, Stormzy's disciples aren't bickering among themselves, are all dressed for inclement weather and you, the listener, appear to be taking part in the most intimidating job interview in human history.
SYSTEM OF A DOWN ALBUM COVER ART TV
Let's hope their TV is colour.īut what does it all mean? Well, it's a very literal depiction of the album title, an image that nods to a stereotype of black gang culture, all balaclavas and angry stares, but one modelled after a more holy vision - Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper, with Stormzy taking Christ's seat at the table. Among the items on the black tablecloth, there are black bottles, black cups, black bowls, black plates, black boxes with black food inside, a black water jug, a black ashtray and a black lighter, black cutlery, all-black dominoes and on the far right, a single all-black games console controller, but no black console. Stormzy's debut album cover is not exactly colourful but that doesn't mean it's not vivid. And what a sumptuous feast to begin with.
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