CD cover reviews for 3 cds.

1. CD cover reviews
Joseph Sperring

2. Blank background
to allow the graffiti
under to stand out.
It grabs the target
audiences
attention.
Only the first two letters of the title
(Mylo Xyloto) are shown. No other
writing appears on the front cover.
They are taking a big gamble as to
people knowing who the band are
and the name of the album.
The album cover is made up of
graffiti that was painted by the
band themselves, along with artist
Paris1974.
The typeface
was specially
created for the
album.
The contrast between
the light, colourful and
bold writing against the
bland grey background
can be interpreted as
there is always a positive
behind a negative.
Mylo Xyloto - Coldplay
The colour of the album is a big contrast
from their previous album, Viva La Vida,
which had a very bland colour scheme.
The colour can also be used to suggest
the type of music that is on the album.

3. Coldplay – Mylo Xyloto
• Mylo Xyloto is a concept album from Coldplay. A concept album is a studio album where all musical and lyrical ideas contribute to a
single theme or story. The album follows the story of two main protagonists ‘Mylo’ and ‘Xyloto’ who are living in a dystopian and
urban environment. The names of the protagonist are where the title comes from. The album follows Mylo, a "silencer", who is one
of an army tasked to hunt and find “Sparkers", beings who harness light and energy and use it to create sparks of light, which is a
comparison to graffiti in real life, which is a theme throughout the album. He comes across Xyloto, a Sparker. Through Xyloto, Mylo
discovers his Sparker abilities and his affiliation with the Car Kids, a major Sparker foundation founded by Mylo's parents Aiko and
Lela. The story is simply put a love story with a happy ending.
• 1970s New York graffiti inspired the album and the album cover. There are lots of 70’s type themes throughout the album. The
album booklet has a gatefold which were very popular in the 70’s. another link is the font on the front of the album. It relates to the
disco theme and the bright neon lights that was very popular in the 70s.
• The band experimented with graffiti in their studios and their own artwork is used for the front cover. They had help with the design
from artist Paris1974. The artwork used comes from a spray painted a wall that the band and Paris1974 designed. Tappin Gofton also
collaborated wit the design of the album cover. A fold out picture of the whole wall features in the albums booklet.
• During the Mylo Xyloto tour, Coldplay used ‘Xylobands’ for light effects. They are wristbands which contain light emitting diodes and
radio frequency receivers. They were used during the tour and every member of the audience was given one. They were controlled
by a controller and they would light up to synchronise with the song the band was playing at the time. They linked to the light theme
and to the concept of the album too.
• The music falls into many genres from alternative rock, pop, pop rock, R&B and electronica.

4. Keane – Under The
Iron Sea
Blue to represent waves
and the sea can also
represent upset and
suggest the album may be
melancholy.
Iron horses represent the theme of the
album. They can also represent there is
always something hidden, under the sea for
example, that we have no control over.
The font of the
album was
specially for
the album and
has a sea effect
to it.
The waves have a
rough appearance to
them and go up and
down which can
suggest the theme of
the album and how
life has ups and
downs.
The font on the back
of the album cover
has two different
colours. 7 of the song
titles are written in
blue and 6 in green.
This can again
represent a contrast
and also link to the
themes of the songs
themselves.
Some of the eyes of the iron/sea
horses are red however some are
white. This can suggest that there
is always darkness among us. It
can also suggest the contrasts in
the album.
The same sea
style font
that’s on the
front is
featured on
the back.
Some of the horses
look like they are
crying. This can
suggest that people
bury there thoughts
under the sea that
may be upsetting.

5. Keane – Under The Iron Sea
• Under the Iron Sea is the 2nd studio album from Keane. It was released on the 12 June 2006.
• The album reached number 1 in the UK selling 222,297 copies. Since January 2006 the album has sold 3,000,000 copies
worldwide.
• The genres of the album include alternative rock, post-Britpop and electronica.
• According to the band the album is about a sinister fairy-tale world gone wrong.
• The artist behind the album cover, Sanna Annukka, listened to the entire keane album nearly 100 times and began to
create illustrations of dream sequences or surreal worlds based on the lyrics and what the song made her think of. the
plan was to eventually merge them all together to form the album cover.
• The font from the album cover was specially designed for the album. The waviness of the font links to the sea and it can
also suggest the ups and downs of the theme of the album, the sinister fairy-tale world gone wrong. It has no name but
was nicknamed by fans as ‘UTIS’.
• A bonus DVD was released with a book shaped cover representing a fairy tale story, with drawings on the inner pages

6. The Weeknd – Beauty
behind the Madness
Artists eyes looking directly out of the
image to grab the attention of the
consumer and audience.
Artists trademark hair in the
photo.
There is no writing on the cover
apart from the Explicit content
logo. By not including the artists
name they are taking a huge
gamble and creating a
statement. They are suggesting
that the target audience the
album is aimed at know what
the artist looks like, and it
suggests that the artist is so big
everyone should know him.
The very dark
colour palette and
ripped paper effect
of the background
can suggest the
type of music the
album contains.
The same picture of
the artist is featured
on both the front
and back cover of
the album.
The artists eyes are covered on the
back cover unlike the front. It
suggest that underneath he is being
controlled as to what he sees,
adding to the theme of being
‘manic’.

7. The Weeknd – Beauty behind the madness
• Beauty behind the madness is the 2nd studio album from Canadian singer and producer Abel Tesfaye, known by his stage
name The Weeknd.
• The title of the album changed many times until they settled on ‘Beauty behind the madness’. Some of the previous titles
include: mania, manic phase and others.
• Sex, drugs and heartbreak are the three tenants of the album. The incredibly explicit lyrics condone this!
• The album cover suggests mental illness from the portrayal of the artist. The torn paper effect background can suggest
that the something is trying to escape/ claw its way out from within. The dark colours also add to the mad and mental
theme being created. The way the artist Is standing and looking out the photo grabs the audiences attention.
• The expression on the artists face is almost emotionless which can suggest he has no feelings or has a mental illness/
madness which covers up his true identity. His hair is also rather mad in the way it is styled but it also is very unique which
can be in turn taken as beautiful.