the Used : "Heartwork"

I summed up my initial thoughts on this album by posting this on my Facebook page

Wait a second, I have all these so called former "scene kids" on my time line and no one is going to bring up the fact the Used's new album is a total pop record? So I guess you were just into the feathery bangs ?

Now the question I am going to answer is …"But is it good pop music" .

Obviously they do not make music in a vacuum . They have record label's to appease. Panic at the Disco! made a leap from being a Myspace emo band to a hug pop band. These guys wanted in on the band wagon. They wanted to do it with out totally alienating their fan base. This is first two songs are more pop punk. The singer Fever 333 helps them out with some lite screaming. "Big Wanna Be" is the first pop crossover. It is a decent song unless you are hoping for them to re-open a box of sharp objects. "Bloody Nose" doesn't suck either . Is it the band at their best ? No , but I can still accept this if I am being open minded .  "Wow, I Hate This Song" is when things go side ways. It sounds like they wrote it for a Muppets musical.

I am not opposed to electronic elements. I am opposed to wishy washy song writing. I am opposed to things getting as happy as they do on "Cathedral Bell" . They should have told their producer to save this one for the Weeknd. He would have done a better job. There is no way to make excuses for what happens here. Bert McCracken's voice does sound better. He is doing more with it from a singing perspective. "1984(Ifinite Jest" does have a pretty cool bass line . It reminds me of the Issues. Then things do not work as well for "Gravity's Rainbow".  Production wise they are going for the Panic at the Disco thing, no way to deny it. We are back to more electronic pop that is even dancier than before with "Clean Cut Heals" . Another one better suited for the Weeknd. As a song it is better than the previous one I said this about.

The title track...I am not going to rant about the Carcass album of the same name that came first. It's just a spoken word interlude. Bert's lyrics were never good enough to merit this to begin with. As far as pop goes "the Lighthouse" is the first that I really dig on this album. Mark from Blink 182, another sell out is in on this. Lucky for them I like pop music. The Blink 182 connection doesn't end there are Travis Barker appears on the song after than, which doesn't work as well. It is kinda boring. The singer from Beartooth shows up on "the Lottery" . "Darkness Bleed" that comes after it is far more interesting. I had to listen to " To Feel Something" three times in order to feel something about it, at the end of the day it reminds me of  "I Don't Want to Live Forever" by Taylor Swift. Which coming from me is more of a compliment than intended. I will give this one a 7, I know these guys can do better .

The Used : "the Canyon"

"Lies For the Liars" was the last album I bought by these guys. I did catch them live last year and they played the entire first album. Bert and the bass player are the only two original members. It opens on more of the emo side with an acoustic ballad that is not as good as their more ballad like moments from the first album. There is a more of a funky groove to "Cold War Telescreen" than what I am used to hearing from these guys. The hook in the chorus works and makes this song pretty listenable. There is a more 80's rock n roll feel to the palm muted chug of "Broken Windows". If Bert's quirky voice wasn't on this it could be a Bon Jovi b-side when it comes to the arena-rock chorus. However much like Bon Jovi it is pretty damn catchy.

What I used to like about the Used that I felt made them stand out from the other Myspace metal bands their ability to sound unhinged then rein it end for a catchy melody. The key to this unhinged sound was that it sounded like it came from a very honest place. They come close to remembering this place on "Rise Up Lights" but something about sounds like a version more refined with radio aspirations. There is a more mainstream alt rock feel to the more Muse like groove of "Vertigo Cave". The song is decent , but certainly falls short of standing next to the band's best songs. There is more urgency to "Pretty Picture". It tends to fall along the lines of every other modern rock radio band with it's soft to loud shift in dynamics, but it works for what it is. This is when I realize there are 17 fucking songs on this album and I bet if they really focused on ten this could have been killer instead of settling for what everyone else is doing.

The bass lays down a more David Bowie like groove on "Funeral Post", but is that what Bert is best working with ? The more Faith No More like moments on this album are questionable and certainly steps away from what is in the best interest of what this band is really about. Where this song builds up and goes off into is pretty cool, though questionable in regards to the sound of who the Used is. They heavily effected jangle seems to be one of the devices this album defaults to. The chorus to "Upper Falls" works well , but I am unsure about the rest of the song. There is too much twang in the guitar that sounds like it belongs on a Dave Matthews album. The bass player has certainly been listening to more David Bowie, which you can't fault him for however Bert is far from  Bowie and his vocals might be better suited following other melodies.

There is a more grit in the riff to "Selfies From Aleppo". The chorus to this one doesn't work as well as some of the other choruses on this album that were supported by much less cooler riffs than the one on this song. There is a party soundtrack vibe to "Moving the Mountain". The chorus helps smooth this one out and make it tolerable. The chemistry on "Over and Over Again " is not as fortunate and comes across as being too happy for my tastes. Then there is the bass solo..take one , which is cool, but doesn't make or break a song. "the Quiet War" would make a pretty great Coheed & Cambria song, but not really what I want from the Used, though it doesn't suck. Though the rap at the certainly does. Is "Moon Dream" supposed to be their "Eleanor Rigby" ?  Why else would they have a string section in one of their songs ? Bert's voice sounds good, though like Claudio from Coheed.

They bring back the crunch of guitar on "the Nexus". But that is all in vain by the end as the song gets too happy. It makes me wonder if this is all due to Bert's sobriety. Not every one can make the change with their creative juice intact, just ask Dave Mustaine. There is a little more inspiration in "About You...". "The Mouth of the Canyon" covers a lot of ground and is a sprawling piece of music that touches on more rock n roll moments than I am used to hearing them tackle but it some how works. I'll give this a 7.5, it is not bad , but it doesn't really capture what I want from them. If you have stuck with them past the first three albums then perhaps this is less of a shock to you and might work more for you than it does me.

The Top 10 Toxic Love Songs

Yeah, I know we already did a top 10 break up songs, but this is my fucking blog so I do whatever the hell I want. Toxic Love are chemicals still in motion, making the difference being these songs the end result is not as clear cut and in the dysfunction there is the hope for a light at the end of the tunnel which may or may not be the train. I think this rings true because even when things go wrong there are always layers of feelings, so that what I am going for here, so this is almost more of a playlist for exploring the range of feelings. The songs are selected as what has hit my current mood this morning rather than me going through ever song I own to make sure this is the definitive list, after all love is more of in the right now than the forever. I'll let the lyrics of these songs do the talking rather than throw my to cents in as we count these down , which are not in the strictest order so if you are ocd, then get over they have just been arranged the way they are.


 10- the Magnetic Fields- "All My Little Words"

 Now that you've made me want to die , you tell me your're unboyfriendable"

 

 9- the Used - "Buried Myself Alive"


 "I guess it's ok I puked the day away, I guess it's better you trapped yourself in your own way"


 

8-Chris Isaak - "Things go Wrong" 

 "Trying to remember , what I know I should forget"


 

 7-Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - "It Gonna Rain Anymore" 

 "Once there came a storm in the form of a girl It blew to pieces my snug little world "


 

 6-Morrissey- "the More You Ignore Me" 

 "I now an essential part of your mind's landscape , whether you care or Not"


 



 4- Emma Ruth Rundle - "Furious Angel"

 If I send you my army only you can disarm me If you won’t have me or bring me your love Furious angels reign death from above onto me


 



5- The Postal Service - "the District Sleeps Alone Tonight"

 "I am finally seeing, I was the one worth leaving"


  3- the Drums - "Blood Under my Belt" I am scared of the child that lives in me I don't know if he learns You left your t-shirt under the bed we shared together I put it over my face

2- Sunnyday Real Estate - "Song About an Angel" 

 And all the time I tried to let you know Discomfort comes clearly




 1- Chelsea Wolfe- "The Waves Have Come" 

 I made you queen and you forgave me we'll be given the world in the right time but we made our own and left it empty


 

the Used @ The Masquerade

Chances are you grew up on Slipknot and while I was old enough to know better their 2002 album was pretty damn good. These guys are more of my wife's thing than mine, but she goes to plenty of shows with me that she prolly could care less about, so I endured the suffocating heat of the soon to be closing Masquerade. Openers New Language we a typical band from L.A. lots of show constantly talking about the fact they are on tour , but no real substance when it comes to the songs with laughable lyrics.  As their set progressed every song was a little worse than the one before it until it became hard to bear. By the time the Used took the stage after making the crowd re-live the late 90s with a mix of pop music blaring over the p.a . the place was pretty packed. In some ways this does not surprise me since the city prefers to keep one foot in the past musically. Myspace would have been proud of this show back in 2003.

The Used are still good at what they did. This was the first of a two part series . This was the first night and they were playing their self titled 2002 album front to back. The album is one of the few that have stood the test of time and the songs were endearing. The band played their instruments well with their bass player being their surprise ace n the hole as he was the only one who went above and beyond on this instrument and seems to have perfected his crafted over the years where the guitar player and drummer, clocked in played the songs and did their job. The main problem was vocalist Bert McCracken. While possessing an odd child like charm on stage that makes you wonder what medical marijuana is really doing to people, he answered the question what happens when you take the screaming out of screamo? You have a pop punk band.  After having surgery to remove polyps on his vocal chord, he has made statements  varying from the surgery took out half of his range to his voice has never been stronger. The real answer is never figured out  how to scream from his diaphragm and is too stoned to want to teach the old dog new tricks. Which I Do not mind not screaming if you decided your are done with and and to focus more on actual singing. However if you go on tour to preform an album in it's entirety and you can't do it vocally then why bother?

His voice was hit or miss the bass player took over most of the screamed parts , though they were more yelled than actually screamed. Bert let the crowd sing most of the higher sections or screamed section and got by on his charisma alone. The crowd was too caught up in being blasted back 14 years to really mind or notice. The set had some strong moments with some of the more melodic gems  shining the brightest, though the song " A Box Full of Sharp Objects" also translated well even with out the screams. They seemed to be enjoying what they are doing and the crowd did too, I can check this off my list, but would not go seem them again.