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Think back to the early 2000s, when emo had just made it big. If someone asked you who the quintessential emo band was, who would you pick? Most would likely say Fall Out Boy, as they were the band that took emo to the mainstream in the biggest way. Or, you might say Hawthorne Heights, whose breakthrough hit "Ohio is for Lovers" showed the world how good the genre could be. Taking Back Sunday and Brand New would probably be common answers for those on the east coast, while old-schoolers will likely say bands like The Get-Up Kids or Sunny Day Real Estate. But how many people would say The Used? The answer, unfortunately for the band, is too few. The band broke out in the beginning of the new millennium with the hit "The Taste of Ink," and then their most commercially successful album In Love and Death, with its hit singles "All That I've Got" and "I Caught Fire" catapulting the band to the ranks of a major label. What resulted were two mediocre albums (Lies for the Liars and the most recent, 2009's Artwork) that saw the band struggling for creative control with Warner Records. Now free from Warner, the band have signed on to Hopeless Records, who have made more than a few headlines in signing other presumed "over the hill" acts like Silverstein and Yellowcard. After Silverstein's sold Rescue and Yellowcard's impeccable When You're Through Thinking, Say Yes were released under Hopeless last year, is Vulnerable, The Used's fifth full-length, the return to form fans have been waiting for?
Vulnerable starts off with lead single "I Come Alive," and features a hint of the creepy string arrangements that made In Love and Death stand out so much, and the chorus of the song soars, making it the perfect choice to reintroduce The Used back to the game. If The Used are one thing on Vulnerable, let it be known that they are ambitious. A dubstep sample somehow makes its way into the second verse of "I Come Alive," turning what the listener thinks is a straight-up rock song into something that may not be able to be classified. That ambition gets a little weird on "Hands and Faces," when the song begins with a techno beat, and McCracken's voice altered by a vocoder (or whatever that is). The band comes in for a brief couple of moments for the chorus, but that's not enough to get the weird taste out of your mouth from the beginning. "Getting Over You" is the token slowed-down song on Vulnerable, and though it has a sense of sentimentality from the piano and drums, but the lyrics are too cheesy to be taken seriously, and seem as if they're very lazily put together. That creativity may be most well used on the middle-finger-to-the-man track, "Shine." "It's my time to shine," McCracken sings in the chorus, "Do it my way, 'cause it's my time..." Though the band hint at it throughout the album, "Shine" will stand out as the main showcase of the band airing out its dirty laundry with Warner, and the angriest track on Vulnerable.
However, when the band pick up the pace and stop trying to add too many frills, Vulnerable hits really hard. "This Fire" starts off with Bert McCracken crooning over more strings before the band comes in for the chorus, and McCracken's screaming/shouting style shines over yet another chorus. Despite McCracken's vocal delivery of his lyrics being the constant bright spot for the band, guitarist Quinn Allman steals the show on multiple occasions. From the ass-kicking opening licks on "Put Me Out" to the high-pitched opening to "Moving On," Allman paces the album very well throughout, and it's obvious to tell that The Used were able to recapture some of the magic that made their first two full-lengths so memorable.
Sure, the lyrics aren't as dark or "emo" as they've been, but the progressions the band have made are what make Vulnerable feel like such an accomplishment. The Used fought for creative control with Warner for years, and now that they're free to make the music that they want. This level of creative freedom has its drawbacks, as parts of the album seem to have little focus, but what makes Vulnerable great is that no matter what twists or turns it takes, it's still an authentic, heartfelt album from The Used, and that's the first time we've been able to say that since In Love and Death, which was released in 2004. This is the album we've been waiting for from The Used, the album that shows they're still talented, still heartfelt, and as Vulnerable as ever.
The Bottom Line: If you've listened to The Used before, or you're a huge fan of the emo genre, you owe it to The Used and yourself to give Vulnerable a listen. It may not be your cup of tea, but for those who give it a chance, Vulnerable will prove to be one of the more memorable (maybe not one of the best, but one of the more memorable for sure) albums of the year.
Recommended if you rock: Destroy Rebuild Until God Shows's Destroy Rebuild Until God Shows, The Used's In Love and Death, Hawthorne Heights's The Silence in Black and White
Vulnerable starts off with lead single "I Come Alive," and features a hint of the creepy string arrangements that made In Love and Death stand out so much, and the chorus of the song soars, making it the perfect choice to reintroduce The Used back to the game. If The Used are one thing on Vulnerable, let it be known that they are ambitious. A dubstep sample somehow makes its way into the second verse of "I Come Alive," turning what the listener thinks is a straight-up rock song into something that may not be able to be classified. That ambition gets a little weird on "Hands and Faces," when the song begins with a techno beat, and McCracken's voice altered by a vocoder (or whatever that is). The band comes in for a brief couple of moments for the chorus, but that's not enough to get the weird taste out of your mouth from the beginning. "Getting Over You" is the token slowed-down song on Vulnerable, and though it has a sense of sentimentality from the piano and drums, but the lyrics are too cheesy to be taken seriously, and seem as if they're very lazily put together. That creativity may be most well used on the middle-finger-to-the-man track, "Shine." "It's my time to shine," McCracken sings in the chorus, "Do it my way, 'cause it's my time..." Though the band hint at it throughout the album, "Shine" will stand out as the main showcase of the band airing out its dirty laundry with Warner, and the angriest track on Vulnerable.
However, when the band pick up the pace and stop trying to add too many frills, Vulnerable hits really hard. "This Fire" starts off with Bert McCracken crooning over more strings before the band comes in for the chorus, and McCracken's screaming/shouting style shines over yet another chorus. Despite McCracken's vocal delivery of his lyrics being the constant bright spot for the band, guitarist Quinn Allman steals the show on multiple occasions. From the ass-kicking opening licks on "Put Me Out" to the high-pitched opening to "Moving On," Allman paces the album very well throughout, and it's obvious to tell that The Used were able to recapture some of the magic that made their first two full-lengths so memorable.
Sure, the lyrics aren't as dark or "emo" as they've been, but the progressions the band have made are what make Vulnerable feel like such an accomplishment. The Used fought for creative control with Warner for years, and now that they're free to make the music that they want. This level of creative freedom has its drawbacks, as parts of the album seem to have little focus, but what makes Vulnerable great is that no matter what twists or turns it takes, it's still an authentic, heartfelt album from The Used, and that's the first time we've been able to say that since In Love and Death, which was released in 2004. This is the album we've been waiting for from The Used, the album that shows they're still talented, still heartfelt, and as Vulnerable as ever.
The Bottom Line: If you've listened to The Used before, or you're a huge fan of the emo genre, you owe it to The Used and yourself to give Vulnerable a listen. It may not be your cup of tea, but for those who give it a chance, Vulnerable will prove to be one of the more memorable (maybe not one of the best, but one of the more memorable for sure) albums of the year.
Recommended if you rock: Destroy Rebuild Until God Shows's Destroy Rebuild Until God Shows, The Used's In Love and Death, Hawthorne Heights's The Silence in Black and White
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