 
When The Used stormed on to the music scene back
in 2002 with their self titled debut album they
caused a stir and instantly gained a fan base
and ever since then The Used have remained in
the limelight releasing three more albums, selling
out Academy sized venues time and time again and
also playing a handful of UK based festivals over
the years, the last album by The Used was released
back in 2009 but that is just about to change
as The Used are ready to release album number
5 ‘Vulnerable’.
‘Vulnerable’ see’s The Used
release their first album under new record label
Hopeless Records, the album has been produced
by John Feldmann who produced the bands first
three albums and is easily the bands best album
since they released their debut back in 2002,
over the past year or so you may have heard Bert
McCracken say how the band’s last album
‘Artwork’ was the worst album by The
Used, the album also saw the band being dropped
from Warner Bros who McCracken claims had their
hands on the album far too much, well ‘Vulnerable’
is a result of these events and an album that
The Used have had full control off and it easily
proves that at times major record labels should
leave the artist to their own device rather than
taking over their work.
The album flows at a fantastic pace where pretty
much every track comes alive in a straight up
catchy positive way, the themes and lyrics may
not be positive all the time but the way that
McCracken voice comes in with a positive spark
and radio friendly edge throughout the majority
of the tracks is spot on.
‘I Come Alive’ opens the album and
it is quite a beastly song instrumentally with
a lot of noise being generated but with Bert’s
uplifting vocals coming in and taking over a song
which instrumentally sounds deep and dark ends
up being a melodic masterpiece. ‘This Fire’
is another cracking song with a real bullsy edge,
the vocals from McCracken are more raw and shouty
sounding but still has that catchy McCracken edge.
‘Hands And Faces’ is a track which
opens up in a way where you really think you are
not going to enjoy the song but if you ignore
the opening synths and underwater sounding vocals
and wait for the infectious chorus to come in
then the enjoyment will start.
What I find funny with ‘Vulnerable’
is that pretty much every song on the album sounds
like it could be a single and that is something
that the bands previous label kept pushing for
so it is like now that the band have full control
over their sound and direction they have purposely
gone down that catchy route and ‘Put Me
Out’ and ‘Shine’ will easily
be future singles for the band with ‘Put
Me Out’ having a double meaning with a slight
dig at Warner Bros and ‘Shine’ being
the most kick arse catchy song I have heard so
far this year.
The majority of the album is crammed with catchy
tracks but that is not to say that The Used have
ditched the heavy sound from their past as songs
like ‘Now That You’re Dead’
see the band proper beef things up and go all
out with crunching riffs and ball breaking chants
and screams like a fighting anthem.
Many people were shocked when The Used parted
ways with Warner bros but I am sure after listening
to the first couple of tracks from ‘Vulnerable’
they will realise that it was for the best and
that The Used have come back as a much better
band and with an album that will stand the test
of time and you will still be enjoying in ten
years time.
5/5
Review by Trigger
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