The Used
The Used | |
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Background information | |
Origin | Orem, Utah, U.S. |
Genres | |
Years active | 2000–present |
Labels | |
Members |
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Past members | |
Website | theused |
The Used is an American rock band from Orem, Utah, formed in 2000. The group consists of vocalist Bert McCracken, bassist Jeph Howard, drummer Dan Whitesides, and guitarist Joey Bradford. Former members include Quinn Allman, Branden Steineckert, and Justin Shekoski.
The band rose to fame in June 2002 after releasing their
The band has enjoyed commercial success with their albums achieving
History
The formation and early years (2000–2005)
The Used formed in the summer of 2000 with Branden Steineckert, Quinn Allman, Jeph Howard, and Bert McCracken.[3] The band began composing songs without lyrics prior to McCracken joining. They held auditions for vocalists at Howard's residence,[4] but were not satisfied with any of the auditions, describing them as terrible. Allman then asked McCracken if he was interested in joining the band. McCracken was impressed with their material, and after being given some music, he wrote the lyrics to what would become "Maybe Memories". He returned the next day to record a demo version of the song and was then officially confirmed as the band's vocalist. During the early days of the band, members suffered from poverty, homelessness, and substance abuse, panhandling for change in order to buy food.[5] They decided upon the name "Used" after friends claimed they felt "used" when contact with the band members waned as they became more engrossed in the project.[6][7]
They continued to write songs together and recorded a
In 2002, it was discovered that a
In 2004, lead vocalist McCracken's ex-girlfriend died of a drug overdose while pregnant with his child.[12] Their second studio album was thus named In Love and Death, released as a reference to the tragedy McCracken dealt with during the recording. The song "Hard to Say" was a reference to McCracken's ex-girlfriend; although the song was written years earlier, its dedication was only then declared. In Love and Death received very positive reviews[13] and spawned three singles: "Take It Away", "All That I've Got" (which earned them their first MuchMusic Video Award nomination), and "I Caught Fire", before being re-released in 2005. "Under Pressure" (a Queen and David Bowie cover song performed with My Chemical Romance) was featured as a bonus track later pressings. The album has been certified platinum.[9] After finishing up an international tour for the album, they took about eight months off before starting to work on their next album.
Breakthrough (2006–2012)
On September 12, 2006, the Used announced that Steineckert was no longer a member of the band.[14] They said they felt they needed to move forward without him, and that there was a personality conflict between Steineckert and another band member.[14] In late 2006, it was announced drummer Dan Whitesides of The New Transit Direction would replace Steineckert. Steineckert has since joined Rancid.
On February 6, 2007, they released a live album,
On May 19, 2008, they released Shallow Believer, an EP containing the band's B-sides. It was only released on digital music stores and it has charted No. 14 on
In April 2010, they cancelled their upcoming international tour dates and also began writing material for a follow-up to Artwork.[23] Recording and officially releasing the new album was significantly delayed after leaving Reprise Records—their record label group of ten years. According to Howard, "We were kind of waiting to see if we were going to do this record on Warner or not. We kind of had to wait and see what happened about that before we started recording."[24] They founded their own record label in 2011 after parting ways with Reprise Records, a division of Warner. The label was dubbed "Dental Records", and they planned to release their fifth studio album Vulnerable in February 2012 on it.[25]
By December 2011 the release plans for Vulnerable had changed. Their first choice, "Dental Records", was already taken, so the group quickly came up with a different name instead, Anger Music Group. Vulnerable was released March 26, 2012.[26][27] The album's spawned three singles; "I Come Alive",[27] "Put Me Out", and "Hands and Faces".[28]
In support of Vulnerable, they embarked on a North American headlining tour in May and June 2012, and also performed on the main stage of
Recent work (2013–present)
Sub City (Hopeless Records' non-profit
In June 2013 they announced, The Ocean of the Sky,[35] and the EP was released the following month.[36]
In mid-January 2014, the band revealed their sixth studio album, Imaginary Enemy. It was released on April 1, 2014, through their label GAS Union.[37] The album was greatly influenced by McCracken's daughter.[38]
In early February 2015, it was announced that guitarist Quinn Allman parted ways with the band for a one-year hiatus.[citation needed] Saosin's guitarist Justin Shekoski became his replacement as touring member for subsequent tours from February 2015. They toured the United Kingdom in February 2015 with support from the Landscapes.[39] On November 19, 2015, they announced that Allman amicably parted ways with the band permanently and then touring member Shekoski was welcomed as his permanent replacement.[40] However, Allman later revealed that he had intended to return to the band for the anniversary tour, and his departure was a one-sided decision by the band which he became aware of via the band's Facebook announcement.[41]
The band released a live album, Live & Acoustic at the Palace, in April 2016. It was recorded at a show on October 11, 2015, at the Palace in Los Angeles. It is the first release without guitarist Quinn Allman, and first to feature new guitarist Justin Shekoski. The live CD/DVD hit #11 on Billboard's Current Album's chart, and recorded the band's intimate performance with a four-piece string quartet, harpist, piano player, percussion and a three-piece gospel choir.[42] On Shekoski's addition to the band, in an interview with Billboard, lead singer Bert McCracken stated Shekoski's "lust for life and passion for art is inspiring. It's been a fire underneath The Used. It's a new chapter of a brand new book" and "since Justin became a part of the Used it's been nothing but exciting for the next step."[43] The band members were inspired following the live recording of Live & Acoustic at the Palace, and wanted to reflect the live experience in their new album.[43] They spent all of 2016 touring Europe, North America, and Australia to celebrate their 15-year anniversary. In every city they played back to back shows in two nights, playing songs from their self titled album on the first night, and In Love and Death on the second night in their entirety. Following the success of the first leg of the tour, the band announced they will embark on a second leg of the anniversary tour.[44]
Their seventh studio album,
The album received positive reception following its release, with Alternative Press claiming the album has "A vibrancy and vulnerability not felt since the Used's 2002 self-titled debut," and stating that the band's new guitarist Justin Shekoski "has breathed new life into the songwriting."[49] McCracken's delivery of the lyrics coupled with Shekoski's melodies and riffs, showed "The Used have fully realized their wild imagination" and critics noted "this collection of songs are more compelling and moving than anything heard previously from the band."[49] The album appears in AllMusic's 2017 Year In Review: Favorite Punk Albums,[50] Alternative Press's The 40 best albums of 2017,[51] Drowned in Sound's Album of 2017: Staff edit[52] and Kerrang!'s Albums of 2017[53] lists.
In October and November 2017, the group went on a headlining US tour with support from Glassjaw.[54] The band also promoted the new album with acoustic performances at Huntington Beach,[55] and Amoeba Music. Shekoski and McCracken were praised by Rolling Stone for their "powerful acoustic performance".[56]
In January 2018, following a business dispute regarding payment after the release of The Canyon and subsequent promotional tour, Shekoski was dismissed from the band. In March 2018, they removed Justin Shekoski from their band members section on Facebook and edited him out of their promotional photos. At the end of April 2018, Joey Bradford of the band 'Hell or Highwater' appeared in videos of the band practicing for upcoming tour dates. In 2019, Shekoski filed suit against The Used for royalties and damages. The dispute was resolved amicably and settled out of court.
They released a limited edition vinyl EP, Live from Maida Vale, on Record Store Day 2019.[57] It is the first release to feature Joey Bradford on guitar.
After the release, they signed with a new record label called Big Noise Music Group.[58] They headlined the first annual Rockstar energy drink Disrupt tour, which was intended to fill the void left by the change of concept of the Warped Tour.[59][non-primary source needed] The band started recording the album in June[60][61] and finished recording it after the Disrupt Festival tour in November. The album was produced by John Feldmann who produced most of their studio albums. The first single and music video from the upcoming album, "Blow Me", was released on December 6.[62][non-primary source needed] A second single and video "Paradise Lost, a poem by John Milton" was released February 7.[63][non-primary source needed] A third single and video "Cathedral Bell" was released April 17.[64][non-primary source needed] The album, Heartwork, was released on April 24, 2020.[1] A year and a half later on September 10, 2021, the band released a deluxe version of Heartwork with 11 b-sides recorded during the session.[65]
In October 2021, the band recorded 11 songs in 11 days for their next album. The single "Fuck You" was released on October 21, 2022.[66] Another single, "People Are Vomit", was released on February 17, 2023.[67][68] The album's lead single, "Numb", was released on April 20, 2023.[69] "Giving Up" was released as the second single on May 17, 2023.[70] The album, Toxic Positivity, was released May 19, 2023.[71]
Musical style
The Used has been described as emo,[72][73][74] post-hardcore,[75][76] punk rock,[77][75] screamo,[78][79][80] alternative rock,[81] pop-punk,[82] hard rock,[83] and heavy metal.[79] The band's early influences included Converge, Ink & Dagger, Jawbox, Fugazi, Nirvana and Refused.[84][85] In 2007, bassist Jeph Howard stated, "We just don't consider ourselves 'emo' or 'screamo' and we never have. We're a rock band, that's all we've ever been."[86] However, in a 2023 interview, McCracken admitted, "I used to cringe about that term ‘emo’ but I think we’ve swallowed it… We are emo."[87]
For Artwork, McCracken described their genre as "gross pop".[19] On their fifth album Vulnerable, McCracken stated that there is a lot of hip hop influence, beats and drum and bass kind of stuff but it is also still the Used record with many soft and heavy, brutal, sharp, bright sounds and the tempos are anywhere from ultra-slow to super fast and heavy.[88]
Members
Current
Former
Touring musicians
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Timeline
Discography
- The Used (2002)
- In Love and Death (2004)
- Lies for the Liars (2007)
- Artwork (2009)
- Vulnerable (2012)
- Imaginary Enemy (2014)
- The Canyon (2017)
- Heartwork (2020)
- Toxic Positivity (2023)
References
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