 
The Used are set to release their sixth full length
studio album ‘Imaginary Enemy’ on
Monday and I have a feeling that the album is
going to be the most memorable album from the
band since their self titled debut offering back
in 2002 as the whole 11 track 54 minute running
of ‘Imaginary Enemy’ is like a massive
rollercoaster ride where one minute you are graced
with an truly upbeat radio friendly track and
then the next Bert McCracken lets rip with aggressive
roars, yet for the majority of the album the radio
friendly feel really does take centre stage and
the mix really does seem perfect.
The album opens with ‘Revolution’
a song which kicks off with big guitar riffs and
huge drum beats where moments later Bert McCracken
comes in singing “We looked at the price
tag and it’s one we can’t afford,
we were taught that progression meant accumulating
more” in an upbeat way before he lets loose
with his more edgy and aggressive vocal side as
he screams “Yeah, this is the end, this
is the end, calling for revolution”, the
song packs a serious punch and proves to be one
of the most in your face aggressive anthems on
the album.
The lead single to be taken from the album is
‘Cry’ and it is a great song which
boasts one hell of an insane chorus which you
will be wanting to sing-a-long to at the top of
your voice as it is so damn big and infectious
and once it has entered your head it will be a
very long time before it departs as it really
is that awesome.
The slow paced ‘El-Oh-Vee-Ee’ starts
off sounding a bit out of place on the album as
it really does open in a chilled out way but as
the song get’s going and the pop-punk chorus
kicks in the song starts to come to life, it is
easily the softest track on the album and one
that has the potential to have a sea of lighters
or mobile phones raised in the air at future live
shows.
‘A Song To Stifle Imperial Progression (A
Work In Progress)’ and ‘Generation
Throwaway’ are two big stand out tracks
on the album for two totally different reasons
and the good thing is that the songs are featured
a song apart from each other, the earlier of the
two is a big sounding aggressive song which touches
on politics, world leaders, tyrants and flows
with big chant-a-long vocals and sheer aggression
which easily matches the rawness of old skool
The Used material. The second of the two songs
is a big sing-a-long anthem which is clearly going
to be released as a single in the near future
mainly due to its beautiful gang sing-a-long chorus.
There really are no dull moments on ‘Imaginary
Enemy’ as every single song manages to stick
in your head for one reason or another, ‘Make
Believe’ is a bouncy anthem, ‘Evolution’
is a mature sounding sleepy number, The album
title track ‘Imaginary Enemy’ is an
truly upbeat song where Dan Whitesides constant
drumming stands out just as much as Bert McCracken’s
vocals, whilst album closer ‘Overdose’
is full of emotion and once it comes to an end
you are graced with minutes of silence before
the most random sounding spoken word secret track
comes in to close the album in weird way.
The Used have continued their tradition of putting
out great albums yet this time they have managed
to create an album which is easily up their as
some of their best work right up their lodged
between their self titled debut and their 2009
release ‘Artwork’ and I can see ‘Imaginary
Enemy’ being played constantly by the hardcore
fans of the band and also appealing to a whole
new fan base as the album really is the most accessible
album the band have put out in years.
5/5
Review by Trigger
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