Customer Reviews

Magnetic Storm

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Creating a sucessor to VIEWS is a hard enough concept, but Roger Dean has produced another master document of his work. Following along the same path as his first book, again we get the album size/shape presentation and tons of full color reproductins of Dean's sketches and renderings. This book was the first whereby I truly grasped Dean's illustrations as architechtural renderings, as lots of the projects covered in this volume are 3D projects worked on with his brother Martyn: built YES stages, modelling retreat pods and designing home and buildings. Imagine a YES album cover as a dwelling, and grab this book to show you how and why it is possible. Stunning follow-up, fantastic production values not seen often in modern paperbacks.

With this, the last book in the series of books covering the work of visualist, artist and illustrator Roger Dean, I can only conclude that as nice as these volumes are the only one that deserves a 5 star rating is the last and latest volume, Dragon's Dream.
Magnetic Storm is a little better than the Views in that Roger's ideas are more fully realized and his art is considerably improved. This latest edition of MS is quite good but the reproductions, due to their smaller format, are lacking just a little. The color reproduction is darker, more intensified than the previous edition's reproductions. Some of the art falls flat because of decisions made, like reproducing pencil work darker, adding higher contrast that actually looses some of that line work while it builds up the darker lines, sometimes muddying them. Also, the choice to reproduce those drawings on white paper instead of the previous edition's off white and cream colored paper makes the drawings more stark and and less appealing to the eye.
Where I thought I would replace my old editions with the new ones, well, I think I'll have to put that off for a while. It is unlikely that these wonderful books will be reprinted again so, for now, I'll be hanging on to both editions. The saving aspect of all these editions are the nice, sturdy hardcover treatment, making these books better able to withstand a lot of use and therefore have less shelfwear than the previous editions.
Roger Dean's work is a treasure and holds up well over the years. Even with the mature retouching of old work it's easy to appreciate the original versions.
Anyone fascinated by art and design and it's place in popular entertainment should make room for these volumes on their bookshelves while they can. These books show an exotic approach to popular and fine art that is rarely mastered with such elaborate and unique vision as Roger Dean has accomplished.

The Dean brothers are 2 of the most innovative artists of the 20th century. Roger has designed many of Yes and Asia's album covers (Drama, Yesshows, Asia, and Alpha are all featured in this book!), designed tour posters and booklets for other major rock bands and contributed on the Album Cover Album books. His brother Martyn has designed many of Yes' stage sets (Topographic Oceans, Drama, and Relayer) and has acted as Yes' photographer both for album shots and on tour. Together and seperately, Roger and Martyn have also worked on animation, video games, architecture, and an invention of Martyn's which is called a retreat pod (sort of like a futuristic sleeping bag with the options of an entertainment center!). I'd like to see this gem back in print and see a 3rd volume where Roger and Martyn have left off since this was published.

I have owned this book ( I hope it's the same one! ) since 1986. The pub date on this book says 1984, so the one you're reading about may be different....?

Having grown up listening to the music of Yes, and staring with fascination at the jacket art, this book was literally snatched up as soon as I saw it!

These two brothers are so creative and talented together as well a indivdually that I found it hard to read the text, rather that just look at the pictures!

This is definately a must have "coffee table book"!

I am a big Yes fan and this book has great photos of the band from the 1970's when they revolutionized stage shows. Very few photos available and this book has lots not shown anywhere else so get it.
Obviously it has wonderful artwork as well and is well worth the price for this coffee table book.

Roger Dean has been my favorite artist since the '70's. It stands on it's own style. Always copied, never duplicated. This book is more visual eye candy for all of us. A friend of mine has a daughter studying art. I sent her this book and she fell in love with right away. She had never seen this style before, and it really made an impression on her. It's hard to describe an art book in words, you really have to see it. Bt for any artist, or art lover, this book will make a fine addition to your collection.

I bought this book for my brother as a gift and he was thrilled! He loves the artwork of Roger Dean and owns another book of his art, which is falling apart. Thanks for the great service and good condition of the book!

great collection of Roger Dean's artwork... if yer a Roger Dean art fan this book is a must have if you can still find one for sale.

I met artist Roger Dean after being invited to an exhibition of his art in San Francisco, 1991. I had long admired, no, worshipped his art in the release of "VIEWS", the 1st collected work devoted solely to the Dean brothers, Roger and Martyn. The color schemes combined with the visions of alternate landscapes of exploded planets and truly wondrous terrains have become iconic landmarks in the art world. It is a vision so deep, it is often hard to fathom, and evokes the seldom used Japanese phrase, Yugen! The work is unmatched anywhere else. The artist is as warm and human as anyone I've ever met, and one hopes for their continued success. He is currently designing communities in his vision in the UK named "Willowwater", and has done much art for the Prog scene in Penn; "Nearfest", if you are looking for other printed examples of his work.

A blend of many different art forms, they combine architecture, fantasy art, music. How can two men be able to design for all areas of life. Read this book to find out. I have owned a copy for fifteen years and still find something new each time.