I will be analysing 3 digipaks from CDs from similar genres, looking for the codes and conventions portrayed in each, and analysing what effect has been created by the band or record company. Each digipak wil include the front, back, inside booklet and image behind the CD of an album.
This is the digipak from the special edition of Their Law by The Prodigy, which is a compilation album of their singles from 1990 till 2005. The main logo on the front cover and design behind the CD is a recoloured vesion of the logo on the standard edition, which resembles a Police uniform badge, and links with the album title 'Their Law', which creates the idea that their music is the 'law', or what should be listened to, which in this genre is very true, as they are the main pioneers of electronic music in the 1990's. The background of the front cover and the page behind the CD is very dull, and appears almost evil, which links to their style of music, which sounds very sinister, unlike any music of this genre heard before. All the images link with the Prodigy's style of music, and appear rough and simple, but with a definite dark undertonetone to them.
The back cover contains an image of stacked tapes, wth each song title on a seperate tape. This reflects the sort of technology used when this album's songs were released, and we could interpret this image to mean that even though these songs at the present time may seem outdated, or something to be kept in a collection, they are still worthy even by today's standards.
The inside cover contains a written quote from the song 'Their Law', and is a very blunt, solid statement, which links with the album logo, but also could be referring to the development of the electronic genre, which the prodigy may see from a negative perspective, as they were striving to create a brand new, iconic sound different from any other heard before, so this line could be a statement against the current electronic artists at the time, with 'the law' representing the electronic genre. The background for the inside cover is an empty corner of a room, which could again link to the electronic genre, as this could represent that until The Prodigy came along, there were no real impacting artists in this genre, no-one who stood out. Alternatively this could represent a similar idea to that of the back cover, that The Prodigy's music, though outdated by today's standards, is still 'the law' and is what any artist in this genre today is influenced by, the 'law' in this case being the band that literally created modern electronic music today.
Some excellent insights. You are clearly discussing an area you have intimate knowledge of in regards to convention and music progression.
ReplyDeleteYou haven't talked about choice of typography, for which there is a wide range across these publications. Plus you could enhance your analysis with a discussion of track names (representation), the origin and cultural popularization of the quote "What we have here is a total lack of respect for the law", and the number of pages that digipaks in the genre commonly use (and why you think that is).