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to Led Zeppelin, Genesis, 10cc, AC/DC, Black Sabbath and Wings. But no sleeve of theirs had quite the impact of that of the prism dispersing light into colour for Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon (1973). Mention that record today and it’s likely that the album cover flashes into the mind as readily as the singles Money and Us And Them - and yet there is no text on it whatsoever. The design spooked record label EMI, but because Thorgerson and Powell were employed by the band, they were free to unleash their creative genius. As band member Dave Gilmour (who replaced Barrett in 1968) put it, Hipgnosis would come up with their own “atmospheric link” to the music.The record was undeniably fantastic. The Dark Side Of The Moon would never have sold 45 million copies worldwide simply on the basis of a nicely designed sleeve. But the stark cover undeniably lent a sense of mystique to the whole undertaking, which fed into the sense that this was exciting and important music. When Storm Thorgerson died in 2013, Gilmour said “the artworks that he created for Pink Floyd from 1968 to the present day have been an inseparable part of our work.” It was telling that British rock band Muse, when they wanted a cover to represent a concept album, got in touch with Thorgerson. The results on the sleeve of 2003’s Absolution, unsurprisingly, are excellent. Excitingly, Aubrey Powell has helped to curate the exhibition, lending not just a sense of authority to the proceedings, but fidelity to the look and feel of Pink Floyd, too. It will be fascinating to see how he celebrates The Wall, Pink Floyd’s 1979 concept album and subsequent tour - not least because the record sleeve was designed by illustrator Gerald Scarfe after Roger Waters had fallen out with Thorgerson. Once again there was no text on the original sleeve: literally just a white brick wall. Scarfe’s handwritten lettering was later added as a sticker or wrap. 544 Original Rank Aldis Tutor (I) projector by Rupert Truman5 Sketch for the V&A exhibition by Ray WinklerIMAGES: 4 © PINK FLOYD MUSIC LTD; 5 © STUFISH“ PINK FLOYD CONSISTENTLY PUSHED ARTISTIC BOUNDARIES” VICTORIA BROACKES, SENIOR CURATOR30PINK FLOYDThe Arts Society ReviewSummer 2017