In Love and Death is the second studio album by American rock band the Used. It was released on September 28, 2004, and was later certified platinum in the United States, indicating over 1,000,000 copies shipped. It is their most commercially successful album to date. In an interview with Billboard in February 2003, vocalist Bert McCracken said the group was aiming to record their second album at the end of the year. McCracken added that they planned to write it in the same manner they did for their debut: "We're going to go back to Utah and jam at [drummer] Branden [Steineckert]'s house".

A DVD/CD package, Maybe Memories, followed as a stop-gap release to tide the group's fans over until their next album. The band subsequently spent a few months in Orem, Utah writing material for the next album. McCracken said the group "figured it would be best to be in an environment we were really used to". In February, it was reported that it would be released in June or July.

Production

In Love and Death was recorded at Foxy Studios in Los Angeles, California with producer John Feldmann Feldmann also acted as an engineer with assistance from Mark Blewett and Alan Hessler. Feldmann and McCracken wrote string arrangements for the album. Sean Ingram of Coalesce contributed additional vocals to "Sound Effects and Overdramatics". Additional programming was done by Danny Lohner, Josh Eustis and Steineckert on "Take It Away". Digital editing was done by Anthony Catalano. Feldmann mixed the recordings, which were then mastered by Joe Gastwirt at Ocean View Digital Mastering. Prior to recording, McCracken claimed there would be "a lot more piano-based songs than guitar-riff rock songs" on the album. punk rock

The album's lyrics explore themes such as acceptance, regret, remorse and self-reflection. McCracken said "All That I've Got" is about "moments in time. The more I've thought about living, I realize that our lives are made up of seconds and moments and memories". Discussing "Lunacy Fringe", McCracken said the track reminded him of "[the Cure's] 'Lovecats' meets [Soft Cell's] 'Tainted Love' a little bit". under the rumoured title Light with a Sharpened Edge. The following week, it was clarified that the album would be titled In Love and Death. Between late July and early September, the band performed on the Projekt Revolution tour. During it, the band played "Take It Away" and "Listening". In early August, the band filmed a music video for "Take It Away" in Toronto with Motion Theory. A preview clip of "Take It Away" was posted online on August 12. "Take It Away" was released to radio on August 23, and on the iTunes Store the following day. On August 27, the album's track listing was revealed. On September 24, the band posted two songs on their PureVolume account: "Sound Effects and Overdramatics" and "I'm a Fake". In Love and Death was released on September 28 The band were fans of his work and upon contacting him, he was enthusiastic about working with them. He visited the group, heard some of the songs and "didn't hold anything back. And that's why his artwork is so connected with these songs". On October 6, the album was released in Japan with a bonus track, "The Back of Your Mouth". In October and November, the band went on a headlining tour of the US with Head Automatica, Atreyu, The Bronx, and The Bled supporting on select dates.

On November 16, the band filmed a music video for "All That I've Got" in Los Angeles with director Marc Webb. In early December, the band performed at Q101 Chicago's Xmas festival. "All That I've Got" was released as a single on December 7. The video for the track was later finished in January 2005. Later that month, the band went on a tour of the UK; Head Automatica was due to support but had cancelled due to illness. At the end of the tour, "Take It Away" was released as a single in the UK. Two versions with B-sides were released: one featuring live recordings of "The Taste of Ink" and Take It Away", while the other featured "All That I've Got". On February 12, "I Caught Fire" was released as a single. From mid-February to early April, the band headlined the Taste of Chaos tour in the US. On April 13, a cover of Queen and David Bowie's "Under Pressure" as a single, in which they collaborated with My Chemical Romance. The track was recorded to benefit victims of the 2004 tsunami in Asia. The album was re-released on May 10, with "Under Pressure" as a bonus track.

Following this, the band performed two shows in Australia and appeared at Download Festival. In late June, the band filmed a music video for "I Caught Fire" with director Kevin Kerslake The video was subsequently released on August 15. McCracken said that in contrast to the fairy-tale-esque video for "All That I've Got", the video for "I Caught Fire" had "a more straightforward approach" with the group "just kind of rock[ing] it out". In October and November, the band headlined the International Taste of Chaos tour which visited Mexico, Australia, Japan, the UK and Germany.

Reception

In Love and Death sold 93,240 copies in its first week, charting at number 6 on the Billboard 200. By February 2006, the album had sold over 642,000 copies. It was subsequently certified platinum in Canada and number 44 in the UK. "I Caught Fire" charted in at number 43 in Australia "Under Pressure" charted at number 41 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and number 28 on the Alternative Songs chart;

The Used

  • Bert McCracken – lead vocals, keyboards, piano, string arrangement
  • Quinn Allman – guitars, backing vocals, toys
  • Branden Steineckert – drums, backing vocals, percussion, additional programming on "Take It Away"
  • Jeph Howard – bass, backing vocals, fusion

Additional musicians

  • Sean Ingram – additional vocals on "Sound Effects and Overdramatics"
  • Danny Lohner – additional programming on "Take It Away"
  • Josh Eustis – additional programming on "Take It Away"

Production

  • John Feldmann – producer, engineer, mixing, string arrangement
  • Mark Blewett – assistant engineer, bass tech, guitar tech
  • Alan Hessler – assistant engineer, bass tech, guitar tech
  • Anthony Catalano – digital editing
  • Joe Gastwirt – mastering
  • Alex Pardee – art, design
  • Seth Smoot – photography
  • Daniel Jensen – drum tech
  • Jordan Brown – drum tech
  • Brian Patchett – bass tech, guitar tech

Charts

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

|+ Chart performance for In Love and Death

! scope="col"| Chart (2004–2005)

! scope="col"| Peak<br />position

|-

|-

|-

|-

! scope="row"| Japanese Albums (Oricon)

| 33

|-

! scope="row"| UK Albums (OCC)

| 106

|-

|-

|}

Certifications

References

Citations

Sources

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  • In Love and Death at YouTube (streamed copy where licensed)