1. Album cover analysis
Alice Childerhouse

2. Fall Out Boy – From Under the Cork
Tree
• This album was released in May 2005 by
'Fall Out Boy', a four man band from
Chicago, Illinois, which was their third
album. Before they recorded this album,
while touring, they crashed the bus they
were travelling in, in the middle of winter.
So the photo of a minivan half covered by
snow relates back to this incident which
shook up the band members and ad
worried fans. I feel this made the cover
quite popular because it related back to
something important and meaningful for
the band and fans, giving the album a
homely feel. Moving onto the curtains and
audience I think this is a reference to the
record company 'Fuelled By Ramen' as at
this particular time other that was their
image, a dramatic theatre style which
fellow friends and band 'Panic! At The
Disco' were also playing around with.

3. Two Door Cinema Club -
Beacon
• This album was released in September this
year, and is Two Door Cinema Club's second
major album. The cover art for this CD was
particularly interesting as it didn't involve any
shots of the band members, or any faces, and
instead focused on women's body parts. The
photos have also been edited to have a slight
glow about them, adding a dream like
atmosphere to the art. This also relates to the
songs on this particular album because a lot of
them have been inspired by a short period the
lead singer went through when writing this
album of having really odd and surreal dreams.
There is a track called sleep alone which is
about this period, using lyrics such as 'He
sleeps alone, he needs no army where he's
headed cause he knows that they're just ghosts
and they can't hurt him if he can't see them'.
It's the main single off the album and is very
upbeat, despite Alex singing about something
quite traumatic. Therefore the cover art
connects nicely with the songs on the album,
as well as referencing to something personal
for the band, particularly Alex Trimble (the lead
singer).

4. Belle and Sebastian – If You’re
Feeling Sinister
• This album was released in November of
1996 by a band called Belle and Sebastian
who produce very soft acoustic indie music.
The cover of this really works with the feel
of the music on this album, as its relaxing
and comforting with mildly disturbing
lyrics. The photo on this cover art is of a
young girl looking really bored, which is
what most of the album is about, being
young and bored and trying to find things
to do, learning about people. It's quite an
influential album for young adults as the
songs are almost educational, about life,
being young, and all the ups and downs
that come with it. There's also a copy of
'The Trial' next to the girl, which is a
depressing and complex play written by
Franz Kafka in the early 1900's, and is often
studied in later years of high school or
college. This also relates to the educational
lyrics in the majority of songs on this
album. The red filter on the photograph
gives the photo a evil/sinister feel which
also connects to the name of the album 'If
You're Feeling Sinister'.

5. Rage Against the Machine – Debut
Album
• This album was released in November of
1992 by Rage Against The Machine, and
is deemed as one of the most
highly controversial and political albums
made within the last 20 years. The photo
on the front of this album is a
photograph of a Vietnamese Buddhist
monk burning himself to death in 1963 in
protest of President Ngô Đình Diệm who
was trying to oppress the Buddhist
religion. A controversial picture in itself,
yet by putting it on a political statement
album it creates more debate and
discussion, especially when the music
itself is considered. However, despite it
being a highly disturbing picture to put
on an album cover, it stands out and
brings attention to itself which was
exactly the bands intentions, so it's quite
a clever notion in the way of achieving
what it set out to do.