.
Another album I have chosen to analyse is Garbage's 2005 album Bleed Like Me because, again, they belong to the genre of alternative rock but their album cover and back are much more artistic than The Pretty Reckless' EP album, but darker in tone than Paramore's 'Riot!'
The front cover of the album is three different high contrast, black and white pictures stitched together with red masking tape and staples. The title of the band and the album are superimposed atop this in black, bold lettering, common of alternative rock bands to be eye catching but to also connotate strength.
The images themselves are all obscure close ups that are difficult to make out what they are, the first image appears to be someone's shoulder, the second appears to be the left side of someone's face and the third is indistinguishable but it looks as though it could be part of the second image and therefore be a hand on a shoulder, however the image on the back cover is a fuller picture of the second image and they do not match. The images are all of naked skin, connotating a sense of vulnerability, the album's title track, called Bleed Like Me, is all about vulnerability and the red of the masking tape obviously signifies the blood in the title. The fact that the images are stitched together with staples and masking tape indicates that the subject of the album's cover is desperately trying to hold themselves together by using any means necessary. Drawing on what I already know about people who do self harm, that some people who self harm do so because they can then feel in some sort of control of their lives, the album's design fits perfectly.
There is also an 'parental advisory - explict content' sticker on the cover which doesn't add anything artistically but aside from it's main purpose of warning parents to know what their children are listening to, and the fact that there songs dealing with sensitive subjects such as self-harm as well as using explicit language, it can actually be a selling point to rebellious teens who enjoy listening to explicit lyrics and sensitive subjects because it makes them feel like adults.
The back cover's design is very similar to the front cover, with the use of red masking tape obscuring someone's face. The red masking tape is placed so that the song titles can fit over the top of the tape, making the text stand out even more. The conventional elements of all CD back covers are present too, such as the barcode, a website link, producer credits and a record label logo, but they have all been kept as small as possible as not to detract from the artisticness.
Another thing that is important when considering the front and back covers together is that unlike Paramore and The Pretty Reckless' albums there is no picture of the band themselves. This is because the band were already very well known so they can afford to have more artistic covers rather than images of themselves because their fans will already know what they look like, and people who would buy the album before hearing any of Garbage's past CD would most likely only judge them on the music anyway, unlike Paramore and The Pretty Reckless who also use their sex appeal to sell music.
Another album I have chosen to analyse is Garbage's 2005 album Bleed Like Me because, again, they belong to the genre of alternative rock but their album cover and back are much more artistic than The Pretty Reckless' EP album, but darker in tone than Paramore's 'Riot!'
The front cover of the album is three different high contrast, black and white pictures stitched together with red masking tape and staples. The title of the band and the album are superimposed atop this in black, bold lettering, common of alternative rock bands to be eye catching but to also connotate strength.
The images themselves are all obscure close ups that are difficult to make out what they are, the first image appears to be someone's shoulder, the second appears to be the left side of someone's face and the third is indistinguishable but it looks as though it could be part of the second image and therefore be a hand on a shoulder, however the image on the back cover is a fuller picture of the second image and they do not match. The images are all of naked skin, connotating a sense of vulnerability, the album's title track, called Bleed Like Me, is all about vulnerability and the red of the masking tape obviously signifies the blood in the title. The fact that the images are stitched together with staples and masking tape indicates that the subject of the album's cover is desperately trying to hold themselves together by using any means necessary. Drawing on what I already know about people who do self harm, that some people who self harm do so because they can then feel in some sort of control of their lives, the album's design fits perfectly.
There is also an 'parental advisory - explict content' sticker on the cover which doesn't add anything artistically but aside from it's main purpose of warning parents to know what their children are listening to, and the fact that there songs dealing with sensitive subjects such as self-harm as well as using explicit language, it can actually be a selling point to rebellious teens who enjoy listening to explicit lyrics and sensitive subjects because it makes them feel like adults.
The back cover's design is very similar to the front cover, with the use of red masking tape obscuring someone's face. The red masking tape is placed so that the song titles can fit over the top of the tape, making the text stand out even more. The conventional elements of all CD back covers are present too, such as the barcode, a website link, producer credits and a record label logo, but they have all been kept as small as possible as not to detract from the artisticness.
Another thing that is important when considering the front and back covers together is that unlike Paramore and The Pretty Reckless' albums there is no picture of the band themselves. This is because the band were already very well known so they can afford to have more artistic covers rather than images of themselves because their fans will already know what they look like, and people who would buy the album before hearing any of Garbage's past CD would most likely only judge them on the music anyway, unlike Paramore and The Pretty Reckless who also use their sex appeal to sell music.