Squaring the Circle: The Story of Hipgnosis

A huge part of my childhood and most people from my generation, growing up in the 60's & 70's, was staring at album covers, reading every word of the liner notes just visually ingesting art, for art's sake. This documentary gives us a glorious, backstage, pass to the inner workings of some of the biggest bands of the era. Hearing Noel Gallagher detail about how his daughter didn't understand that album artwork was a thing was absolutely heartbreaking. We would literally just stare at the album cover while listening to the album much like we sat at the breakfast table and stared at the cereal box and read every word on the front and back and sides when we were eating cereal in the mornings. It just brought back so many great memories and the thrill of physically holding an album the smell of the album cover You felt going through the motions of opening the sleeve, putting the album on the turntable and then sitting back and waiting to hear something you've never heard. It really was a beautiful time to be a music and art lover. This gargantuan outlet for artists is now, as Noel said, just a tiny square, on iTunes.

As "Squaring the Circle: The Story of Hipgnosis" (2023 release; 101 min.) opens, we are introduced to, Aubrey "Po" Powell, one of the founders of the (album cover) art design group Hpygnosis, reminisces of what life was like in Cambridge 1966, and how he met Strom Thorgeson, the other o-founder. In their circle of friends and acquaintances were Roger Waters and David Gilmour, leading to the breakout debut album cover design for Pink Floyd's second album, 1968's " Saucerful of Secrets". At this point we are 10 minutes into the documentary.

Couple of comments: this documentary is directed y none other than Anton Corbijn, best known for he working going back decades with Depeche Mode. Corbijn must've called in a lot of favors. As he gets tons of top notch rock stars to serve as talking heads, including Paul MacCartney, Peter Gabriel, Jimmy Page and Robert Plante, and many others. If you grew up in a certain era, much of this will be familier to you already. All that said, it makes for a entertaining if straightforward documentary with very few (if any) truly new revelations. Thai said, in the 15 years that Hypgnosis was active (1968 to 1983), they truly were the gold standard of rock album cover deigns, no question about it.

"Squaring the Circle: The Story of Hypgnosis" was made in 2022 but not released until earlier this years. It played a number of film festivals before starting to stream on Netflix not too long ago. The movie is currently rated 92% Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. Which seems a bit too high to me. Regardless, if you love(d) vinyl records, the album cover design was a crucial element of the overall album experience, and I'd readily suggest you check out "Squaring the Circle", and draw your own conclusion.

Fascinating film about the 2 extraordinary guys who were responsible for the most iconic album cover of all time and countless others album covers from the late 60 onwards. Great interviews from the likes of Dave Gilmour, Roger Waters ,Jimmy page, Robert Plant ,Paul McCartney and many more. Some great stories behind the album covers (Animals is particularly funny) and the thought process behind them. After all these years I never understood the significance of the man on fire on Wish You Were Here Its shot in black and white and colour to dazzling effect and each time I watch it I notice something new. The film manages to convey the absolute chaos and spontaneity of there lives This harks back to a time when the album cover was nearly as important than the vinyl inside Hopefully there will be a soundtrack album as well. Anyone who laments the end of an era of truly inspiring music will love this.

This story was in the era of my tween, teen, & young adult years. I had never heard of Hypgnosis but it peaked my interest with all the Rock Celebrities and the amazing photography. With that said I feel really, really old seeing Jimmy Page with white hair and Robert Plant nearly bald. The band's tour highlights were awesome as well. I could have watched hours of this, if it had been longer. So nostalgic, so informative, so sad to see those days end because we no longer purchase and play LPs. When I was young I loved nothing better than getting an album with an amazing cover. It truly was an art form under appreciated at the time. The back stories to all of the album covers Hypgnosis created were funny, ridiculous, passionate, entertaining, and enjoyable . This documentary needed to be told. Thanks to the producers for bringing back those memories that will forever be frozen in time. I plan on watching at least two, maybe three more times.

Saw this at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival

"Squaring the Circle (The Story of Hipgnosis)" is a documentary about Storm Thorgerson and Aubrey "Po" Powell, the creative geniuses behind the iconic album art design studio, Hipgnosis, responsible for some of the most recognizable album covers of all time. This is director Anton Corbijn's first documentary feature and for the most part, it was pretty entertaining and well-informed.

Prior to seeing this I had knew about Storm Thorgerson's work and his impact with album covers and I was a big fan of Pink Floyd growing up and this documentary was pretty interesting to learn about the personal stories behind the iconic album covers, the life of Thorgerson's work, and listening to many well-known musicals explain their sides of the story and the personal impacts.

The visual presentations was pretty good, the interviews from each participants all felt purposeful and informative, and the overall experience of this documentary was a joy to watch. Some complaints I have were that since the soundtrack relies mostly on songs from Pink Floyd, some of the songs were used inappropriately where the tone and soundtrack didn't mention the scenario. Including there were some segments that could have been edited out as they felt like filler.

But the overall experience was pretty fun. Fans of Pink Floyd or well known 60s, 70s, or 80s music fans will have a good time watching this film.

Rating: B.