My analysis of three different alternative rock CD covers.

1. CD COVERS
EMILY LANGDALE

2. Brief
• My chosen genre is alternative rock

3. No Doubt – Rock Steady – Front Cover
The text is very big and thick and looks
squashed together.The band and album
names are constantly repeated and there is
only 3 main colours which all compliment each
other.This shows it as a very simple front
cover because it just has the names repeated
in 3 main colours.
Naming the album ‘Rock Steady’ implies the
album genre is rock. Also, it could show that
‘steady’ means a calmer part
of rock, such as alternative.
The red ‘no doubt’ and ‘rock
steady’ stand out from the
white and black. The capital
letters infers that it is being
shouted.
The name of the band is
‘No Doubt’ portraying
the band has having
lots of confident.
The ‘rock steady’ is also similar to a
compilation by Alton Ellis called ‘get ready
for rock reggae steady’. Ellis was a
Jamaican vocalist. He is known as one of
the inventors of ‘rocksteady’ which may
have influenced the band to name their
album ‘Rock Steady’ due to the Jamaican
connections.
The style of text and colours
are also shown as very
similar to Alton Ellis’s album
‘get ready for rock reggae
steady’ because of the
mismatched size of the
letters

4. No Doubt – Rock Steady – Back Cover
The audience would range
from 15-25.This is because
the album creates quite a
young vibe, for example
showing flesh as well as
wearing loads of accessorises.
A trait usually associated with
young people.This album
would appeal more to
females than males.
The song names take up little of the back
cover and are barely noticeable. They are
also coloured pink and white which is a
change considering most of the colours
on the back are black, red and gold.
The colours on the back (red, yellow
and green) creates a reggae vibe.
From researching, No Doubt wanted
to make a Jamaican dancehall music
album.They were influenced by the
music of Jamaican and some songs
include dancehall and ragga.The
other songs also feature the band’s
typical ska and reggae sounds.This
shows the bands unique style of
alternative rock compared to the
other bands I have researched.
The back cover shows a medium close up shot of the lead singer, Gwen Stefani’s stomach and
arms.The band is further promoting the album by her wearing ‘no doubt rock steady’ on her
shorts as well as rings and belt.The woman takes up almost the whole shot but shows no face
suggesting she’s not that significant. This could imply that mainly the focus is on Stefani because
she is the lead singer, but she doesn’t want her face to be show without the rest of the band.
The bar code seems to
hidden in the corner of the
back cover. However, the
white and black does stand
out against the jeans. Under the songs there is a list of who produced them, this is in very
small writing compared to the song names, possible suggesting that
the band are more concerned with songs than who helped produced
them.The text style of these credits is also very small and simple
compared to the song name text style.
Also, in the bottom right corner is
the band’s website, they may be
trying to promote tours or
merchandise but it is very small
text and takes up little room.

5. Paramore – All We Know Is Falling -
Front Cover
The abandoned forest
gives the impression of
creepiness and isolation.
The shadow also creates
this mood because it’s just
one person.The shadow
could represent someone
sitting down or leaving.
The red sofa stands out in
the forest and quite unusual
to find portraying its
uniqueness. The red can
symbolise anger or love.
‘All We Know Is Falling’ is the title of the album which
creates a feeling of some form of a breakdown. This
could potentially relate to the band member leaving
and thus the loss of normality within the band.
There are sparkles of light around the
‘Paramore’ text this gives them a more unique
style and possibly an easier logo to spot.
There’s only sparkles around the name of the
band rather than the title, implying the band
name is more important.
The type of audience that would
listen to this is young adults to teens
aged 15-25. Both females and males
can listen to this because they’re a
band consisting of boys and girls
which makes them more appealing.
The type of music is rock because of
the quite dark colours and the bands
appearance.
From research, I have discovered
that the shadow is representing one
of the band members temporarily
leaving the band. Thus the lonely
shadow is possibly the last one left
because they are no longer a part of
the band.

6. Paramore – All We Know Is Falling –
Back Cover The red sofa looks darker
and dirtier compared to
the front cover implying
time has passed.
The band are all wearing the same
jeans showing their a band, however
they’re all wearing different tops to
show their individuality.
The band look bored
and disconnected,
suggesting they may
be struggling due a
member departing.
Directly underneath the song
titles are who helped produce
them. Although in smaller text,
the band have acknowledged
the producers as they are not
hidden away, but in the middle
of the back cover.
The bar code covers up one of the
member’s jeans suggesting it’s
important.The white and black
stands out because the cover is
mostly blue.
The songs are in very small
writing and don’t particularly
stand out due to the black and
blue. Also, the songs are in a italic
kind of font which matches the
title of the album’s text as well.

7. Imagine Dragons – Smoke + Mirrors –
Front Cover
The bird being set free can
symbolise a sense of new life
or freedom.
The hands are tied together
which suggests that there are
restricted or stuck.
It also looks as if there are webs tangled
around the hands. This further shows
that the hands are restricted and being
controlled.
The gold on the bird and hands
contrast each other.The hands are
still restrained whereas the bird is
free to fly away.
The audience I would say is more likely
to be male than female. The age range
is probably 13-25 because the album
does include a mixture of pop and rock
songs.
Imagine Dragons have their own unique
style of writing so that there fans can easily
recognise this album. Some parts of the
letters are missing and some of the letters
italic.The text is also in the middle of the
cover making them easier to recognise.
The title ‘Smoke + Mirrors’ creates a sense
of fear.There needs to be a fire to create
smoke and the ‘+ mirrors’ increases the
amount of smoke.

8. Imagine Dragons – Smoke + Mirrors –
Back Cover The back of the back cover
is completely black with
only the songs in a white
colour over a plus sign. The
plus sign is probably linked
to the ‘+’ in the album title.
The almost complete
darkness of the back
cover can present
sadness and loneliness.
The song titles are very small but
are in the centre of the cover.The
back cover is fully concentrated on
the song titles because there’s no
picture of anything.This portrays
the band as focussed on music
rather than their appearance.
The acknowledgments are at the bottom
and not in a very bright text as the songs
so there not as easy to read.
At the far right corner the band
have displayed their website as a
way of buying merchandise or
tickets. However, like the
acknowledgements the text is
very dark and not that as to read
as the song titles.
The bar code is as bright as
the song titles so it stands
out. Although there is a line
which shows that the
acknowledgements and the
bar code aren’t part of the
design.