not logged in
| re: Renegades | |
Posted by:  |
rockfenris2005 01:37 pm UTC 11/04/10 |
| In reply to: | Renegades - Steven 11:44 am UTC 11/04/10 |
> > I think they might just be looking at the moon. They just > > didn't get that bit right enough? > > To be serious: I've never asked myself what they are > looking at, because I never thought there had to be > something [material] they'd look at. > I don't think there's something Corben just didn't get > right, on the contrary. > > To me, they just look into the wide, open, stormy space > surrounding them. They are surrounded by something huge > (maybe by "forever") that is both freedom and danger at > the same time. Actually, that's exactly what "the future" > is or that "life after birth" that waits to be led -- > especially after you've broken out of [maybe somehow] > secure yet restricting circumstances. > It may be that which awaits you after your childhood ends. > That teenage time of ultimate transformation and seemingly > unlimited possibilities. -- You don't know what you'll > get, you don't know what might happen next, you're not > even sure yet what or who you are or may become. > > But whatever it is that's approaching: it's something new, > a completely new experience. > Anything could happen, you could become anything, nothing > is predefined yet, you'll never be as young and as free > again. Everything is possible. Whatever you choose to do > and wherever you choose to go will lead you somewhere > you've never been before. > That's both thrilling and frightening at the same time. > Total freedom is total uncertainty. > > If *anything* could happen next it might be something > ecstatically wonderful or it might be something > threatening. You'll never know until it's right there. > And they are both already in the middle of it, surrounded > by it. There's no turning back. > > > So. To me, this is what they are looking at (hard to put > into words, I'm no Jim Steinman). Considering the nature > of what they are facing it's not surprising they both feel > a bit lost. Yet they are ready to face whatever comes > their way, together. > (And luckily he's so protective and strong and > good-looking and she's so full of trust and love and all > that. So unless they're going to fall out over whose turn > it is to wash the dishes, they are going to make it.) > > I quite like the BFG cover art (apart from the guitar), > its atmosphere. Maybe even more than the BOOH covers, not > sure. The motorcycle stuff is a bit too trite for my > liking. The BFG cover art has a glint of "forever" in it > that I cannot find in the other covers' art work. > > That is one of the best posts on this forum I have ever seen, and of course I must agree when you put it like that. I guess I just always thought the picture was the least interesting out of any of the Jim album covers because I couldn’t see into it the way you did. But with that said, I still really like the 2 "Bat out of Hell" album covers. To me, the first album cover is a very stirring very powerful concept, of a man who has defied death to be with the one he loves. For some reason he has been sent to Hell, a reason which is unknown to us, but he is determined to escape it, and he has actually been willed back by the power of his obsessive love. He’s conquered and defied Hell itself. He bursts through the graveyard on his motorcycle soaring into the heavens, the giant Bat on the steeple actually roaring at the sight of him, and he's determined to ride away free, "Like a Bat out of Hell." And, of course, the irony is obvious to us. But who knows WHO the Bat might be? Many years later, he returns to Hell and we actually see that this Bat creature is in charge, ruling over what could be a representation of the motorcyclist's own private Hell. The motorcyclist may have died in New York, and so his own private Hell is this exaggerated chaotic version of New York where everything is out of control and the Bat is in charge. This is what he escaped from, to be with his love, but he must now try to conquer it and reconcile with his demons in order to have a chance at passing on, in order to be with the love of his life for all eternity. The problem now is that he also has to rescue her from the Bat's clutches. Anyway, something that's like that... "The Final at Bat" artwork would have shown the resolution of this character's fight, but thanks to Julie Bell & Co. it was just another continuing adventure and not the conclusion that some might have wanted (But I won't get into that, AGAIN.) But I love those ideas, the man returning from the death through the power of love, returning to Hell to face his demons, quite literally, and then God or Satan or somebody else knows what. Alternatively, considering that Jim has always had "Neverland" in mind with many of these creations, the graveyard might be a terrible location in Obsidian and the city is, quite obviously, Obsidian itself, and the Bat might be like a Ring Wraith working for Captain Hook. The two people in the "Bad for Good" illustration would be Peter and Wendy, and "Original sin" might be Wendy dreaming of Peter many years later. Anyway, I've done enough thinking aloud. Again, your post is one of the best I have seen on this forum in ages. | |
| reply | | |
| Previous: | re: Renegades - steven_stuart 03:40 am UTC 11/07/10 |
| Next: | re: Renegades - rockfenris2005 01:40 pm UTC 11/04/10 |
| Thread: |
|