The Artwork of Progressive Rock, Part 2

When things really got going for Prog illustration in about 1972, there were many wonderful designs with varied topics. The album covers emphasized form heavily, as many highly mathematical and geometric patterns adorned the album sleeves. This didn't actually take hold with many of the biggest bands, but is common with Krautrock sleeves, accompanying the jagged music. When they weren't mathematical, there were some very interesting selves, such as the see through hand X-Ray cover of Faust's self titled album.

Paintings, instead of photographs, became the norm. From Amon Duul II to Genesis to PFM, the paint and brush was very in vogue. In the pre-photoshop age, this was the only real way to truly express the visions of fantasy and wonder many of the Prog rockers had in mind. While many of Hipgnosis's studios famous Pink Floyd Covers were photographs, many of their outside jobs were painted. Of course, the king of Progressive rock painters was Roger Dean, who's Maxfeild Parish -esque landscapes brought light to many bands, most notably Yes.

Speaking of those landscapes, nature was a big topic of interest on the album covers. There's a very high percentage that emphasize the outdoors, have the band pictured outdoors, or have landscapes as their focus. Water in particular was a favorite. Additionally, outer space and astronomy themes were rather common. If progressive rock had official colors, green, blue, and black may very well be the choices.

As the era drew to a close, the album art calmed down somewhat. There images became starker and more subdued in color, although the imagery was defiantly still there. As the 80's as a whole relied much more on the old photo of the band or singer tricks, this form of Progressive Artwork went underground for a while. However, by the mid 90's, a resurgence in the progressive inspired album sleeve came about. To this day, a number of notable artists draw upon the late 60's through mid 70's album art for inspiration and direction.