Spot the pigeon

Joe Tocci of Illinois asks: "Why are the Momentary Lapse of Reason and Delicate Sound of Thunder covers 'letterboxed' and not bled to the edges like all previous cover art?  And on the back of Mason's Fictitious Sports there is a figure of a man running.  What does this mean?  Is it regarding Spot The Pigeon?"

Shame on you, you should know better than to ask subjective questions about Storm Thorgerson's work - y'know he can't help it!  But, keep in mind that MLOR and DSOT were the first specifically designed with CD in mind and the look of the cover is helped in these cases with border strips.  As for your second question, more like "spot the player", it depicts a fictitious sport (gettit?) involving a number of footballs and no players.  There is no real deep meaning - just a bit o' fun.