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The Used ... is anyone here into them?


Geoff

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Okay, I've been sitting on these guys for a while. Finally they decided that my plump ass had worn out it's welcome and they asked me to move on.

 

So here I am, just wondering if anyone else is into these guys. I don't know how big they are in the US, but apparently they have a few songs on radio here in Australia and when I saw Taste of Chaos last year these guys were headlining and there were a MASS of people there to see them.

 

As always when posting about a band like this, I wrestled with myself for hours as to where I should post, because these guys could teach a lot of current melodic hard rockers how to write a great, catchy melodic hard rock song. Stuff like 'I caught fire (In your eyes)' and 'All that I've got' off their latest album 'Love and death' might even be called AOR-ish in certain circles.

 

But mostly what has bought me here to post about them is my deep and sincere love of the 2 central ballads off their 2 discs, s/t and 'Love and death'. 'Blue and Yellow', off their s/t album is an absolutely stunning melodic ballad/mid-tempo rocker, building up to sheer brilliance. I loved this song from the day I heard it and I now feel like eloping with it.

 

And then there's 'Hard to say' off 'Love and death'. Another almost AOR-ish track... just beautiful balladry.

 

All I can think that might turn people off this band is the occasional scream here and there on both albums... but the guy is actually a pretty damn good singer in places. If you can get past screaming in a few songs, I heartily suggest giving these guys a go.

 

So anyone else listen to them? Any thoughts?

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Some jerk just sent me a couple of cd's by them, but I haven't had the chance to listen yet. :angel:

 

:tumbsup: I actually think you're going to dig these guys based on previous comments... bit of screaming here and there to get your blood boiling. :angry:

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I didn't really get into this. I do love a lot of modern rock & nu-metal but this band just don't have the songs IMO. It's heavy guitar-driven stuff, but I'm not a big fan of the vocals & the songs are very poppy. The slower numbers are good, as is the immense "I Caught Fire", but not a regular on my CD player...

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I hope to hear them soon actually. I can say with some degree of certainty that they know how to stretch out their song titles... <_< I mean come on, all those extra words. Here are two examples...

 

"Blue and Yellow" duh... "Green" I'm tired of people running around sucking up words, a natural resource we cannot do without!

 

And please... "Love and Death"... "Marriage" There, it's short, sweet and to the point... fucking fontwasters... <_<

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They're a funny band........some songs I just love.......some songs I can't even listen to 'cuz of the screaming. :blink:

 

I played their CDs in my car once with my girl and her girlfriend in the back.

 

*Fantasy scenario* They were too busy making love to each other in the backseat as I filmed and they didn't really hear much of the music, but I thought it was a nice backdrop as the fondled each other's breasts and licked each other in places I like.

 

*Reality* They couldn't stand it and couldn't believed I listened to them, which is a real shame. Because yes, there are some deadset screamers on there which even I find hard to cope with... but amidst them there are some absolutely beautiful, heartfelt tunes like I mentioned above and some classic commercial hard rockers, made for fans of melodic hard rock. It's an odd mix because half the songs could easily fit on radio, half would never in a million years have a shot at radio play. Also, they are quite lyrically amusing and inventive. How many songs have you heard with the subject of 'In your eyes'? A thousand. But how many people have taken that variation to '(I caught fire) In your eyes'? A small touch, but I love it.

 

They're not my fave modern band, but they're f*cking great and right up there, and they're great live too. Behind Story of the Year and Funeral for a Friend, they were the 3rd best I saw at Taste of Chaos.

 

Side note - MJ, never listen to a band called Killswitch Engage. Brillaint band musically, but the dude screams to lengths you'd not believe. I've heard their discs and couldn't listen to it, get into it. Must admit, they kicked my f*ckin' ass live though...

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Folks, if Geoff recommends it, it's usually safe for me to buy a copy sight-unseen (or, rather, sound-unheard, or something like that). Two days ago, that's exactly what I did. While browsing the music store at the mall, my eyes happened to fall on The Used: "In Love & Death" and I said to myself, "Self, the self-proclaimed sexist man on earth a.k.a. Geoff on Heavy Harmonies claimed this is a good CD, so you should just go ahead and buy it without bothering to listen to sound samples first." With myself thoroughly convinced by myself that this was an excellent idea, that's exactly what I did.

 

Well, myself needs to be bitch-slapped.

 

I like modern/nu-metal/emo/screamo/whatever-the-hell-you-call-it as much as the next guy, but to echo what Tim(2) said, the songs just weren't there. Here and there a hook peeked its head out like an attention-starved stepchild hoping its abusive father wasn't lurking around waiting to give it a smack, but that only happened on a few songs, and most of the time I was left thinking, "Self, we have purchased an inferior metal CD that will not spend much time in our stereo and will instead gather much dust on the shelf."

 

So it was not the occasional scream that turned me off (I like some screaming...especially when my wife does it :banana: ) but rather the lack of truly good songs. So unfortunately, The Used won't get used much by me.

 

And in closing, lest there by any confusion, I'm not upset with Geoff, just busting his chops a little bit. :drink:

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  • 1 year later...

Okay, so after this thread failed so miserably, I don't think anyone will be buying 'Lies for The Liars'... but I would be interested to hear if anyone gives it a go. Please note, this is NOT a recommendation. If you did not like 'In love and death' there is not a hope in hell of liking the new one. IMO, musically the band sound much better and there is a really solid hard rock sound, with great drums and the sort of "fragile" sound of the first two albums is no more.

 

As I said, the new album does have a very hard rock kind of vibe, especially come chorus time. Check out 'Pretty handsome awkward' for a killer example of this. To be honest, I really like every single track. 'Earthquake' is possibly my favourite song of the year so far as is just superb. A lot of the others have some pretty questionable verses and I kind of liken the album to an extendable dog lead. The dog sort of runs away and everything's getting uncoiled, but with a tug (chorus time) everything is pulled back into line and back on track. As I said in the 'First spins' thread, I do actually think this is the weakest of their 3 fine albums, but in no way am I disappointed. I think they've done really well.

 

If you are interested at all, I think they have samples of all the songs here on their myspace page:

 

http://www.myspace.com/theused

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  • 1 month later...

I kinda like them. I downloaded their single (in the UK) "The Bird & The Worm" & it's annoyingly catchy. I plan to download the whole album at some point soon....

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  • 3 weeks later...
I kinda like them. I downloaded their single (in the UK) "The Bird & The Worm" & it's annoyingly catchy. I plan to download the whole album at some point soon....

I agree... that song is annoying, but catchy. Wait till you hear the brilliance of 'Earthquake' and it becomes your favourite song of the year. :P 'Pretty Handsome Awkward' is a killer hard rock tune you cannot help but love too.

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  • 6 months later...
Okay, so after this thread failed so miserably, I don't think anyone will be buying 'Lies for The Liars'... but I would be interested to hear if anyone gives it a go. Please note, this is NOT a recommendation. If you did not like 'In love and death' there is not a hope in hell of liking the new one. IMO, musically the band sound much better and there is a really solid hard rock sound, with great drums and the sort of "fragile" sound of the first two albums is no more.

 

As I said, the new album does have a very hard rock kind of vibe, especially come chorus time. Check out 'Pretty handsome awkward' for a killer example of this. To be honest, I really like every single track. 'Earthquake' is possibly my favourite song of the year so far as is just superb. A lot of the others have some pretty questionable verses and I kind of liken the album to an extendable dog lead. The dog sort of runs away and everything's getting uncoiled, but with a tug (chorus time) everything is pulled back into line and back on track. As I said in the 'First spins' thread, I do actually think this is the weakest of their 3 fine albums, but in no way am I disappointed. I think they've done really well.

 

If you are interested at all, I think they have samples of all the songs here on their myspace page:

 

http://www.myspace.com/theused

 

Cheer up Geoff! You're not the only one digging the new cd (Lies For The Liars), I like it too. This cd actually came like a bolt out of the blue. I've always had this notion that The Used where a pure punk band. BOY was I wrong! :doh: Saw this disc being sold cheaply at the local warehouse (couple of days ago) and I thought " :wtf: let's give it a try". Glad I did! :beerbang:

 

Sure there's this nu-metal/punk/modern rock/whatever vibe over the cd but if you hear beyond the screaming vocals (which can be a bit annoying sometimes) there's some good melodies and riffs for you to enjoy. Pretty Handsome Awkward is indeed a killer song, it immidiately hit my ears with a bang and I felt love again :wub:

 

I can imagine this stuff ain't for all of the inhabitants of this site but if you got an open mind maybe you can find something sweet out of this :whistle:

 

Now I'm off trying to get my hands on the previous releases by The Used....

 

Rock on :banger:

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Glad you like it, mate. If you hate the screaming you might want to avoid the debut, though it's worth it alone for 'Blue and yellow', but the second album, 'In love and death' might be right up your alley. Super melodic modern rock disc with some very HH-styled choruses and hooks. It'd be hard to dislike that if you like 'Lies for the liars'.

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  • 1 month later...

Okay, for all those interested... yep, all two of you... The Used have already got a new release this year! It's called 'Shallow Believer'. It's not a new studio album, but here's a rundown of the tracks, from Wikipedia:

 

1. Dark Days (Lies for the Liars b-side) - 3:46

2. Slit Your Own Throat (Lies for the Liars b-side) - 3:04

3. Devil Beside You (Lies for the Liars b-side) - 3:45

4. Into My Web (In Love and Death b-side) - 3:37

5. My Pesticide (Lies for the Liars b-side) - 3:05

6. Choke Me (Self titled b-side) - 2:00

7. Sun Comes Up (Lies for the Liars b-side) - 3:57

8. Sick Hearts (Lies for the Liars b-side) - 3:27

9. Back Of Your Mouth (In Love and Death b-side) - 3:19

10. Tunnel (Lies for the Liars b-side) - 3:44

 

If you're a fan at all of the band, especially their last CD, this is well worth the effort. As you can see, it's pretty much the second part of an double release for 'Lies for the Liars'. And the production job is that of any of their official releases.

 

The funny this is, I don't think there were any big singles off 'Lies for the Liars'. Well, if they'd included it, 'Dark days' could have been it. Not as good as 'Earthquake', imo, but better than any other song off 'Lies for the Liars', this is a hugely commercial hard rock song. All three of the first songs are better than most off the actual 'Lies for the liars' album. And so is 'My pesticide'.

 

If you do like the band at all, I recommend this CD. Good stuff, even if there's a few fillers towards the end.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Okay, for all those interested... yep, all two of you...

 

Make that 3 mate :guitbannana:

 

Only have heard their S/T(have at least another one of theirs somewhere but don't think I have listened to it from start to finish)and it has been played to death,nowhere near a fan of "screamo type" bands but there is just something about this album that I like and it sits out like a sore thumb in my collection

 

Agree with you that Blue and Yellow is a brilliant song along with Poetic Tragedy and Buried Myself Alive is a real "get up and go song"

 

Definitely an album worth checking out if it is not something that you would normally listen too :banger:

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Okay, for all those interested... yep, all two of you...

 

Make that 3 mate :guitbannana:

 

Only have heard their S/T(have at least another one of theirs somewhere but don't think I have listened to it from start to finish)and it has been played to death,nowhere near a fan of "screamo type" bands but there is just something about this album that I like and it sits out like a sore thumb in my collection

 

Agree with you that Blue and Yellow is a brilliant song along with Poetic Tragedy and Buried Myself Alive is a real "get up and go song"

 

Definitely an album worth checking out if it is not something that you would normally listen too :banger:

Nice. Yeah, it's definitely their most intense album. Yet 'Blue and yellow' is arguably one of the most tender ballads of all time. Beautiful stuff.

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  • 1 year later...

Sounds like The Used have a new album called 'Artwork' due 1st of September this year. Some songs:

 

Blood on My Hands

Blown It

Empty With You

Cut Yourself

 

This, however, is preventing me from being too excited:

 

"Bert McCracken stated "In the past, we've always kind of brought pop sensibility into heavy rock, but this is going to be all that much more tantalizing and brutal. Our songs are 10 times messier and noisier than they've ever been."

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This, however, is preventing me from being too excited:

 

"Bert McCracken stated "In the past, we've always kind of brought pop sensibility into heavy rock, but this is going to be all that much more tantalizing and brutal. Our songs are 10 times messier and noisier than they've ever been."

 

Cool. :lol:

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