The Used is the debut studio album by American rock band the Used, released on June 25, 2002, through Reprise Records. The album has been certified platinum by the RIAA in 2019. emo, and melodic hardcore. The album also contains elements of hard rock and heavy metal, as well as ballads. AllMusic stated that some of the material "could be played on MTV beside Creed and Vertical Horizon." Some of the material has drawn comparisons to Fuel. Bert McCracken's harsh vocals have drawn comaprisons to Perry Farrell.

The album's lyrical themes include youth, suicide, romance, marriage proposal, frustration. McCracken said "Buried Myself Alive" was "about a girl. It's about drugs. It's about loss. It's about being alive, about living".

The word "fuck" is used frequently on the album, despite the absence of a parental advisory sticker on the front cover. Dumb Luck in October 1999. Shortly afterwards, the group split up. According to Howard, they "remembered [about McCracken] and called him. After that, everything just fell into place." The band subsequently honed their sound

Production

The Used was recorded at Foxy Studios in Marina del Rey, California with Feldmann as the producer. at Olympic Studios. Feldmann acted as an engineer with assistance from Mark Blewett and Donny Campion. Feldmann contributed backing vocals to "Bulimic" and "Greener with the Scenery", the latter of which also included additional backing vocals from Carmen Daye. String arrangements on "Greener with the Scenery" and "On My Own" were done by Nick Ingman. Feldmann mixed the recordings, while Joe Gastwirt mastered them at Ocean View Digital Mastering. During the summer, the group performed on the Warped Tour and Ozzfest touring festivals. Despite never having been released as a single, "A Box Full of Sharp Objects" received airplay starting in July, and a band-directed music video was in rotation at TV stations. In early December, the band performed at KROQ-FM's Almost Acoustic Christmas festival. In January 2003, the band went on a headlining West Coast tour of the US with support from Taking Back Sunday, New Transit Direction and the Blood Brothers. "Buried Myself Alive" was released to radio on January 28. The following day, the band posted the music video to the song on their website. The video was directed by Ami & Kinkski, and features McCracken "play[ing] with fire while the band wreaks havoc", according to Kludge. "The Taste of Ink" was released as a single on March 11. In March and April, the band went on tour with Coheed and Cambria. In April and May, the group went on tour with Thrice. Two of these shows formed part of MTV's Campus Invasion tour. "Blue and Yellow" was released to radio on May 19. In July, the group released a CD/DVD album, Maybe Memories. The CD included live versions of "Maybe Memories", "Say Days Ago", "A Box Full of Sharp Objects" and "On My Own", Japanese-exclusive bonus track "Just a Little", a demo of "Bulimic", and "Sometimes I Just Go for It", a track that had been recorded during the piano sessions in London.

| rev2 = Alternative Press

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| rev3 = CMJ New Music Report

| rev3Score = Favorable

| rev4 = Exclaim!

| rev4Score = Favorable

| rev5 = Melodic

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| rev6 = Punknews.org

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| rev7 = Q

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Upon its release, the album received positive reviews from critics, with praise being directed primarily to the instrumentation. The album has since become recognized as a landmark album of the emocore and screamo genres. Many bands such as Escape the Fate, Crown the Empire and A Static Lullaby have cited the album as a major influence on their sounds. NME listed the album as one of "20 Emo Albums That Have Resolutely Stood The Test Of Time". Journalists Leslie Simon and Trevor Kelley included the album in their list of the most essential emo releases in their book Everybody Hurts: An Essential Guide to Emo Culture (2007). Alternative Press ranked "A Box Full of Sharp Objects" at number 45 and "The Taste of Ink" at number 21 on their list of the best 100 singles from the 2000s. Tom Weaver of Casey has expressed admiration for the album. Additionally, some consider it to be an important "scene album".

Commercial performance

The Used debuted at number 50 on the Billboard Heatseekers Albums chart in the August 17 issue. It later rose to number one in the November 16 issue and gained "Heatseekers Impact" status when the release moved from number 106 to number 96 on the Billboard 200 chart. and number 52 in the UK. "Buried Myself Alive" charted at number 13 on the Alternative Songs chart.

Track listing

All songs written by the Used.

The Used

  • Bert McCracken – vocals, piano, additional guitars
  • Branden Steineckert – drums, backing vocals
  • Quinn Allman – guitars, backing vocals
  • Jeph Howard – bass, backing vocals

Additional musicians

  • John Feldmann – backing vocals on "Bulimic" and "Greener with the Scenery"
  • Carmen Daye – additional backing vocals on "Greener with the Scenery"
  • Nick Ingman – string arrangements on "Poetic Tragedy", "Greener with the Scenery" and "On My Own"

Production

  • John Feldmann – producer, engineer, mixing
  • Mark Blewett – assistant engineer
  • Donny Campion – assistant engineer
  • Joe Gastwirt – mastering
  • P.R. Brown – art direction, photography, design
  • Gina Keeler – additional line illustrations

Charts

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|+ 2003–2005 chart performance for The Used

! scope="col"| Chart (2003–2005)

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

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! scope="row"| Canadian Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)

| 192

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|+ 2022 chart performance for The Used

! scope="col"| Chart (2022)

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

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Certifications

References

Citations

Sources

<!-- This is a licensed stream for the album, which is allowed under Wikipedia polices -->

  • The Used at YouTube (streamed copy where licensed)