Great album covers: 10CC "Deceptive Bends" (by Hipgnosis)

Let's get this right off the bat: I am NOT nor have ever been a fan of the bands 10CC. As a matter of fact I am certain I could only name you one song I know of them and that would be the limit of my knowledge of them, except that Godley & Cream left the band just before the release of this album, "Deceptive Bends". Although I am no fan of the band, the album cover is iconic and resonates with me. This version here is from a German edition of the album, and thus the background cover is a bit more "purple"/"mauve" than the usual "orange"/"tan-brown", but it could be an error in scanning. In any case...


I really think this is a wonderful album cover. Obviously one must attribute it to the wonderful art team known as Hipgnosis which consisted mainly of Storm Thorgerson, Aubrey Powell, and then joined by a pre-Coil pre-Throbbing Gristel Peter "Sleazy" Christopherson. "Deceptive Bends" was an album quite important the remaining members of the band, and they really wanted to make it clear they could go on when two members left the band (a similar situation to Depeche Mode and their second album "A Broken Frame"... Hey, now there's a bunch of great album covers!). It's just a damn real nice album cover this one, and if I could ever find a dirt cheap but in good condition of the vinyl LP, I would actually put it in a frame and display it in my home or studio, surely to spark many people into thinking I was a 10CC fan... which I am not, of course. Seriously, I make it a point to try to listen to stuff which I would not normally do (I went through a few earlier albums by E.L.O. and Chicago for exxample, just to be able to form some kind of opinion), but 10CC really doesn't seem to appeal to any of my sensibilities. Although since I have included this one in my "great album covers" series, then I should at the very least attempt to listen to the album...