My buddy Arch Stanton sent me a link to an article in The Onion about 18 particularly ridiculous prog-rock album covers. There's some good humor to be had but I feel their commentary missed a few things.
Hemispheres by Rush is surely one of the worst. But in their defense, it ought to be pointed out that they were beaten by a year in the man's firm, bare ass category. That honor goes to Yes with the cover for Going For the One.
And before anyone thinks that prog rock album covers only features naked men, I think it's only fair to point out that Roxy Music, at least, did their best to appeal to their audience's predilections by featuring near-naked frauleins.
One of my favorite Jethro Tull album covers came in for a thrashing – that of The Broadsword and the Beast.
If nothing else, the cover could help explain why the album was Tull's fastest-selling and biggest album in Germany. Nothing like a Viking long boat and some runes to get that Teutonic blood flowing.
Yes' Tormato is justly criticized but it can be forgiven since Roger Dean created so many other great album covers for the band. However, one thing that can't be forgiven is the cover of their 1987 album Big Generator.
Was the graphic designer afraid of pushing the limits of the video card in his Commodore 64?
The pole position in this hideous race goes to ELP's Tarkus.
This astounds me. I'm not the biggest fan of that particular cover but it's surely better than Trilogy's. And it's positively fantastic when contrasted with that of Love Beach.
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