Article Analysis: NME

The choice of artist featured in the article of NME magazine is Gerard Way, lead singer of Rock band My Chemical Romance. He mentions in the article his previous album (The Black Parade) which was well known by teenagers. This suggests that the article may be aimed at teenagers who will know Gerard from his work. The language used in the article is mostly formal but the artist is informal in way to express to the audience how he really feels. The artist uses swearing words which show that he doesn’t care and also matches the reckless style of the magazine ('I think people just wanna fucking rock'). This sort of language would appeal to the audience as this language is commonly used by teenagers and young adults.

The magazine addresses the reader in a tone that treats them as a member of an in crowd and an informed intelligent fan. The article gives information of the artist from his missing years which is not featured anywhere else and also talks about tracks that fans of his previous album would know of and talks of bands such as Muse ('..whose 'The Resistance' isn't exactly shabby'). As the article is very long it may not appeal to a reader who wouldn't have the patience to read so much. The article uses a plain black font which matches the previous pages of the magazine. There are a few entry points, one placed above the beginning of the article and one which spreads across two pages at the top. This has been done to draw in readers as they would have to read the whole article to know more about what the quotes are about. The article has been spread across four pages, most readers would not read an article this long. There is alot of text and only few images which makes the pages different from the previous pages of the magazine that use more images. The images show what Gerard currently looks like and a previous image taken from The Black Parade tour. This shows the audience how the artist has changed which reflects the new style of their music. The main image at the beginning of the article shows Gerard Way in a close-up shot. He has a serious expression on his face and is not looking completely into the camera. The Quote placed next to him reads 'This record is going to be the grand failure if people don't get it'. The overall image shows that he is serious about these words and as his mode of address isn't completely direct it shows that he wants a close but at the same time distant relationship with the audience.

The people who knew My Chemical Romance during the time of The Black Parade would understand the article more than new fans who may not understand why the band would want to change. 'While MCR's music is now different- they've stripped back, they've gone back to basics, they've trimmed off the fat' -new readers won't know what the band have changed from so therefore will not find the article appealing. The article also features information that only fans of the album released four years ago would be aware of 'a baroque concept fantasy about the surreal flashbacks of a cancer patient in his final minutes, shifted over three million copies'- this is reffering to track from The Black Parade album. Though the article features a lot of background information about this album and the tour, it still may appeal more to previous fans.