CD cover analysis

artist: NOFX

album name: Never Trust a Hippy

generic conventions: the band name clearly printed for easy recognition , not a set up photo but instead a cartoon which is very common in the the punk genre. The picture also portrays a belief or the idea they wanted to portray which is also common with punk.

genre: punk rock/ska

font style/lettering: trade mark lettering for the name of the band, always found on their album covers, green spray paint effect this is very clever because potential buyers will easily recognise the album just by there name fount of which is used on all there merchandise eg posters, t-shirts. For the album title miss match lettering is used maybe to give a scrappy effect to make it seem like the band don't really care about the way it looks as its more about the music

sound: fast paced, upbeat music that has the image of not caring and just having a laugh and making fun but they do actually talk about allot of political problems and put allot of emphasis in their certain view points. you can see this in the CD cover as although they seem to be having a joke the image is actually quite iconic in showing there views.

colour: the colour green is used allot, this is because it is a colour that the band has kept using for most of their career so in a way they are sticking to their own conventions to make potential buyers lives easier as they can relate the colour to the band. also the band name colour is very bright and so easy to see. due to the nature of the cover being cartoon the colours are very bold and clear unlike a photograph where the colour are realistic and so not as bright.

image: the image is a cartoon man wearing robes and holding a beer bottle making the peace sigh with his fingers. the image is quite obviously an image of Jesus but portrayed in the way the band see him as, the image links in with the album title in making a joke out of the man Jesus and so in general the concept of religion and god.

mise-en-scene: pro dominantly black background, image of man wearing robes, holding a beer bottle and doing the peace sign. behind the man the band name is written in block capitals in a green spray paint fount, parts of the name cant been seen as the head of the man. there also seems to be light coming from behind the mans head but in a cartoon manor. the album name is under to torso of the man and is a connotation of the image as well as the name.

representation: There is quite allot of representation in their CD cover, most obviously the use of a picture of Jesus (a man who looks like or representing him). This image tells allot about the band and how they feel about the concept of religion/ Jesus and this is actually a punk convention as punk music is a genre where it tries to be free from control and are free to feel what they like about different things almost like there trying to deify society. the image portrays this idea by the way the person (Jesus) is represented, they have taken the stereotypical image off Jesus and altered it, the clothing of the man is as man off that time would wear also the hair style. there is also a cartooned light coming from behind the mans head to show Holiness as if sent by heaven as Christian's believe but by telling you just that there is nothing showing how the band have expressed the view point. they have done it quite cleverly by linking the image with the album title. the title is Never Trust a Hippy, so now there feelings become clear, i think they did it to show how they don't really care about past or future and that they just live in the present and stay away from superstition which they believe to untrue, but they have not done it in an obvious and blunt way they have added humor to make the audience see that they don't take themselves to seriously but still want to express themselves. they have altered the typical picture of a Jesus character they have done this by putting a beer bottle in his hand, they have also made is so he is doing the peace sign with his other hand these two things link in with the album title as they are trying to show how they think Jesus was a hippy how may have had be trying to do good, bring peace but in actual fact there was nothing special about him he was a slightly mad hippy. also to show the diffiance of the band to go into geralised groups there is the use of the graffity effect of the band name font it also shows how they don't care that there cover will offend anyone by almost adding insult to injury by graffity behind the image of Jesus. also buy not having a picture of the band is shows how they don't care about image of fame its more about the music and the ideas.