The Used – In Love and Death

I was never a huge fan of The Used. I liked the occasional track here and there, I thought Bert McCracken’s vocals were strong and powerful, and I thought they had some damn catchy songs. But I never liked them enough to pick up their self-titled debut CD. Then Maybe Memories was released, a CD/DVD combo. This was mostly live stuff with a few demos and unreleased songs. It didn’t really change my opinion on the band. The screams just didn’t always sit well with me. Now these Utah natives are back with their second full length release, In Love And Death; and it has succeeded to change my opinion on the band.

This album is a lot more mellow then what I used to associate The Used with. Sure, there are some songs that are landed with screams and yelps from Mr. McCracken, but they fit perfectly. They don’t become overbearing or repetitive. There is a nice amount of variety between the songs to keep you interested. Some major Used fans will be disappointed with this mellowed out version, but fans like myself who used to be on the border will easily jump onto the bandwagon. McCracken’s lyrics are strong and powerful, dark and sincere, and quite often catchy. Oddly enough, there are a few times where he starts off the songs by talking. Take I’m A Fake for example. It is an amazing song to close the album with, but starts off weakly. It is just Bert talking, getting more and more emotional has the music slowly joins in till he’s at the point of screaming right before they jump into the song. This thirty and some second rant starts to get you right at the end as he becomes more motivated, but before that you find yourself wondering “Why don’t you just sign? Come on, you have a great voice, don’t talk.” Then when he does, you are sent back. The dueling chorus in that song is amazing, which makes the album end strong despite the weak beginning.

In Love And Death has a great variety of songs in it. They are some great slower tracks, then some slower tracks which lean a bit towards the boring side, then some hard tracks, then some straight out screamo. But overall, The Used have mellowed out a bit on this album. I like it, but you can’t help but wonder what brought on this change?