THE USED
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Utah? What the hell is Utah good for except Mormons and the Osmonds. Wait a sec...mormons...polygamy...many wives...woo! A harem! Oh crap...diverted a little.
THE USED. They're from Utah. Yeah, friggin' Utah.
Chances are, you might have seen these guys on
OZZFEST or The
Warped Tour, and if you're an avid fan of
The Osbournes on MTV, you know that lead singer Bert McCracken was dating Kelly Osbourne for a short while, and now mom Sharon's none-too-pleased with him (evidently he broke up with her on Valentine's Day...smooth move, man. Way too piss off a powerful music industry businesswoman). Aside from dating Kelly Osbourne though, this sonofabitch can
SCREAM; Sometimes obnoxiously so. if this will give you any indication of how passionate young Bert is about his music, keep in mind that the kid will sometimes scream until he pukes onstage...not the brightest move if you're trying to sustain your vocal cords, but then again, neither is screaming.
The songs on
The Used are certainly above par for a debut disc. They're well-arranged and were very well produced by John Feldmann. Two standout tracks are "A Box Of Sharp Objects" and "The Taste Of Ink", which are also the first two singles. Very melodic, and McCracken's vocals (not to mention his throat) are really raw, bordering on pained...and after you check out the band's bio and read about all the crap they went throgh, you'll understand why most of the lyrics sound like those of an inpatient at a suicide prevention clinic. Sheesh, these are some miserable bastards (or they were at one point).
Now, with all that ass-kissing out of the way, I can start to nitpick. Yeah, li'l Bert can scream, but to be honest, the shit gets a little numbing after a while. Sing a song or two, man. Four songs into this disc, and I feel compelled to send you an ace bandage and a box of tissues, because you sound like you're in excruciating pain. Screaming like banshee = great gimmick. Enough already. Sing.
Also, while the songs are above average for a debut disc from a bunch of twenty-somethings from Utah, there's some work to be done in the writing department. The angst-ridden, "I-hate-myself-and-everyone-else" thing will carry you for an album or two, but you better have a bank of catchy melodies and hooks in the can if you want to be around any longer than that...or it's to the indies you'll be going. Some really catchy songs is what they need to separate themselves from the pack of like-sounding acts that are going to clutter up rock radio. Writing will save your ass. Screaming will not. I think Confucious said that.
