Analysis of The Killers' Sam's Town CD Case-Jewel Case




Outside of CD Case

 
 This compact disk case I am analysing is the Killers' album, Sam's Town, which has been produced by Flood and Alan Moulder with the Killers. The co-producer Flood appears in the Album's booklet, dressed as an American Native.


The front of the digipak displays what the album features and star ratings from magazines such as The Guardian, Q and Mojo. This would show the purchaser of the album it is worth buying.

The monochrome colour scheme of the album sets the tone of the indie-rock band.

The typeface used for the albums title is of the archive roundhand script. The title of the album was taken from Sam's Town Hotel and Gambling Hall, a hotel-casino in Las Vegas, the hometown of the band. 

Visually the album is targeting primarily males, due to the black and red colour scheme and the use of the female model in a bikini (Felice Lazae). The model and the ram frame the shot of the image, they also show the band's American background (due to her 'Miss' sash). 

The back of the album has the image of all the band together. This wide shot reveals their body language which is quite cool and relaxed, this relates to their music which is in the sub-genre of indie-rock.
This style has the characteristics of the do-it yourself attitude, this is portrayed by the impression they express to their audience; the band have their co-producer make an appearance in their album booklet as a model. 



The album was themed very much around America and the band's background; "Hot Fuss was all based on fantasy. The English influences the make up, they were what I imagined rock was. I'm a dreamer, you know? So I dug into that dream and made Hot Fuss. But hearing people call us the best British band from America made me wonder about my family and who i really was. That's what Sam's Town is really about.

Sam's Town wasn't some love letter to America or overreaching mythic thing. It was about me. I sang about my Grandma Dixie and my brother being born on the 4th of July and guess what? My Grandma's name is Dixie and my brother was born on the 4th of July 1969.  " Brandon Flowers in 2009, reflecting on the negative reviews the album received. His quote portrays how Sam's Town was just written about the band's hometown and life. The photography of the album which was done by Anton Corbijn also relates to American and Las Vegas by the location and subjects chosen.  

Inside Album with Advert & CD

The ram is a symbolism for leadership, power, force, authority and sacrifice. The ram head is also sacred in witchcraft and Satanism. Relating to songs within the album, When We Were Young: " They say the devil's water, it ain't so sweet", Bling (Confession of a King) "So I ran with the devil", The River Is Wild "Because that bitch, Keeps trying to make him pray". This evidence within their lyrics suggests their are hints of Satanism within their music.
However Brandon Flowers is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints suggests the reason for the appearence of the ram to be otherwise; that Flowers does have the belief of the devil and yet worships Jesus Christ and God, hence the mention within song lyrics. Such as within When We Were Young "He doesn't look a thing like Jesus" and My List "And your prayers they’re not fables " have biblical content. So therefore enforce the band as powerful and authoritive for their auidence to admire and create a loyal fanbase.

Using the advert to give the buyer the choice to use the artist's music on other media types (mobile phones), this new media use within their album shows the band are modern and up to date on technologies and knowledge.



Inside Album without Advert or CD



Inside the case the same image used upon the CD of the rams head is then duplicated within the case itself. The techniqual reason for this is that it gives the consumers the recognisable relation from CD to case and therefore for them to know where to place the CD easily.