The Used

The Used is an American rock band from Orem, Utah. Their sound has been classified under many subgenres of rock. They signed with Reprise Records in late 2001 and rose to fame in June 2002 after releasing their debut selftitled album, a titleThe Used The Used hrefhttpwww.last.fmmusicTheUsedTheUsed classbbcodealbumThe Useda. Soon after a CDDVD package named quota titleThe Used Maybe Memories hrefhttpwww.last.fmmusicTheUsedMaybeMemories classbbcodealbumMaybe Memoriesaquot was released containing unheard demos and a quotbehind the scenesquot story of the bandbands past. They followed up with their second album, a titleThe Used In Love and Death hrefhttpwww.last.fmmusicTheUsedInLoveandDeath classbbcodealbumIn Love and Deatha, in September 2004 and their third album, a titleThe Used Lies For The Liars hrefhttpwww.last.fmmusicTheUsedLiesForTheLiars classbbcodealbumLies For The Liarsa, in May 2007. An EP, a titleThe Used Shallow Believer hrefhttpwww.last.fmmusicTheUsedShallowBeliever classbbcodealbumShallow Believera, was released in February 2008 that featured most of the bands Bsides to date. They have spent the entire year of 2008 working on their fourth studio album, a titleThe Used Artwork hrefhttpwww.last.fmmusicTheUsedArtwork classbbcodealbumArtworka, which was released September 1st, 2009. The band has achieved both Gold and Platinum statuses in over 6 countries worldwide. A few years ago, while preparing to send the album art for bside collection a titleThe Used Shallow Believer hrefhttpwww.last.fmmusicTheUsedShallowBeliever classbbcodealbumShallow Believera to his record label, Bert McCracken scrawled the word a titleThe Used Artwork hrefhttpwww.last.fmmusicTheUsedArtwork classbbcodealbumArtworka across its cover in silver ink. The sentiment, which, to Bert and his bandmates in The Used, resonated with both extreme simplicity and indescribable complexity, said everything without really having to say anything. Now, the Utah band has titled their fourth fulllength album with that very word a titleThe Used Artwork hrefhttpwww.last.fmmusicTheUsedArtwork classbbcodealbumArtworka. The group started writing the album after finishing the Taste of Chaos International tour in 2007, slowly collecting and jamming out ideas with no concrete intention beyond making the songs as dirty as possible. The Used, whose last album, 2007s Lies For the Liars, debuted at No. 5 on the Billboard Top 200, spent the first half of 2008 in LA exploring and refining these ideas, eventually piecing tangential riffs and melodies into a scattering of songs that contained a surprisingly cohesive sensibility. The band members dubbed the music they were writing gross pop, their own new genre of hookladen numbers that pushed the boundaries of the grotesque. Tracking for the album began in June of 2008 with producer Matt Squire and eventually concluded in February of 2009, primarily at LA studios The Lair and NRG. Between a few sporadic tours, the band spent about three months total recording with Squire where they allowed their creativity to dictate when they worked on something. I wouldnt say it was hard to make any of the record but it definitely was time consuming, Bert says. We worked on our time table. The band allowed me to create when I was able to create, which was a good thing. I didnt feel pressure to force things. There was no specific time I had to do anything. If we were in the studio and Id been working on lyrics for five hours and nothing came out, we would just try again tomorrow. In the studio Squire approached the recording process with a laidback attitude the band both appreciated and needed. The decision to work with a new producer after establishing a longtime relationship with producer John Feldman, who was at the helm of the bands past three albums Lies For the Liars, as well as 2004s In Love and Death and 2002s The Used, both of which were certified gold, was derived from a simple desire for change. The Used wanted to see what would happen if they entered the studio with someone different, a process guitarist Quinn Allman compares to breaking up with your girlfriend not because you dont love her but because you need to try something new. It wasnt that we absolutely didnt want to work with Feldman or that we absolutely wanted to work with Squire, Bert explains. It was more that the band needed a change. We wanted to try something different and have it sound a lot different. It took a few weeks for us to get a vibe for each, but once we got used to it, it was really easy. Squire brought in this willingness to try anything and an open mind and a good attitude. I feel like he was really in touch with what the band wanted to do and he was really supportive of our ideas. The result is a raw collection of twelve songs that not so delicately teeter the line between being aggressively discordant and charmingly hooky. The first single a titleThe Used ndash Blood On My Hands hrefhttpwww.last.fmmusicTheUsedBloodOnMyHands classbbcodetrackBlood On My Handsa, which Quinn describes as the song that sums up everything about The Used, is confined chaos, brutally thrashing one moment and proffering a popdriven, singalong chorus the next. a titleThe Used ndash Empty with You hrefhttpwww.last.fmmusicTheUsedEmptywithYou classbbcodetrackEmpty with Youa, a track Bert says is about feeling empty and lonely but as long as you have someone who can feel lonely with you then everythings okay, surges with passion and gripping honesty, while Cut Yourself balances the albums predilection for propulsive rage with its quieter, pianodriven exploration of what it means to have someone to lean on. This record is more sincere, Quinn says. Its got a sound more reminiscent of the first record. Lyrically, it completely engulfs you and makes you feel safe but its all about feeling alone and empty and knowing theres always a light. If youre frustrated that much it means you care that much. The lyrics carry you through the record and youre right with Bert and where hes at. The music isnt showing off. Its just being what it is. I think the fans will appreciate all that. This record is about coming together, Bert adds. Whether its through positivity or negativity, its about coming together through anything. a titleThe Used Artwork hrefhttpwww.last.fmmusicTheUsedArtwork classbbcodealbumArtworka encapsulates the past eight years of a band thats played tours and festivals like Warped Tour, Ozzfest, Projek Revolution, Give It a Name, Reading and Leeds and SxSW, and sold over two million albums in the States alone, while simultaneously urging them forward. Its a collaborative effort that drew The Used closer together during its creation. Its about love and mortality and the basic human emotions we all experience every day. Its biting and gritty, and its melodic and catchy. Its a new chapter for a band thats constantly sought to redefine the bounds of pop musicand have always successfully done so. Its a reminder, as Bert says, were all artists creating our own art just by living it.