The fantasy cover was a haversack flap painting classic. Some lad who was good at art would paint a Yes or Genesis cover on his. I was terrible at copying artwork so never managed it but there were credibility points awarded to those who could
I don’t really know why the fantasy cover like any Roger Dean sleeve was so attractive to the teenage boy. Girls were somehow culturally excluded from liking them. Again I don't know why.
Those albums always got played and the cover alone implied the record would be great, which of course it usually was. And I, like many contemporaries, loved them. I loved the Relayer cover and label and was very jealous of a lad who had perfectly copied it on his haversack.
It quickly became a ‘hipper than thou’ competition as lads competed to get the most unusual one on theirs. Babe Ruth’s First Base was a popular one as was Topographic Oceans. Fairplay to the lad who copied the Clear Light Symphony brain cover. I think he won the most cool, though the one who copied the Osibisa cover ran him close.
There was an odd symbiosis between the record and the sleeve that existed with what was usually progressive rock covers (though not always) I wished I could do one and even offered money to get the cover of Anthony Phillips The Geese & the Ghost painted because not only was a mythical, fantasy type cover but also a great record being almost a Genesis album with Rutherford and Collins on. I was 16 and along with the desire to consummate even a fleeting relationship with pretty much every and any girl or warm blooded animal, it was what I most desired. But, as is the way with such things, within a year I had lost the urge (not to consummate, you understand) to even have a haversack.
The spell the fantasy/mythic covers cast has outlived my teenage obsessions and still captivate today and I still think it's an indicator of quality, indeed I can’t think of a poor album with such artwork. I really like Topographic Oceans and Greenslade as well as Uriah Heep and Babe Ruth. There must be one. Drop me a line if you know of one.
