Cd Cover Evaluation; The Stone Roses

The Stone Roses Debut Album Cover;

‘The Stone Roses'

The debut album released by the classic indie band 'The Stone Roses'. Released in 1989 by the renowned indie record company Silvertone.

The influence of this particular album cover is one of an artist called 'Pollock' who created pieces of art by splashing contradicting colours together. The designer of the album, ex-guitarist in the band 'John Squire' was influenced by The Clash, who had previously used Pollocks' art techniques on their stagewear.

The image we see is an aerial shot of a piece the designer would of created on the floor. The paints complex colours and confusing backdrop to the cover means that the album seems conflicting with the usual bold coloured backdrops and clear imagery. The imagery used on this album cover all relates to Paris riots that occurred in the late 60's. The main band members had seen a documentary about these very riots, and used this event to create an artistic album cover as well as song ideas. The use of lemons in the image comes from the use of the fruit in order to prevent the teargas effecting the rioters. The designer has clearly incorporated the lemons within the title of the album. The titles are bold and clearly written, this seems to stand out from the complex artistic background meaning that it stands out amongst its more conventional major label releases of the time. The genre of this album cover is reinforced by the references to the Paris riots. These riots were anti-establishment, a word that is often associated with the indie music that at the time of its birth, was unusual and brave. The target audience is not particular but the album suggests an audience that are looking for something different, something unique and artistic. Fans of this genre of music will take an interest because of the rebellious and anti-conventional look of the album cover. The random strips of colour that are on the left side of the album cover could be relating to the colours of the French flag, however this is not certain and the colours could simply appear because of their contrast to the background. The title of the album is simply ‘The Stone Roses’ this means that the band title can easily be related to their first album, it allows the band to establish their name and increase there reputation and fan base.

Although most commonly the indie scene of this time were white working class males, this is not exclusive and a large diverse group of people found interest in this type of music. This particular popularity within the white working class was most probably because the band members themselves looked as though they were working class and were white males. Not much is clear about the band members as their faces cannot be seen however the references to the Paris riots could suggest interest in rebellious/ anti-establishment attitudes.