Surreal

Two underwater album covers...

In addition to the infamous Nevermind cover, I often find myself captivated by underwater photographic work. My favorite is the cover of Catherine Wheel's Chrome, which also happens to be an amazing album. In fact, the underwater dancing perfectly symbolizes the shoe-gazey, slick and somewhat murky album, especially the song "Fripp." The photo was shot in an indoor swimming pool by legendary Storm Thorgerson of the Hipgnosis design company (think Pink Floyd)...which makes it that much better.

Now, Chrome was released in 1993, but just this year, just last month actually, British indie band Foals put out their second album, titled Total Life Forever. Since obtaining a copy of this album months before its June release, I've been listening nonstop...and, as you see, the cover art is eerily similar to that of Chrome. While the dancers in the blue underwater world of the former photograph are poised, fluid, and seemingly in effortless formation, the guys in Foals' underwater world look like free-falling hipsters. They're either drowning and sinking to their deaths, or they've grown some gills and are just hanging out down there for kicks. Either way, both bands are British, both covers surreal and both albums blissful.

...A note on Storm Thorgeson: he did another surreal watery cover for the Mars Volta, which is nearly as breathtaking, as well as a very emotive cover for The Cranberries. The man clearly has a thing for the color blue. See below:





-amy.