The Used
| The Used | |
|---|---|
 The Used at the MuchMusic Video Awards 2007 |
|
| General information | |
| Genre (s) | Alternative rock , post-hardcore , pop-punk , emo |
| founding | 2001 |
| Website | www.theused.net |
| Current occupation | |
| Bert McCracken | |
| Justin Shekoski (since 2015) | |
Electric bass , backing vocals |
Jepha Howard |
| Dan Whitesides | |
| former members | |
guitar |
Quinn Allman (until 2015) |
Drums |
Branden Steineckert (until 2006) |
The Used is an American post-hardcore - band from Orem , Utah .
Characteristic for the music of the group was in particular the voice of the singer Robert Edward McCracken (called Bert McCracken), fluctuating between singing and shouting. While the group was occasionally compared to post-hardcore bands like Glassjaw at the beginning of their career, groups like Fall Out Boy and their former friends My Chemical Romance are now more of a reference point. In total, the band sold 2.5 million CDs worldwide.
Band history
In 1997 Quinn Allman, Jepharee Howard and Branden Steineckert formed a band together; However, since they did not have a singer and their attempts at singing were not too successful, they held a casting to find a singer. After about 50 singers, Quinn remembered Bert McCracken, whom he knew from high school, and so McCracken auditioned. The other three gave him a CD with recordings of one of their pieces, but without vocals. The next day McCracken had written a complete vocal part for this piece, which later became Maybe Memories . But they only played together from 1999; officially the founding year 2000 is given.
The first appearances in the Mormon city of Salt Lake City ended due to the tension between the local religious community and McCracken's explosive behavior on stage with the friendly but determined advice to look for other venues. After a few tours through the United States, they were discovered by the music label Reprise Records . The Used then recorded their first self-titled album in 2002. The work, produced by John Feldmann, the singer of the band Goldfinger , made it to number 63 on the Billboard 200 , got gold in the USA and sold over a million copies worldwide. Singer Bert McCracken was briefly in a relationship with Kelly Osbourne , which brought him a lot of media coverage and some appearances on the reality show The Osbournes .
In 2004 the second album In Love and Death was released , again produced by Feldmann , which is considered more compatible with the masses than its predecessor and placed in the top 10 of the American album charts. Danny Lohner and Josh Eustis ( Black Light Burns ) worked on the song Take It Away . In 2006 the drummer Branden Steineckert left the group. He joined the punk band Rancid .
In February 2007, a live album with nine titles and a DVD in a double pack was released, which bears the name Berth . On May 18, 2007, the studio album Lies for the Liars was released , which debuted at number 5 on the American Billboard charts. In addition, a new band member was added. Dan Whitesides is the new drummer, who previously sat on drums in the befriended band The New Transit Direction .
On August 28, 2009 the band's fourth studio album called Artwork was released , which was described as a record ... whose explicit cover has no clear relation to the content . The first single Blood on my Hands was released in advance on June 1, 2009. In the summer of 2009 the band toured four German cities to present their new album.
On their official homepage the band announced on April 29th 2010 that all European tour dates and performances in 2010 were canceled due to problems with the management.
Due to existing problems with Warner, The Used founded their own record label Anger Music Group in 2010, through which "Vulnerable" was released two years later. Musically, the band maintains their trendy line and for the most part dispenses with the shouting of McCracken. Because of the singer's "criminal" past, McCracken is not allowed to enter Canada, which is why The Used had to cancel their upcoming tour.
In spring 2012, Vulnerable, the band's new album, was released, which was again produced by regular producer John Feldmann. The voice could also no longer be compared with the one on the early albums, because it now consisted of softer sounds and more poppy tones and no longer of shouting and "explosive behavior".
In 2015, Quinn Allman wanted to take a break. The band later announced that they had parted ways with Allman and that guitarist Justin Shekoski of the band Saosin would take his position immediately.
On October 27, 2017, the band released the album the Canyon . She also released a music video for the single Over and Over Again , in which it became clear that the band continued to break away from their initial hardcore times.
Discography
Albums
| year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 DE
|
 AT
|
 UK
|
 US
|
|||
| 2002 | The Used |
DE87 (1 week) DE |
- |
UK-  |
US63  (34 weeks)US |
Plattentests.de review:
 
|
| 2003 | Maybe Memories | - | - | - |
US84 (2 weeks) US |
|
| 2004 | In love and death | - | - |
UK- |
US6th (36 weeks)US |
|
| 2007 | Berth | - | - | - |
US71 (1 week) US |
Live album
|
| Read for the Liars |
DE61 (1 week) DE |
AT48 (1 week) AT |
UK39 (2 weeks) UK |
US5  (16 weeks)US |
||
| 2009 | Artwork | - | - |
UK63 (1 week) UK |
US10 (9 weeks) US |
CDStarts review:
|
| 2012 | Vulnerable | - | - |
UK65 (1 week) UK |
US8 (4 weeks) US |
|
| 2013 | The Ocean of the Sky ( EP ) | - | - | - |
US108 (1 week) US |
|
| 2014 | Imaginary enemy | - | - |
UK78 (1 week) UK |
US14 (2 weeks) US |
|
| 2016 | Live & Acoustic at the Palace | - | - | - |
US30 (1 week) US |
Live album
|
| 2017 | The Canyon | - | - | - |
US50 (1 week) US |
|
| 2020 | Heartwork | - | - | - |
US87 (... weeks) US |
|
More EPs
- 2008: Shallow Believer
- 2019: Live from Maida Vale
Video albums
- 2003: Maybe Memories (US:platinum)
- 2007: Berth (US:gold)
- 2007: Lies for the Liars (Special Edition)
Singles
| year | Title album |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
UK
|
US
|
|||
| 2003 | The Taste of Ink |
UK52 (2 weeks) UK |
- | |
| 2005 | Take it away |
UK44 (2 weeks) UK |
- | |
|
Under pressure |
- |
US41 (3 weeks) US |
with My Chemical Romance
|
|
More singles
- 2002: A Box Full of Sharp Objects
- 2002: The Taste of Ink
- 2002: Buried Myself Alive
- 2003: Blue and Yellow
- 2004: Take It Away
- 2004: All That I've Got
- 2005: I Caught Fire (In Your Eyes)
- 2005: Under Pressure
- 2007: The Bird and the Worm
- 2007: Pretty Handsome Awkward
- 2009: Blood on My Hands
- 2009: Empty with You
- 2012: I Come Alive
- 2012: Put Me Out
- 2014: Cry
- 2016: The Bird and the Worm (acoustics)
- 2017: Over and Over Again
- 2020: Paradise Lost, a Poem by John Milton
Others
- 2007: Contribution to the soundtrack of the film Transformers with the single Pretty Handsome Awkward
- 2009: Contribution to the soundtrack of the film Transformers with the cover version of Burning Down the House
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Review of the debut album , Armin Linder for Plattentests.de , accessed on August 15, 2008
- ↑ Kelefa Sanneh: New CDs: The Used “Lies for the Liars”. In: The New York Times . May 21, 2007, accessed October 30, 2016 .
- ↑ a b c The Used in the US Billboard 200
- ↑ a b The Used - Artwork on CDStrats.de
- ↑ Annie Zaleski: Exclusive Interview: Bert McCracken on the Used partnering with Hopeless Records. In: Altpress. December 15, 2011, accessed October 30, 2016 .
- ↑ a b The Used in the Official UK Charts (English)
- ↑ Music Sales Awards: US UK
