Finished Products

Journalism Practice

Review Of Alter Bridge - AB III

In the Style of Classic Rock Magazine -

If you want crushing riffs, angelic melodies, and thundering rhythms, this album will more than satisfy those needs. American hard rock band Alter Bridge return this week with their follow up to 2007’s ‘Blackbird’, and their third studio album aptly named ‘ABIII’. With their never ending battle to try and separate themselves from the Christian rock sound of Creed (in which three of the four Ab members were part of), have they succeeded in creating their own sound ? Simply put, a big fat yes. This album not only confirms the supreme talent of all four members of Alter Bridge, but cements their place as one of America’s finest hard rock acts to date. From the opening track ‘Slip to the Void’, right through to the stunning ‘Words Darker than Their Wings’, this album is a work of art, a thing sadly not seen all that much nowadays. Mark Tremonti has clearly brought his A game to the table with this record, proving that there can never be too many bone rattling riffs in anyone’s music collection. However, the real star of this record is lead singer Myles Kennedy. His singing on this record is once again stunningly beautiful, firmly cementing his status as possibly one of the world’s best singers in rock. ABIII is a rare beast, one that connects with the heart from thrilling start to overwhelming finish. I feel sorry for anyone who misses out on the pleasure of listening to this record.

Download: Isolation, Slip to the Void

Original Photos

How does your media product represent particular social groups?



I have chosen an image of Slash to compare with my front cover model as they are both psychographically and demographically similar and would attract a similar audience. Both shots are between mid, and full shots, however mine has more space above the models head to allow room for the masthead on the image. Another similarity between the images is subjective gaze both models have, however the model in my image is looking away from the camera do give the impression he is thinking about something. This will connote different things to every reader and may leave some wondering whats behind this particular gazing look. Another similarity is the costumes the models are wearing which both include skinny jeans, and a t-shirt - layered with a denim jacket. Both models are also wearing aviator sunglasses to disguise their eyes from the reader, and their hair is very similar apart from the colour. Both models have neutral facial expressions which connotes a "cool" attitude. The setting of both images is largely similar, with both representing an outside, and urban lifestyle. Both their stances also connote an aspect of rebelleion, which is cemented in the image of slash with the cigarette in his mouth. A final similarity is how both models are holding Gibson les paul guitars as props,and in a largely similar way. The only difference here is that the opposing image of slash shows a slightly more aggressive attitude with how he is posing with the guitar. Both pictures show a pro-consumerist image, as these guitars are likely to be advertised in this genre of music magazine. The magazine will want to promote these guitars further by using them as props in the images. This is because magazines rely on advertising for a considerable percentage of their income.

Demographically the models show similarities too in that they are both male and of a similar race. However the magazine is psychographically specific, not demographically specific as it target people who have similar interests, but who may come form many different walks of life. For instance, fans of this magazine could be from a very low class background, or from a middle class background. The genre of music my magazine covers appeals to many different people.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

This is an image of Myles Kennedy of the band Alter Bridge. He is an example of the type of person I expect to buy my magazine. The way he dresses and his hair would be similar to that of my target audience.

My target audience is for my magazine is aged between 21-35. This is quite a wide age group to be targeting, but I believe that people in this age group will listen to the music featured, and have many similar pass times etc. The target audience is also largely male, about 80%. This is reflected in the style of the text in my magazine.

Typically he will be found listening to his ipod, whether he's out and about with mates, or simply doing university work, or work for their job. His music tastes mainly include more successful bands, which are not necessarily mainstream such as Velvet Revolver, Alter Bridge, Foo Fighters, and The Answer, but he does enjoy discovering new unsigned bands by attending lots of local  pub/club gigs with mates. His musical tastes will also stretch to older, classic rock bands such as Led Zeppelin, Thin Lizzy, Guns n Roses, and ACDC. He will play an instrument, most probably the electric guitar, and will be in, or aspire to be in a rock band for themselves. They will be fairly well educated so will have an fair amount of disposable income for their age group. This would be spent on new CD's, guitar equipment, and clothes. They will probably take a fair amount of pride in their look, perhaps aspiring to look like their favourite musicians, so it is unlikely that they shop in big high street shops such as topman, burtons,and TKmaxx. Instead most of their clothes will be bought from small independent shops, or online. On a normal day they will simply wear jeans, perhaps skinny jeans, and a checked shirt or band t-shirt.

Models, Costume, Props and Location

Front Cover: Model - Sam Dunlop-Glennie 
                      Costume - Denim Jacket, Black Skinny Jeans, Sunglasses
                      Props - Gibson Les Paul guitar
                      Location - Old Wooden Garage Door

Contents Page: Image 1
                          Model - Daniel Sopp
                          Costume - Checked Shirt, Sunglasses
                          Props - None
                          Location - Score near Lowestoft beach
                          Image 2
                          Model - Jake Mansbridge
                          Costume - Jeans, T-shirt, Oversized beany hat
                          Props - Rickenbacker bass guitar
                          Location - Cafe Studios, Lowestoft

Double Page Spread: All same as front cover image

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

The image above demonstrates some of the things talked about below.

1. Title of Magazine: The name of my magazine, 'Overdrive', links well with the genre of music featured in the magazine. The word Overdrive is used by many musicians to describe the sound of a distorted guitar, which is majorly used in rock music. This means fans of this style of music can relate to the name. The font, and colour of the title, was designed with a simplistic, yet sophisticated approach in mind as this would relate to my target audience better.

2. Mise-en-scene of Images: All of the images in my magazine are between mid, and full shots which creates an more "laid back", or sophisticated look which relates to the audience of the magazine. I have chosen  to do location shots, instead of studio shots to add more depth of field to the images. This is particularly clear on the contents page image. The locations of the shots also add more character to the images. The choice to use black and white images was so to ensure a sophisticated style was created.

3. Costumes and Props: I wanted my models to wear clothes that portrayed a classic image of what "Rock Stars" look like. With this in mind, I wanted both of my models to be wearing skinny jeans and checked shirts. Both of the models long hair helps to cement this portrayal of a rock star, as does the theme of sunglasses in every image. The Gibson Les Paul guitar links well with the genre of music as it is an iconic guitar used by many famous musicians, and ensures that the model looks like a musician.

4. People in the Photos: The age of the models in my images are similar which helps to create a recognisable theme and style throughout. They are both also looking away from the camera, with expressionless faces in two of the images, to help cement the more sophisticated style of the magazine.

5: Masthead Font and Placement:  The font used on the masthead is very simple, which links well with the overall style of my magazine. The lines and star image above the title help to make the title stand out, if it was on a shelf in a shop. The masthead is at the top of the front cover which is a convention used on most real magazines.

6. Written Content: The overall style of the written content in my magazine is informal as this would appeal to the lifestyle of the target audience. The amount of written content amounts to quite a lot, particularly on the double page spread, as I feel the average reader of this magazine would be interested more in text, than being distracted by lots of images. This is because my target audience would be considered 'die hard fans' to their music, as apposed to someone who is simply following trends. They would want to find out as much information in the articles as they can .

7. Music Genre: The music genre that this magazine covers is modern rock/hard rock. This is represented by the bands that are featured in the contents page who all would appeal to fans of this genre, and my magazine. The graphical features are also stylish, and link in the with the style of music. The models style and dress sense also matches that of a typical musician in this genre of music.

8. Contents Page: My contents page in many ways, conforms with with the usual forms and conventions of most real magazines. For example, I have included both a features, and regular section, with the usual page references. However, my layout does differ from what is seen in most real magazines. In order to conform with the magazines house style, I have included just one main image, which draws a lot of attention to the page. Also the layout of the page is very simplistic which ties in well with the style of the magazine as a whole.

9. Double Page Spread: With my double page spread, I followed standard conventions of most real magazines to add to the realism of my own work. I used a title,a kicker, drop caps, columns, pull quotes and guttering to achieve this realistic look, whilst trying to maintain an overall look of simplicity.

10. House Style: All of the above mentioned things combine to create a magazine which in many ways, has a house style different from any other magazine on the market currently. With my magazine, I wanted to cover standard rock music, but aim it at an adult audience who would appreciate the style and layout of the magazine. This is why the overall look of the magazine is more simplistic, and sophisticated than most other magazines which cover this genre of music.