1. ‘Whatever People Say I Am, That’s Exactly What I’m Not’ – Digipak Analysis
The man on the front and back of the CD cover reflects how the Arctic Monkeys
see themselves as a band; they portray themselves as average people almost
like ‘working class’. They have done this to appeal more to their target audience
and to in some respect prove that fame hasn’t got to their head and they are not
the stereotypical ‘boy band’ instead they are in a way darker than that and hit
on real issues in their songs. They are trying to suggest that they have not made
this album for the fame and fortune instead they have made it for the fans. Not
only is the man on the front of the cover representative of the band as a whole, it
mirrors the possible target audience of the Arctic Monkeys. This way by having
what seems to be the ‘average’ working class man (smoking, normal clothes
standard hair cut) makes the target audience feel that the album is more for
them rather than the upper class who are targeted by other styles of artists in
various different ways. However this man could have been put on the front
cover of the CD to try and show new possible fans at a glance what the band are
like in a sense, all through the image and stereotype off the man on the cover.
The colour scheme of this digipak again reflect the overall style of the band,
the grey and black colours symbolise dark and depressing things. This in a
sense is what the band songs are about; they are not about a typical boy
bands song, which involves falling in love with girl and a song about their
beauty. Instead, the band sings about possible heartbreak in a way that we
as an audience would feel. The colours represent the Arctic Monkeys bands
‘down to earth’ style.
This is the debut album from the Arctic Monkeys released on the 23rd of January
2006 entitled ‘Whatever People Say I Am, That’s Exactly What I’m Not’. Because
this was their debut album the band had to make an impression and try to get
across to their audience what they are like as band. The album’s name was
named after a line in the novel ‘Saturday Night and Sunday Morning’. The lead
singer (Alex Turner) said "It’s good because the book is called Saturday Night
and Sunday Morning and that's kind of what the album is, so there's a link there.
This link could be that the stereotype of the people who would be associated
with that phrase mirrors the target audience of this album. This makes the
audience feel like this album is for them.
The CD cover could perhaps suggest that their music is somewhat like the
cigarettes that decorate the disc, it suggests that their music is in some way bad
(bad as in the style that they give off ‘’bad boys’’) and it could show a
connection between the cigarette and the music as in both are addictive. So the
Arctic Monkeys could have chosen this theme for the disc as when you play the
CD you are playing something addictive, this meaning their music.