“The Clash” are a punk rock band whose album “London Calling” uses an iconic image for this genre of music. The album cover is an image of the bands guitarist Paul Simonon smashing his guitar against the stage. Using an image of a band member or of the entire band on an album cover is a stereotypical convention for album covers. The actions shown in the image reflect the bands punk rock image which the viewer may associate with themselves, also the image is in black and white which reflects the bands anarchic image. Similarly “Rage against the Machines” album “The Battle of Los Angeles” also uses a black and white cover which helps to represent the bands seditious image. The image used for the cover is of a protestor which is spray painted onto a wall which represents the lyrical side of the bands music. Some CD covers contain stickers on the album covers which help promote the bands product or give guidance to the buyer as to the content of the CD. Neither The Clash nor Rage against the Machines album uses a parental guidance sticker. However, “Fat Boy Slims” album “You’ve Come along Way Baby” uses a parental guidance sticker due to the explicit content of the CD. It has become a conventional method of promoting an album by putting stickers on the front of the album, with bands often choosing to advertise a particular track which is included on the albums cover. However, “The Clash’s” album cover does not use stickers on the front this could be because of the bands vast fan base. Another sticker which maybe used on the front of an album is a review sticker from a particular music magazine which has given the band a good review; this is done so that the interested buyer will know that the album could suit their style. The image used on the cover of the album “You’ve Come along Way Baby” is what many people would associate with the name of the artist; also the comedic aspect to the cover represents the personality of the artist. It is conventional for the artist to have an influence on the graphics on the album cover, this is shown through both “Fat Boy Slim” and “Rage against the Machines” album covers. It is important for the album cover to be attractive to the audience so that it attracts the audience’s attention because it is the first thing that the audience will see. The back of the album normally keeps in theme with the image used on the front of the album with a similar background. Both “Rage against the Machine” and “Fat Boy Slim’s” album back covers use a similar background to the front cover which is conventional for album covers. However, “The Clash’s” album uses a plain white background with several images of the band used on the back. The album cover for “The Battle of Los Angeles” uses an image which could be associated with name of the album; this is a conventional method of creating an album cover. “Fat Boy Slim’s” album could be perceived to use the same convention, and also creates a comedic aspect to the CD cover. However, the album cover also has secondary me aning with the clothes worn by the person on the front cover. The motto “I’m number 1 so why try harder” is shown on the t-shirt worn by the person. This could be an idea which the artist is trying to express about himself but it could also be used as a representation of the society which we live in which creates a negative on modern society.
The typography for “The Clash’s” album is inspired by the typography used on the front cover of Elvis Pressley’s debut album. The use of this lettering may represent the change in the bands musical style for this particular album. The bands name is also used on the front cover however a simplistic font is used for this. Similarly “Rage against the Machines” album cover also uses a simple font for the bands name however the album title is part of the album covers main graphic which is in spray painted style which reflects the bands rebellious, anarchic image. Differently the typography for “Fat Boy Slim” is in a font which is personal to the artist; this typography forms a logo for the artist. This is a conventional use of typography because the fans will associate this font with the artist. However like the typography for “The Clash’s” album the artists name is in small font in the corner of the cover. The album title is in bold white text at the bottom of the image, this will help the album stand out to the buyer on the shelf in shops. The back cover for “Rage against the Machines” album uses the same font on both the front and back cover of the album which is a stereotypical convention for CD covers. Differently The Clash album uses a different font for the information on the back cover; this could represent the bands change in genre for this particular album.
“Rages against the Machine” often use an image which represents their music and the views expressed through their music. Their album “The Battle of Los Angeles” applies to this idea because the image of a protestor represents their reasons for producing the album. The album cover represents the audience that would be buying the album because they might share the same views shown through the music. Differently the audience who would buy “The Clash’s” album may buy the CD to show that they are part of a particular social group, this is because punk was a popular genre at the time of the albums release. The image represents a stereotype because it shows the stereotypical anarchic attitude of a punk band, this would add to anyone’s feelings towards punk rock. The image used on this album has become an iconic musical image especially for punk rock and now the audience buying the CD will automatically associate the image with the band. Contrastingly the album cover for “You’ve Come along Way Baby” represents the artist’s personality and also represents the atmosphere created by the music. The comedic style to the album cover will attract the attention of shoppers and hopefully enlarge the artist’s reputation. All of the three artist use album covers which represent the genre of music which their music belongs to, and use images which the audience would expect to see on the front of the artist’s album.
“Rages against the Machine” often use an image which represents their music and the views expressed through their music. Their album “The Battle of Los Angeles” applies to this idea because the image of a protestor represents their reasons for producing the album. The album cover represents the audience that would be buying the album because they might share the same views shown through the music. Differently the audience who would buy “The Clash’s” album may buy the CD to show that they are part of a particular social group, this is because punk was a popular genre at the time of the albums release. The image represents a stereotype because it shows the stereotypical anarchic attitude of a punk band, this would add to anyone’s feelings towards punk rock. The image used on this album has become an iconic musical image especially for punk rock and now the audience buying the CD will automatically associate the image with the band. Contrastingly the album cover for “You’ve Come along Way Baby” represents the artist’s personality and also represents the atmosphere created by the music. The comedic style to the album cover will attract the attention of shoppers and hopefully enlarge the artist’s reputation. All of the three artist use album covers which represent the genre of music which their music belongs to, and use images which the audience would expect to see on the front of the artist’s album.
No comments:
Post a Comment