Album Digipak Analysis

"Yashin" - "We Created A Monster" - Outside

Yashin are a post-hardcore band where the whole band are from Glasgow in Scotland but then they replaced the vocalist (Michael Rice) with two separate vocalists who are Kevin Miles who does the screaming and any keyboard parts and is also from Glasgow. The second vocalist they got to replace the original singer is Harry Radford who is the clean vocalist and is from America. The band have five releases, the first two where EPs named "Pay To Play" in 2007 and "Miles Away But Getting Closer" in 2008. These two where done with Michael Rice. Following these two EPs, Michael was replaced by Harry and Kevin (as explained above) and then once the two new vocalists came in they recorded an album in 2010 named "Put Your Hands Where I Can See Them" which got them noticed by a lot of people and therefore gained them lots of new fans. Now two years on in early 2012, the band released another EP named "Revolution" which contains songs from the first two EPs but with new vocals from Harry and Kevin to make the songs their own and the EP also contains acoustic versions of songs from the first album. Finally, the band released a brand new album in late June of 2012 named "We Created A Monster" which was available of a certain site the band had put the album on for sale in different ways with all sorts of different bundles including the one I got which was: a signed version of the album with a Yashin wristband and my name in the "thanks" section in the booklet that is included with the album. This is the album you can above and below.

Firstly, looking at the front cover of the album, they have an image of a heart with a time bomb attached to it with veins coming out all over the place. this has been continued onto the back cover with the veins all  around the outside boarder the stay in keeping with the front of the album. With this album, they have kept it very simple with text by only including the band and album name on both the front cover and the spine of the album and then only other text on the outside of the album is the track listing on the back. Looking at the text they have used for the band name, they have created their own image for the band name Yashin which has also been used at the top of the spine to stay in keeping with the band logo rather than using normal typed text like they have for the album name and the track listing. With the  outside of the album they have kept it all simple and easy to read so that the main points of the album get across the potential buyer instantly so they know the band name, album name and song names.

"Yashin" - "We Created A Monster" - Inside

Now looking at the inside of the album the CD of the album on the right hand side has the same image of the heart that is on the front of the album. this is so that the band can keep the use familiar with the image of the album so that it is memorable. on the left there is a booklet containing the lyrics to all the songs on the album and added information and special thanks from the band them selves. with the same image on again but on the other side there is an image of the band. (which is the way I have it) this image of the band is to get the consumer or user familiar with the band and what they look like to keep them familiar so that they can be recognised to gain them more popularity.

"Bullet For My Valentine" - "Scream Aim Fire" - Outside

Bullet For My Valentine are a metal core band from Bridgend in Wales. The band currently have Four releases and are working on a fifth in Thailand now. The first of their releases was a self titled EP which they released in late 2004. Then in 2005, the released their debut album called "The Poison". then due to the lead vocalist (Matt Tuck) having medical problems with his vocals and his throat, it took them 3 years to record and release their second album "Scream Aim Fire" in 2008. and finally in 2010 the band released their third album named "Fever" and due to Matt Tuck having a side project of another band (Axe Wound) with some other friends who are also in different bands, then another album from Bullet For My Valentine is now anticipated around maybe late 2012 or in 2013. The album digipak I will be analysing is their third release and second album "Scream Aim Fire"
As you can see, this album has six faces instead of four like the album above and most albums you will see. The reason for this is because this particular CD is a special edition one with a bonus DVD which includes feature of the making of the album and other bits from the band. The reason for the six faces is so that the extra DVD and the CD can fit into the case without taking up two faces. On the outside front cover of this album there is an image of a castle, and then on outside back cover of the album there is an image of a stair case from within the castle which looks like it would be there as soon as you enter the front door of the castle that is shown on the front cover. This is done so that the album keeps the same setting so that it is not random pictures of slightly related locations. (this is also continued on the inside cover below with an image of the band inside the castle) Looking at the colours on this album, they are all consistant with the front cover of the album so that nothing within the album looks out of place. So all over the album there are constant dark colours such as black, grey and dark yellows. loking at the third face of the album, it is a plain black colour keeping consistant with the colour theme and thereis a dark image of the band logo (which includes the band name) and there is also the album name to keep the person lookiing at the album familiar with the band and album.

"Bullet For My Valentine" - "Scream Aim Fire" - Inside

Looking at this inside of the album, there are three faces which include two blank faces which are plain black with nothing on them. in these two faces with nothing on them, there is the CD inside one of them and the bonus DVD inside the other.

Album Advert Analysis

"Of Mice & Men" - "The Flood"

Of Mice & Men are an American metalcore band from Costa Mesa, California. The group was founded by Austin Carlile and Jaxin Hall during mid-2009 after Carlile's departure from Attack Attack!. The name of the band is derived from John Steinbeck's novel of the same title. The band techically have three releases, the first is their self titled album they released in 2010 and then following that, in 2011 they released an new album named "The Flood" and the third was released late July in 2012 which was a re-issue of their second album "The Flood" with an extra disc containing new tracks and a new and different track listing.

 

The advert above is a double page spread from "FRONT" magazine which includes lots of alternative/metal band information and other things. This particular advert advertises the new re-issue of "The Flood" by "Of Mice & Men". I think that this advert is very good due to qute a few different reasons. First of all, the first thing you see when you look at this advert is the band name. It is a very clear and readable font which is reconisable to fans of the band and also makes it eacy for people have not heard of the band before to become familiar with the band and maybe get them to listen to their music. Another thing about this advert is the way they have used the phrase "The Flood is coming again..." This is clever in different ways. First of all saying that "The Flood is coming" grabs the readers attention and makes them think about what it is suppost to mean in relation to the band and the music and then it says "again" which will thenm make the reader think even more about it and make them read on in the advert to find out what they mean by "The Flood is coming again" it is also clever using this phrase as it is a re-issue of the album "The Flood" so therefore the album is being re-released and "coming again". this will also get the fans of the band excited and interested as they will be familiar with the album and then seeing that it is "coming again" will make them read on to find out what the advert is talking about.

Another way in which this advert is constructed well is the way that it is clear in saying that the band are releasing a re-issue of their latest album, When it comes out and what it will look like with the image of the album cover on the bottom left hand side of the advert.

One more way in which this is a good adverty is that it also doubles up as an advert for their latest tour they are going to be doing which informs the reader on when and where they will be performing. This is clever that they have doubled up both the album and the tour advert as this will make the reader look at the band and then wonder what they sound like and then see the tour advert and then maybe think about going to see them perform to find out.

The layout of this advert is very well constructed aswell as they have put something to grab the readers attention at the top and in big writing and that gives the reader the first bit of information they will want to know about thet band (the name) then after they metion a new album re-release and then show what it will look like and then advertise their tour. this is good as the reader will find out what they need to know from the advert in the order they need to, to be able to understand it.

 

"Architects" - "Daybreaker"

Architects are a British metalcore band from Brighton, England, formed in 2004. The band currently consists of lead vocalist Sam Carter, drummer Dan Searle and his twin brother, guitarist and keyboardist Tom Searle and Alex Dean on bass guitar. The band went through several name changes before they decided upon Architects. Their first name was Inharmonic, which was swiftly changed to Counting the Days. After a couple of years this was in turn changed to Architects. They have released five studio albums and one split ep with Dead Swans.

They released their debut album Nightmares in 2006 on In At The Deep End records. After their original vocalist, Matt Johnson, left Carter joined and made his first appearance on Architects second album Ruin released in 2007 through United By Fate records. In 2009 the band released Hollow Crown through their current record label Century Media. They then released their fourth album The Here And Now in 2011, which showed the band step in a more melodic "clean-cut post-hardcore" direction. Upon its release the album received critical acclaim but was panned by their fanbase. The next year Architects returned to their original style with their fifth album Daybreaker, with more politicised lyrics as opposed to the violent and comedic lyrics that can be heard throughout their older work. The album advert i will be anaylsing is for their latest release named "Daybreaker" 

The advert above is from the same issue of "FRONT" magazine as the advert for "Of Mice & Men" and is an advert for the new album that has been released by the band "Arcihtects" named "Daybreaker".
Decpite the simplicity of the advert, i do quite like it. It informs the reader on all they will need to know in just one image and four words. It does this by showing the name of the band: "Architects", then the album name: "Daybreaker", and then shows an image of the album to familiarise the reader of what the album looks like and then finally infiorms the reader that it is "out now" and avilable to be bought. This advert does the exact same job and informs the reader of the same information as the "Of Mice & Men" advert but this one does it in alot more of a simple way so that it is quicker for the reader to look at and then if they are familiar with the band they now know it is available to buy and then because of the simplicity of the album, it will keep the people who are un-familiar with the band curious of what the band sound like and because the advert informs the reader that the album is available for purchase so they might be so curious that they go out and buy the album to find out.

Overall, both albums are very clear and clever on what they are trying to give across to the reader but do them in different ways. "Architects" decided they will make it as simple as possible and inform everyone with what they need to know about the new album in four words and an image and "Of Mice & Men" did the exact same job with their advert but in a differnt way and added more information but also without giving away to much information to keep the reader curious. Therefore, both adverts do their job and advertise the albums to the audience/reaer to help persuade the reader to either buy the albums or get into their music so that they will become more popular and become more recognisable to the generl public.