Utah rockers The Used return with their much anticipated 7th Studio album and the wait was more than worth it.
Opening with an incredibly powerful message, the album immediately evokes a wave of emotions and gives an added dimension to the acoustics of opening track ‘For you’. This doesn’t last very long though as it’s immediately followed by the The Used that we’ve all come accustomed to in ‘Cold War Telescreen’ which provides riffs that simply can’t fail to have you up and dancing, especially during the chorus.
Throughout the seventeen tracks, Bert McCracken’s vocals cut deep and bring out the best in the wonderfully melodic sound crafted by the band. When these are coupled with the huge riffs of tracks such as ‘Rise Up Lights’ they embody everything that The Used is. Track after track they hit you with incredibly intelligent song writing and a sound which has seemingly evolved over the years to something much more refined.
It’s an album packed full of influences but what shines through abundantly is an almost bluesy tone to the record. However there is also a number of different sounds floating around the record and it certainly picks up in the middle with the trio of ‘Selfies in Aleppo’, ‘Moving the Mountain (Odysseus Surrenders)’, and ‘Over and Over Again’ which instils, a sense of urgency. In stark contrast the beautiful ballad that is ‘Moon-Dream’ just adds another dynamic to an album which already incorporates so much.
All in all this album seems like the culmination of the bands journey to date, incorporating everything they’ve learnt along the way and catapulting them to a whole new level. This is The Used, evolved.
CHRISTOPHER LEE