Book Synopsis
Prog Porn: the Graphic Art of Art Rock
and Prog Porn II: More Art Rock Graphics
By Tony Arnold
The invention of the illustrated music sleeve is credited to Alex Steinweiss, who began submitting fanciful, imaginative renderings to grace the cardboard music "albums" of the 1940s, which contained multiple discs. This quickly became the industry standard as sales followed the art, and by the 1950s jazz and exotica acts had pushed the envelope even further toward abstract, improvisational images customized to grace the musical experimentation within. The 1960s introduced psychedelia, but it was the virtuoso Progressive Rock acts of the 1970s that truly exploited commercial sleeve imagery to a cosmic extreme. Both volumes of "Prog Porn" trace the curve of that trend, along with a few landmarks which inspired it, from the seventies heyday through its current resurgence in a continuous collage sampling of some 4500 remarkable album, CD and mp3 covers. A visual feast for anyone artistically and musically inclined. Open and prepare to have your mind blown...