Hugh Syme is a Canadian Juno Award-winning graphic artist and member of the Premier Artists Collection (PAC), best known for his artwork and cover concepts for rock and metal bands. He is also a musician and has contributed as a keyboard player on several Rush albums. Syme has been responsible for all of Rush's album cover art since 1975's Caress of Steel and is the creator of Rush's famous Starman logo. In 1983, he told Jeffrey Morgan that he never imagined the band would use it as their main logo.[1] Syme also plays piano on the album Thrilling Women, which Morgan recorded with Dean Motter.[2]
Iron Maiden fans remember him best as the designer of The X Factor cover, which depicts the band's mascot Eddie in a dissection. It is noted for its gritty realism. While all previous Maiden albums featured oil paintings, the X Factor Eddie was a puppet with some digital enhancements to improve its appearance. In some countries, the cover was deemed so gruesome that a less graphic alternative was offered (the alternative cover is actually the back of the original CD booklet).
Def Leppard's Retro Active album cover, which he co-designed with Nels Israelson, features a woman sitting at a dressing table, gazing into a mirror. From another perspective, the image takes the form of a skull (a type of vanitas art), with the woman's head forming the left eye socket and her reflected head in the mirror creating the right eye socket. The mirror itself shapes the skull, while the accessories on the dressing table form the nose, nostrils, and teeth. This design was inspired by Charles Allan Gilbert's most famous work, All Is Vanity (1892).
Hugh Syme has studios in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and in Indiana, USA. He is the co-host of the Music Buzzz Podcast, alongside Dane Clark and Andy Wilson.
Album cover art
Chronological list of Hugh Syme's album cover art (including studio, live, compilation and extended play LPs).
Walking in the Wild Land - Piano, nylon and steel string acoustic guitar, synths, string arrangements, boy's choir, Mellotron on "Changing Times", "Dancing Leaves" and "So Many Questions". James Stanley McCarty (born 25 July 1943) is an English musician, best known as the drummer for the Yardbirds and Renaissance.
Rush was a Canadian rock band formed in Toronto in 1968 that primarily comprised Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson (guitar) and Neil Peart. The band's original line-up comprised Lifeson, drummer John Rutsey, and bassist and vocalist Jeff Jones, whom Lee immediately replaced. After Lee joined, the band went through a few line-up changes before arriving at its classic power trio line-up with the addition of Peart in July 1974, who replaced Rutsey four months after the release of their self-titled debut album; this line-up remained unchanged for the remainder of the band's career.
Signals is the ninth studio album by Canadian rock band Rush, released on September 9, 1982 by Anthem Records. After the release of their previous album, Moving Pictures, the band started to prepare material for a follow-up during soundchecks on their 1981 concert tour and during the mixing of their subsequent live album Exit...Stage Left. Signals demonstrates the group's continuing use of synthesizers, sequencers, and other electronic instrumentation. It is the last album produced by their longtime associate Terry Brown, who had worked with them since 1974.
2112 is the fourth studio album by Canadian rock band Rush, released in March 1976 by Mercury Records. It reached No. 5 in Canada and became the band's commercial breakthrough in the US, peaking at No. 61.
Hemispheres is the sixth studio album by Canadian rock band Rush, released on October 24, 1978, by Anthem Records. It reached No. 14 in Canada and the UK, and No. 47 in the US. The album was a steady seller in the group's catalogue, and was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for selling one million copies 15 years later.
A Farewell to Kings is the fifth studio album by Canadian rock band Rush, released on Anthem Records on August 29, 1977. The album reached No. 11 in Canada and marked a growth in the band's international fanbase, becoming their first Top 40 album in the US and the UK.
Caress of Steel is the third studio album by Canadian rock band Rush, released on September 24, 1975, by Mercury Records. It was recorded immediately after the band concluded touring in support of their previous album, Fly By Night, and marked a development in the group's sound, moving from the blues-based hard rock style of their debut towards progressive rock. Songs such as "The Necromancer" furthered Rush's advancement into narrative-driven, fantasy-based compositions, while "The Fountain of Lamneth" was their first prog-rock "epic" to span an entire side of vinyl. Other tracks like "Bastille Day" and "Lakeside Park" became staples of the band's live setlists.
All the World's a Stage is a double live album by Canadian rock band Rush, released in September 1976 by Mercury Records. The album was recorded at Massey Hall in Toronto on June 11–13, 1976, during the band's breakthrough 2112 tour. The title of the album alludes to William Shakespeare's play As You Like It, and would again be referenced by Rush in the 1981 song "Limelight".
Moving Pictures is the eighth studio album by Canadian rock band Rush, released on February 12, 1981, by Anthem Records. After touring to support their previous album, Permanent Waves (1980), the band started to write and record new material in August 1980 with longtime co-producer Terry Brown. They continued to write songs with a more radio-friendly sound, featuring tighter and shorter song structures compared to their earlier albums.
Permanent Waves is the seventh studio album by Canadian rock band Rush, released on January 14, 1980, through Anthem Records. After touring to support their previous album, Hemispheres (1978), the band began working on new material for a follow-up in July 1979. This material showed a shift in the group's sound towards more concise arrangements and radio-friendly songs, though their progressive rock blueprint is still evident on "Jacob's Ladder" and the nine-minute closer "Natural Science." Bassist/vocalist Geddy Lee also employed a more restrained vocal delivery compared to previous albums. Permanent Waves was the first of seven studio albums that the band recorded at Le Studio in Morin-Heights, Quebec with production handled by the group and Terry Brown.
Jakalope was a Canadian Indie pop/rock group, formed in 2003 and named for the mythical creature of the jackalope, and started by noted Canadian industrial musician and producer Dave "Rave" Ogilvie, most famous for his studio work with such acts as Skinny Puppy, David Bowie, Nine Inch Nails, and Marilyn Manson. The band gained much popularity after playing the opening theme song to seasons 4–7 of the TV series Degrassi: The Next Generation.
Sir Army Suit is the third album recorded by the Canadian rock band Klaatu.
The Juno Award for "Recording Package of the Year" has been awarded since 1975, as recognition each year for the best album art for a music recording in Canada. The Award was subtitled as "Presented in honour of Andrew MacNaughtan" after MacNaughtan's death in early 2012. The award was previously known as "Best Album Graphics", "Best Album Design", "Album Design of the Year" and "CD/DVD Artwork Design of the Year".
The Juno Awards of 1982, representing Canadian music industry achievements of the previous year, were awarded on 14 April 1982 in Toronto at a ceremony hosted by Burton Cummings at the Harbour Castle Hilton Convention Centre in the Grand Metropolitan Ballroom.
The Juno Awards from 1992, were awarded on 29th of March in Toronto at a ceremony in the O'Keefe Centre. Rick Moranis was the host for the ceremonies, which were broadcast on CBC Television from 9 pm Eastern.
Snakes & Arrows is the eighteenth studio album by Canadian rock band Rush, released on May 1, 2007, by Anthem Records. After their R30: 30th Anniversary Tour ended in October 2004 the band took a one-year break, during which they agreed to start work on a follow-up in January 2006. The album was recorded in five weeks with co-producer Nick Raskulinecz, a fan of the group who was praised by each member for his approach and technique. It contains three instrumental tracks, the most on any Rush album.
Retrospective III: 1989–2008 is a compilation album by Canadian rock band Rush released on March 3, 2009. The album is a collection of songs from the third and fourth decades of the band (1989–2008), which they spent signed to Atlantic Records. The album is available in two versions. The 2-disc version includes a DVD of music and live videos.
Michael Fonfara was a Canadian keyboard player who was most notable for his work as a member of The Electric Flag and Rhinoceros in the 1960s, Rough Trade and Lou Reed's backing band in the 1970s and The Downchild Blues Band, from 1990 to the present. He studied classical piano at The Royal Conservatory of Music. He is a multiple Maple Blues Award winner as Piano/Keyboardist of the year and a Juno Award winner with the Downchild Blues Band. His distinguished musical career was so honoured by the Maple Blues Awards as early as 2000 and a Juno Award in 2014.
"Tears" is a song by the Canadian rock band Rush. It appears on their 1976 album 2112. It is the first Rush song to feature the Mellotron, played by Hugh Syme.
Rush Through Time is a compilation album by Rush, released in Europe as a picture disc only in 1979.
Clockwork Angels is the nineteenth and final studio album by Canadian rock band Rush, released on June 8, 2012, on Roadrunner Records. During the band's year-and-a-half break following its Snakes & Arrows Tour, the group decided to write a new studio album. Most of the album was recorded between October and December 2011 at Revolution Recording in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
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