ALBUM ANALYSISBY REBECKA WADE-SAVAGE

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to see review.

The Picture is in black and white which gives the

smoke a more prominent feel in the album cover as

it stands out to the background. Moreover, the

smoke being colourful links into the idea of the

album title of being too weird to live, too rare to die

cause in that world of black and white the smoke is

very rare to have.

The person featured on the album

cover is the main vocalist in the

band showing that they include

the band on the cover. However,

only he is featured on the cover

due to the album being personal

to him unlike the rest of the band.

The main singer is staring at the

audience through the mirror

making it harder to turn away

from the cover.

The album cover name is written in a

smaller font than the band name as well

as the font is different except for the

words ‘Live and Die’ which are

juxtaposition to each other. It also links

into some of their songs which are

located on the album such as ‘Far too

young to Die.’

The titles of the

music are

located on the

back cover and

are written in the

same font as the

title. The number

of the songs are

written in red

which could

mean they are

more important

as you need the

to know which

track is which

when listening to

the CD.

Moreover, the

barcode is

incorporated

into the design. The Lead Vocalist is in a open top car looking into the mirror

which gives the feel as if he is looking at the audience which is

looking at the music titles. Also, the image contains lens flares

which gives it an almost vintage feel. Moreover, the artist looking

through the mirror at the audience could mean that he is looking

at our reactions to his music, however, doesn’t want to openly

admit it. Lastly, the open top car gives the album a rock style

theme which links into their music.

The background is quite boring as it’s of a abandon/run down area which gives most of the focus onto the singer and the smoke. The singer is wearing all black and is smoking which gives of the feel of rock which links into their type of music. Lastly, the singer is looking down at the ground rather than at the audience which could symbolise him being respectful to the audience or he is almost being open about his music as his arms at hanging at his sides.

The front and back

cover of the album is in

black and white with the

only colour being the

smoke and the numbers

meaning the overall

design is matching.

Panic! At the Disco are a American Rock band which released their album ‘Too Weird to Live, Too Rare

to Die’ on October 8th 2013 from the producer Butch Walker.

The genre of music is rock which links to the albums black and white imagery and the artists body

language/appearance. This is due to him wearing only black clothing and smoking which is commonly

linked to the rock genre in music. Furthermore, the only colour on the back of the album is red which is

another which is commonly linked to the rock genre of music.

The imagery on the album is of the main vocalist of the band who either smoking or driving in a open

top car. The front cover imagery gives of the feel of rock due to him smoking, wearing black and in a

abandon area. However, the smoke which is colourful (thus contrasts the rest of the album) makes it

feel less rock and something new instead. Also, the imagery has completely swapped the colours

around so usually the smoke is black and white while the rest of the world is in colour but instead the

band has chosen to swap this around which in turn links into the title of the album ‘too weird to live,

too rare to die’ as the band’s music is unique just like the smoke in the black and white world.

Moreover, the artist in the picture seems to be walking away from the building which could mean he

is trying to unique in the world which in turn once again links back to the title of the album. The main

person in the cover is looking downwards with his arms at his side while smoking which gives an

openness to album which in turn makes the main singer look like he is being open about everything.

On the other hand, looking downwards instead of straight ahead can be seen as a sign of respect

meaning that he could be being respect to the audience.

The layout of the album is focused mostly on the top left hand corner and the mid right of the album.

The writing of the album for this band is usually found in the top left hand corner which is why they

probably located it there. Furthermore, the layout has meant that the test and the main picture do

not overlap thus take the importance away from one another. The title is located above the band

name which may indicate that the title of the album is a reflection of the band itself.

The text style is one which links into the band as they usually use that type of font in their album art. In the title of the band and the track list on the back is

written in a style of font like bebas. However, in the title they are changed the words ‘Live’ and ‘Die’ to the same font as their band name which are

contrasting words which gives on another feel of rock to the album. Also, the font they use for their band name looks handwritten thus fives the feel of rock

and it being personal to the artist.

The use of symbolism in the album cover can seen through the smoke in which the singer is smoking as unlike the rest of the world the smoke is colourful and

different which may indicate that the he is creating something new and never seen before (smoke though mouth = lyrics come from his mouth also) but it

could also mean that just like the smoke this album is going to be too rare to die however to weird to some people to live. This could be seen as the band’s

view of themselves in the industry of music.

The title of the album and the band name is located at the top

of the cover in small text which gives the image underneath

more importance to the audience. This could be to give the

feel of inclusion for the fans due to only the fans of the music

would know of the image and thus would feel like true fans.

The main focus of the album is the boy with the American

flag on his face who is wearing a stripy blue and black t-

shirt. He is staring right out at the audience which a blank

expression. This gives the boy an angry and dark feel to his

face which links into the album’s title ‘American

Beauty/American Psycho’.

The boy is

wearing

dark

clothing

which

links into

his dark

face

paint

which

only

covers

half his

face

which

could link

to the

fact that

he is half

psycho,

half

beauty.

The back cover of the album features the band walking away with

their back facing the audience except one of them which is

wrapped in an American flag in the same colours as the image on

the front the cover. He is staring at the audience which once again

links into the fact that the audience can’t break eye contact with

him and thus will look at the album more.

The track list on the back of the album is written in the same font as

the title and the band name which makes the writing look dated and

links into the feel of retro America/Patriotic (the flags, clothing and

backgrounds). The band members are all wearing leather jackets

which are usually seen as rock clothing which links into their type of

music.

The

background

of the image

is commonly

seen as a

standard

American

scenery

(desert,

tumbleweed

s etc). Also,

the sun gives

a dusty feel

to the album

which

makes it link

even more

into the rock

genre.

American Beauty/American Psycho is the sixth album realised by Fall out boy which is an

American Rock band. The album was released on January 16th in 2015 by Island Records.

The ‘American beauty’ comes from the album by the grateful dead while the ‘American

Psycho’ comes from the book by Bret Easton Ellis.

The genre of music is rock as the band is described as an ‘American Rock Band’ due to their

pervious album was ‘Save Rock and Roll’. The genre of rock comes across in the album due their

front cover featuring dark/punk type face paint which is commonly linked to rock music as well as

their back cover features the band in leather jackets in a abandon setting which can be once

again seen as rock. Furthermore, the colours on the people on the album are black and blue

which are dark colours and can be seen as linking into the idea of rock of roll.

The imagery on the front of the album is a young boy wearing black face paint which covers

only half his face and is in the style of the American flag. The boy is wearing a tank top which is

blue and black and is in central focus of the image as the house in the background is blurred.

The back cover contains the imagery of the band walking away (back to the audience) while

one member with the American flag is looking back at the audience. The imagery is used to

create symbolism such as the boy’s face is only half covered showing that he is half American

beauty and half American psycho (which links into the title of the album). His facial reaction

can also link to this due to him looking expressionless so it gives him a dark and angry vibe.

Furthermore, the colours he is wearing are black and blue which are colours usually linked to

bruises thus violence which also links into the theme of anger shown through the boy’s face.

Another way symbolism is used through imagery is the back cover of the album contains the

band looking away from the audience while one of them is looking back which could show

that the band is daring to do something different and unique so is not following the social norm.

This can also be shown through the boy’s face as instead of going horizontal the flag is instead

going vertical meaning that the band is showing they are sticking to the social norm but at the

same time they are changing it to mean something else.

The text in the album is quite traditional which links into the theme of patriotism which is

commonly seen as old. The text placement is seen as being small and usually located at the top

of the album meaning that you have to look for it to be able to see it. The colour of the font is

black which on the front cover is hard to see, however, it stands out on the back cover.

The representation of the band in the album cover is one

which is quite rock and political due to them giving an

almost riot look to their album due to their colour scheme

which suggest violence as well as the face paint which

looks more like war paint which links in once again to the

theme of violence. This can also been seen through their

song titles on the back cover such as ‘Kids aren’t alright’.

Moreover, the American theme is shown also through the

song titles ‘Fourth of July’ and ‘Hotel in NYC’. This shows

that the band was trying to get the theme of American

and violence across in their music.

The hands are mirrored which links into the title

‘Smoke and Mirrors’ and are bound in gold silk

which can also link to the song ‘Gold’ which is

on their album. The hand also being tied

together could symbolise the band feeling

trapped within making money (gold silk) and

wanting to break free.

The bird is being released by the hands

which may can link to the songs ‘I bet my

life’ and ‘Smoke and mirrors’ which is about

breaking free and making your own way.

Moreover, the bird could also represent

their music as the hands could mean the

band while the bird is their album which is

being released into the world.

In the top

left hand

corner there

is the

album’s

release date

which has

been

mirrored

which links

into the title

of the

album.

The background of

the album is covered

in web which contain

words and numbers

which is quite hard to

see due to the very

dark background.

Also, the web looks like

a broken mirror which

once again links into

the title of smoke and

mirrors.

The background goes from black to

almost light green which could show

the bird escaping confinement and

flying away to freedom. The bird

almost looks like it was forced to fly

upwards by the hands which could

show that the band felt the album

wasn’t ready when it was released.

The font used for the band

name is the font usually

found on imagine dragons

covers, moreover, the

band’s name is much

bigger than the album

name meaning that the

band’s name would be

much more noticeable

rather than the album

name.

There is a cross behind the track list which

is usually associated with religion. This

could symbolise that to the band their

music is their religion or that the music itself

contains religious features.

The text is written in the same font as the title of the album

but it doesn’t contain the track list. The writing is written on

the cross and is central to the album back. Moreover, the

font is the lightest image on the back cover which the rest

is dark.

‘Smoke and Mirrors’ was released on 11th February 2015 from Imagine Dragons by the label

KIDinaKORNER. Imagine Dragons is considered an American Rock Band, however, their music

can be considered pop rock. The title of the album comes from their song smoke and mirrors.

The genre of music in which the album relates to is commonly rock which can be seen

through the dark colours, however, the album cover is not considered normal for music in it’s

genre which normally have reds, blacks or rock symbolism while imagine dragons has golds

and greens. However, the religious link in the album can be seen as rock as most rock bands

usually contain crosses or religious symbolism in their music/cover art.

The imagery on the album is of a bird being released from two mirrored hands which are

tied up by golden silk. Moreover, in the background there is designs of webs or broken

mirrors which contain numbers and words. The hands being confined by the gold silk can

link back to their song ‘gold’ and could also symbolise that the band feels confined with

their popularity that they cannot be free to do what they want. Also, the bird can

symbolise their music and that they want their music to deify the social norms and unique

to the world. On the other hand, the bird seems almost forcibly thrown into the air which

could mean that the band felt as if the album was not ready to be produced, however,

was forced to release it, to create more money (gold silk). The imagery is focused mainly in

the middle of the image while the text is located in the centre which lets the audience

know easily who’s album it is and what it’s title is. The text is located also in the open hands

meaning that just link the bird the hands are releasing the album and band out to the

world.

The text font for the artist’s name Is one which they commonly use for most of their singles and albums thus is personal to them, on the other hand, the title

of the album is not written in the same style and is considerably smaller than the band name. This could indicate that the band feels their name and image

is much more noticeable than the album’s title. The album writing is also white which makes it stand out against the complex imagery due to it being the

only thing which is white on the album cover which could show that they see the album are pure as white=purity in religion, however, it could of just been

to make the writing stand out against the dark background.

The logo of the band which is on every single

they are produced. The yellow makes it stand

out against the black background and it looks

painted on making it have a rebellious feel.

The title of the band and the album. The band

name is bigger than the album name meaning

people would notice them before the album

making them more noticeable.

The yellow and

black could

symbolise danger

as animals use it

to make them

seem dangerous.

However, it could

be to make the

band more

unique against

the other albums.

The logo of the band is located above the track list

showing that the band wants people to know the

logo before their music or to show people that if

they want more from the band then look for the

logo

The track list is in yellow which makes it stand out

against the black background and links into the

yellow of the logo.

The Prides are a Scottish Synthpop band located in Glasgow and is

made up of three members. They have so far released 11 songs and

one album which is ‘The Way Back Up’ which was released in 2015.

The imagery used on the album is only their logo which could

symbolise that they want people to judge them for their music rather

than who they are due to the lack of their faces. Also, it could

symbolise that they want their logo to be their main branding focus

that they want their fans to feel include so that only ‘true’ fans would

know who they are. The logo is written in yellow and looks messily

painted on showing that the music may be exciting and rebellious

which would appeal to young adults and teenagers. The logo is also a

circle with a line down it showing that they want to be unique or be a

different sector than the rest of the music.

The font is quite small compared to the logo and is written in a style

such as ‘Zona Pro’. Moreover, the writing is white which keeps it

apart from the logo and the dark background. The name of the

band is in larger writing than the album name which could show that

they want their name to be known rather than the band. This can link

into the fact this is their debut album. The colours are black, yellow and white which can be link with danger

as in the animal kingdom, animals use theses colours to warn of

potential predators. This could symbolise that the music is unique and

rebellious which would bring in potential audiences who want

something different.

The album does not represent race as there is

no people located on the album nor does it

represent any growing problems in society.

The line through the circle could symbolise

segregation as there is one part cut off from the

other. This could show how the band is different

from the other bands out there.