JM - Analysing an album cover

In my analysis I chose to look at both 'Favourtie Worst Nightmare' and 'Humbug' by Arctic Monkeys. I chose these because they are of the same genre of music as our chosen track, and also they are both artistic and photographic,which is something we were exploring for our digipak.

Favourite Worst Nightmare

This album was released in 2007. The original copies were distributed in a digipak that had 6 sides, the disc and a booklet of photography similiar to that of the front cover. The cover conveys a row of terraced houses, with strange patterns in the windows of one of the houses. This album cover represents the more contemporary nature of the album compard to that of the first album Arctic Monkeys released. It shows the movement from the gritty rock they had in the first album to an edgier, stylistic sound. In the top left there is a band logo, one that is different from previous band logos, and also the album cover. The leading line of this album cover is to go from the logo in the top corner, down the aerial on the roof of the house, and down into the windows where the patterns are.






Humbug


This album was released in 2009. Like its predecessor, it too was released originally as a digipak with 6 sides, the disc and a booklet of photography. This is the first Arctic Monkeys album to feature the band itself, so therefore it is the first that creates a star image for the band. In the picture we see each of the band members in a room, with some reflections. They do not appear to be doing much, which gives them the appearance of being ordinary, yet extra ordinary. This fact comes through the fact that the are an established band and therefore their ordinary behaviour creates a mystery around them. This is then reflected in the music on the album. The music they play shows the bands range and depth and the relms that they explore in the genre. All the song are softer and more mysterious and it shows band progression, which can also be seen in album covers.