Written by Kayla Peters
The Used is one of those bands that blurs the lines of musical genres — they’re considered alt rock, post-hardcore, ‘screamo’ and even metal. Their latest record, entitled Imaginary Enemy, couldn’t be a better mixture of all these genres.
Imaginary Enemy begins with heavy, revolution-starting anthems to softer, more tender love ballads. Sonically, The Used do a perfect job of balancing all of its explosive elements. Frontman Bert McCracken’s powerful vocals, Quinn Allman’s intense guitar riffs, Dan Whitesides’ piston-like drum beats never drown each other out; they actually complement each other awesomely.
The band’s sound has developed so much since their earlier albums like The Used and In Love and Death. McCracken’s vocals have gotten deeper yet smoother. But most importantly, the band’s lyrics seem to have more meaning and emotion to them.
All the songs on Imaginary Enemy are all truly awesome and extremely relatable but this reviewer’s personal favorite has be the seventh track, “Make Believe.” It is an anthem for the dreamers — there’s so much raw emotion in the vocals, it’s just beautiful.
“I can’t see what it is that you want me to see
Let alone could I ever believe
That there is only one way to be
And somehow you were given the key” make believe, the used”
Imaginary Enemy is definitely the start of a new sonic direction for The Used. The strengths of this record (the lyrics, the musicianship) might make this one of The Used’s best records to do. The record shows just how far The Used’s sound has come, but we know they are not even close to being done yet.
Related Articles:
Interview: The Used (Lauren Stern & Joe Zorzi)
Pop-Break Live – The Warped Tour: Reel Big Fish & The Used (Keeyahtay Lewis)
Comments are closed.