Magazine advert analysis

1. Textual analysis of magazine adverts

2. This is a magazine advertisement to
promote Kings Of Leon’s album ‘Only by the
night’, released in 2008. The structure of
the advertisement is pretty standard, going
in order from top to bottom of: Band name,
image, album name and release date (cut
off the bottom). Popular singles are listed
underneath the album name to attract both
loyal fans and those who have only heard
these well known tracks. This generic
structure makes it clear what the
advertisement is for, by the use of bold
colours and font on a black background.
‘OUT NOW’ is the only text in red, creating
urgency.
The band uses a different CD Album cover in
the UK to the US, and the image from the
UK album is what is used on the magazine
advertisement. The text does share a similar
font to the US CD cover though, almost as if
it were printed on a kind of typewriter, so
the fans may recognise this between the
two products.
The image used is definitely unique and sure
to catch the eye of the public. It also takes of
the majority of the A4 page so it will gain the
most attention. The image uses a night vision
effect which creates a link to the album name
‘Only by the night’. This is shown through the
dull shades of green and the grainy effect, as
if it were on a screen.
The image is split into four sections, as if each
band member had their photo taken, and
then was merged together. This represents
the band as a whole and their equality, not
just using one member for the face of the
band, like Bastille do commonly.
The image has cleverly been edited to mix the
image of an eagle/owl into the place of the
band members, showing a clear theme of
night time (these are nocturnal creatures and
mostly seen at night) suggesting a heavy or
dark theme in their music throughout the
album.

3. This is a magazine advertisement to
promote Bastille’s first album ‘Bad
Blood’ released in 2013.
The poster follows a similar layout to the
way a film poster would, including
conventions like the style of the credits
at the bottom. This may suggest that the
album is more like one long story, as the
narrative is known to link between
songs, or this may just be a general link
to film as we know from their latest
album ‘Wild World’ Dan Smith takes a
lot of inspiration from the world of film
and television.
A synthetic company name has been
created at the top of the poster, as if it
could be a genuine film poster.
Humorously, “Bad Steel” is used, and is a
near homophone of the bands name.
The image used itself is more like a film
poster would be, rather than promoting a
debut album. This is the case because
usually mid-shots/close-ups of the
artists/band members are taken in a studio,
or a suitable setting for their genre. These
images are usually used in order for a
successful promotion and to gain star
appeal. Instead, a long shot of presumably
the lead singer running away from the
camera down a road.
The shot appears to be taken at night, but
the singer is visible due to what we assume
are car headlights shining on him. This gives
the impression he is running away from
something he is scared of, or he is being
chased. The lights create a vision wide
enough so we can see the setting and have
a grasp on what is happening in the image.
Where the lights do not shine it creates
darkness, a perfect place for the text to be
seen clearly.
“A” symbol is unique to Bastille and this
album, a brand that the audience can
recognise.