A Great Big World: "Is There Anybody Out There?"

I loved this album cover the minute I saw it on iTunes. The cover is very mysterious and a beautiful midnight shade of blue. It’s a picture of a starry night sky. The moon is glowing and is enormous. You can see a tree centered on the ground below with a little girl sitting on the very top branch gazing into the stars. The band’s name is written in giant letters in the sky. The “O” in the word “world” is perfectly displayed by the yellow moon. The album title is written in smaller writing and placed in the bottom right-hand corner. Not to forget, the rocket ship headed to space that is placed in the “A” representing the negative space of the letter. Together it all forms a stunning piece of musical art.

This artwork effectively represents the band, as the music in this album is very mysterious and lyrical. A lot of the songs are piano based, and have strong messages conveyed in their lyrics. Their hit single “Say Something” featuring Christina Aguilera sounds very haunting and alluring. The cover art shows a vast world of interest and meaning. It also shows wonder and excitement. This is the bands very first album release, so not only is the picture a perfect beginning to their career, but also so is the album title. Asking consumers is there anybody out there is pretty cleaver. They are asking the world to listen up. This duo is made up of two guys named Ian Axel and Chad Vaccarino. After the success of their single with Christina Aguilera, the two decided to release the full album. Their name A Great Big World fits them very well as Axel stated, “…everything’s kind of bigger than us” – referring to their newly found fame and success - (Knopper, 2013, Para. 6).  

The album had mixed reviews. The New York Times seemed to have nothing good to say about it. However, Newsday’s Glenn Gamboa called the album “eclectic both musically and lyrically” (Jaeger, 2014, Para. 7). He also stated how heartfelt and jubilant the songs were. Fans of singer/songwriters, which is A Great Big World’s target market in my opinion, are intrigued by beauty and music/art with deep meaning. So the cover art for this album appealed perfectly to their target audience.

References

Jaeger, K. (2014, January 21). A Great Big World's 'Is There Anybody Out

There?': What the critics are saying. The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 6, 2016, from http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/a-great-big-worlds-is-672857

Knopper, S. (2013, December 18). Meet A Great Big World, the New

York duo behind 'Say Something'. RollingStone. Retrieved January 6, 2016, from http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/meet-a-great-big-world-the-new-york-duo-behind-say-something-20131218