The Used
In Love And Death

THE REVIEW

Here there are two possibilities: either The Used's inspiration ran out after just one album, or the band is one of those that enjoys swimming in Scrooge McDuck-style pools of money. And in neither scenario do The Used look good.

When I listened to "In Love And Death" I wasn't expecting the masterpiece of the year, but certainly something good from the authors of a little "emo" gem like their Self-Titled.

Instead, this "In Love And Death" disappoints on every level: our guys have opted for a (predictable) softening of their sound: so far, nothing wrong with that. The problem arises when they cross the line of decency by a few miles and deliver a pop/trash album comparable to the great masterpieces of Backstreet Boys and Blue (and I'm not kidding).

The screaming vocals are now practically absent, and at the same time the melodic vocals have become so sickly-sweet-shrill-falsetto that they make Justin Timberlake's voice sound powerful and deep.

Pop disguised as emo: The Used smooth their fringes, put a hanged heart on the cover, name their masterpiece "In Love And Death," and throw in a few screams here and there, and hordes of emo-boys and emo-girls, thinking they're buying an "alternative" product, do nothing but finance the success of the most cowardly among boybands. The overblown production, which sinks the drums in a sea of treacle and adds thousands of sound effects in every second of the album, only serves to accentuate the redundancy and sentimentality of this terrible LP.

Let's close with a glimmer of hope for their future works: amidst all this mess, the little single (but really tiny-tiny-tiny) "Take It Away", and the only song that reminds us that these are the same The Used from the self-titled and not N*Sync reunited under a new name, the beautiful "I'm A Fake" are saved.