Analysis of album cover

1. Album cover
BY ALEX INKSTER

2. Some of the typical things that an album cover has are the name of the artist/band, the
name of the album, a back cover which tells you the number and names of the songs that
are included within the album. It also includes a bar code, artwork that is usually themed
around the music, and it can sometimes include ratings (5 star).
These albums can be categorised into different genres depending on the look and the
colour of the album. For example, more brightly coloured albums would be more likely to be
categorised into the “pop” genre, however this isn’t always the case. Sometimes the image
of the album can also help to distinguish which genre it goes into., so if the image was more
gory, it would mean that the album would be more in the heavy metal genre.
Question one and two

3. Chosen album one
This is the album cover of the band called “The Black Keys” and this is the album cover of “Brothers”. This
album contains 15 different songs, some of which are “Tighten up”, “Next Girl” and “Unknown brother”.
From looking at the front and back cover of the album, I noticed that there was no special artwork on the
front of the album; there is only some text. The text says, “This is an album by The Black Keys. The name of
the album is Brothers”. This piece of text is quite witty as it is explaining to the audience that it is an album.
Because of this, it makes it easier to class as a rock album as rock is more laid back and because of this
sentence it suggests this. The back of the album has an image of the artist and it still contains the witty
sentences on the back as well as they say “These are the names of the songs on this album” as well as
“these are the guys in the band” which could suggest that the people in the band are down to earth and
like your everyday average person, which is also shown with the clothing that they are wearing.
The colour that is used within this album is quite vivid as it only uses three colours, which are: Red, black and
white. The colour that is used in this album cover reflects the mood and the name of the band, it reflects
the band and they are called the Black Keys which explains the use of black, and it reflects the album as
the combination of the three colours suggest that this album is a bit more up beat due to the white and
black and this is the same for the back of the album.
The font that is used for this album is called “Cooper Black” and these are used for the witty text on the front
and back of the album cover. The font that is used in he album slightly increases for the words “the Black
Keys” and “Brothers”, and this is done to make it clear to the audience that these are the main parts of the
album cover, the name of the band and the name of the album.
The image and the text that is used work well together, this is because the colour scheme is the same on
the front and the back of the album cover, also the image that is used also reflects the tone of the writing
as they make the album look laid back as there isn’t anything unordinary going on.
I couldn’t find any iconography within this album cover. There are some signifiers to this ban, which is the
abstract Indi art that is used on the front and back cover of the album.

4. Chosen album two
The second album cover that I have chosen is by “Fitz and the tantrums” and the name of the album is called
“More than just a dream”. This album contains 12 different songs; these include “Out of my league”, “Break
the Walls” and “The Walker”.
From looking at the album cover, the image that is displayed is of a neon light that is in the shape of a heart
with lots of trees behind it. The colour of the neon light is purple. And this is similar on the back of the album
cover as the only difference is that there is a purple light and no neon heart shapes light. This will have been
used to let the audience know what type of music this album might have, as it suggest that the music played
is about love.
I also noticed that there is some text that is used on the album cover at the very bottom of the front cover. The
text that is used displays the name of the album as well as the name of the band. The name of the band is
slightly bigger than the name of the album. This had been done make the audience know that this is what the
band is called and to stand out a bit more.
There is a relationship between the image and the text of the album cover. This is because the name of the
album is called “More than just a dream” and the use of the image makes it look like a dream, as you
wouldn’t find something like this in the woods. Also the use of the heart shaped light could link to the name of
the album as well as loving a particular person could be considered “More than just a dream”.
The overall use of the image and the album suggest to the audience that this album is all about love and this
is due to the image used of the heart. It also suggests to the audience that the type of music is more Indi rock
due to the bright colours used.
The overall colour that is used for this album contrast well. This is because most of the album is in dark colours
due to the lighting but then the use of purple makes the album cover look more relaxed and this might appeal
more to the audience.