Good Charlotte: Cardiology Analysis

This album cover by the artist “Good Charlotte” is a typical indie/rock album cover using the conventions that is usually expected. There is the evident name of the band at the top for the audience to see. It is in the typical font graphic that is used in merchandise and previous albums of theirs.

The colour of the font used makes the name of the artist stand out and also connotate for sophistication and elegance. The name of the album is also evident as is positioned at the bottom, below the main image. This is in a different font to the band name due to the band name font being their trademark. The gold/yellow colour is also evident as it links to the elegant font of the album name.

Linking to this, the main image is not of the band but the combination of a tree and heart. This relates to the message trying to be portrayed and the name of the album “Cardiology” and the heart can be a connotation of a new beginning for the band, in terms of genre and musicality. There is also an eye and an ear on the heart which may act as personifying the heart into a human form such as the members of the band being the new start, as a way of expressing their message.

On the heart, there are also Latin words on the heart “Terra”, “Ignis”, “Aqua” and “Avra”. These four words translate to be Earth, Fire, Water and Air which links once again to the idea of nature and a new beginning linking to the idea of the bands new perception on music and their new beginning which is reflected through the new music in the album.

Also, this can be emphasized through the use of the tree such as the branches coming out from the top of the heart and roots at the bottom, which is also code for a new beginning and life. The audience is made to focus on the complex image which is shown through the low lighting that mainly focuses on the shocking image, whereas the rest of the cover is dark, which may connotate for the band giving life and hope to their audience which could be the message that they are trying to portray in their music and image.

Therefore, this album cover allows the audience to receive the impression that the band is trying to improve their music or change it in some way via connotations to portray the message through conventions of album covers.