The Used – The Used
In music, “Drugs, Sex, and Rock n’ Roll” is the customary way of life. However, for the band The Used, it was the only way of life. Formed in the town of Orem, UT, The Used had to conquer great odds. Before signing to a major label, the members of The Used found themselves homeless and living on the street with only the kindness of strangers to aid them. With the feeling of failure, the substance abuse started amongst the band. However, in the brink of darkness, a bright light showed upon this band of hopeless, angst-filled musicians. Reprise Records (Green Day, Filter, Frank Sinatra) offered this band of misfits a deal. With only their music and dreams remaining, Bert McCracken, Jeph Howard, Branden Steineckert, and Quin Allman stepped forward to attempt and break out of the “normal” mold of music today. Having grown-up in the tranquil town of Orem, UT, a predominantly Mormon area, The Used was usually shunned by locals and found no support from clubs. The small amount of venues located in the Utah area rarely invited the band to play, due to the band’s ability to rattle a building apart from their deranged live show, not to mention McCracken’s gastric pyrotechnics while singing. The best way to sum up The Used musically is to call them melodic emo-metal with influences stemming from the early punk and alternative music scenes. In laymen’s terms, singer Bert McCracken compassionately sings and screams his lyrics while the other band members sing like angels. Mixed together with edgy, yet catchy, guitar work and an amazing rhythm section, The Used isolated their sound. The actual singing vocal harmony parts resemble the band Good Charlotte without the annoying overproduced quality. However, these rockers have a soft side found in the mellow “Blue and Yellow” and acoustic song “On My Own”. Lyrically, McCracken recounts of his former drug addiction in “Maybe Memories” while in “Blue and Yellow” he talks about his unstable relationship with guitarist Quinn Allman during the struggling years of the band. The Used threw away all they knew from girlfriends and family to jobs and responsibility for the sake of their music. They were determined to make it big in the music business as expressed in the song “Taste of Ink”. The Used is for those fans of bands like Hoobastank and Finch that want more punch and kick. The Used is for the more open-minded listeners who are willing to venture out of the pop rock scene. The Used just finished up on the Warped Tour and can be seen on tour this fall with the Blink 182 side project Boxcar Racer and the current singles “A Box Full of Sharp Objects” and “Taste of Ink” can both be seen on MTV.
-AW
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