毫不夸张的说，来自美国犹他州的四人摇滚团体the Used是目前席卷全球、方兴未艾的Emo浪潮中数一数二的急先锋。乐队的灵魂无疑是主唱Bert McCracken，他极具才华的创作功力、疯狂而神经质的失控嗓音、以及用呕吐、见血等方式一再考验乐迷能耐的、极其夸张挑衅的舞台表演风格，都是the Used吸引众人目光的焦点。加上Quinn Allman（吉他手）、Jeph Howard（贝司手）和Branden Steineckert（鼓手）等优秀乐手的汇聚，四位一体的the Used共同激发出一首首狂妄不羁、暴戾爽劲的Emo佳作。
乐队成立之前，脾气暴躁的Bert曾经是个瘾君子，并且因为滥用毒品而身无分文，不得不到街边乞讨。不久之后，在性格内敛，但和善热心的好友Quinn的帮助下，他一步步的走出了毒品的阴影，并在队友的感召下，他重新看到了生活的希望，而且让他在音乐中找回了真实的自己。就在the Used成立不到一年的时间后，他们特立独行的舞台表演、充满暴力美学的强劲音乐，引起了许多唱片公司的密切关注，并最终得到了华纳分支厂牌Reprise的一纸合约。乐队的首张同名专辑由老牌朋克乐队Goldfinger的灵魂人物——主唱John Feldmann亲自操刀担当制作人，并于2002年6月正式发表。专辑中的12首作品畅快淋漓，毫不拖泥带水，不但贯穿了主唱Bert疯狂无序的演唱风格，而且略带Nu-Metal取向的器乐编配、以及揭示乐队根源的朋克曲调，无不体现出the Used独特的音乐属性，于是我们听到了生猛得可怕的《the Taste of Ink》，还听到了旋律流畅而不乏力量的《A Box Full Of Sharp Objects》，以及用弦乐衬托出丝丝孤寂的凄美作品《On My Own》。
随着Emo浪潮的不断高涨，the Used的处男大碟在全球的热销让他们一举成功，他们的唱片不但在排行榜上成绩不俗，乐队更是被美国另类杂志AP以及英国专业摇滚杂志Kerrang!联合评选为“2003年度你必须知道的乐队”。另外，主唱Bert与Kelly Osbourne的恋情也被媒体热炒，一度成为摇滚圈里的热门八卦。之后，唱片公司更是趁热打铁，倚仗the Used当时超强的人气，于2003年7月推出了一张名为《Maybe Memories》的特辑，其中不但收录了乐队的一些现场作品，还收录了几首罕见的未发表作品和早期的Demo，并附上一张MV及现场演出的DVD。尽管这张唱片有炒冷饭的嫌疑，但是这根本无法阻挡the Used的唱片继续大卖。整个2003年，乐队就在疯狂的巡演中度过了。对于这支成军还不到两年的乐队来说，成功或许来得太快了一些。于是，进入了2004年，the Used犹如冬眠了一般，他们开始潜心创作并灌录他们的第二张专辑。
今年年初，当the Used在他们的官方网站上宣布他们的新专辑将定名为《In Love and Death》，这很容易让人联想到著名导演伍迪·艾伦1975年执导的经典影片《爱与死》（Love and Death）。果不其然，当10月份专辑上市后，我们听到的这张唱片正如一部感人至深的电影，不但歌词上多与爱、心痛、死亡有关，而且在音乐上也极力烘托出犹如在爱与死之间挣扎的悲痛情绪。首支开场曲《Take it Away》在Bert狂躁嗓音的极力渲染之下，加上失真的吉他快速轰炸，整首作品就像一颗上膛的子弹一般，随时一触即发，让你的全身震动不已。《I Caught Fire》则拥有更为流畅的旋律，能够稍微缓和一下情绪。《Let it Bleed》中急速的大起大落则再次挑起听者的听觉极限。而加入了弦乐元素而动听无比的中板曲目《All that I’ve Got》、吉他轻拨而演绎出的《Yesterday’s Feeling》、沉寂动人的心碎之作《It’s Hard to Say》等作品，绝对都是the Used难得的具有内敛气质的佳作。但千万别奢望他们会一直感性舒缓的演绎下去，在饱含悲凄的完结曲《I’m a Fake》里，主唱Bert短短几句撕心裂肺的吼声，足以爆发出the Used蓄积已久的满腔悲情。
在言必称Emo的今天，the Used用他们的全新专辑《In Love and Death》向我们宣告，真正的Emo不应该是只给予你听觉上的快感和刺激，更重要的是，音乐要震撼你的心灵，触动你那许久未爆发的内心情绪。
by William Ruhlmann & Corey Apar
The members of the Used had to overcome poverty, homelessness, and substance abuse, not to mention the straight-laced attitudes of their hometown of Orem, UT, to bring their screamo-tinged brand of post-hardcore to life. But they persevered and earned a contract with Reprise Records, releasing their self-titled debut album in June 2002. Having only played a handful of shows around Orem prior to their record's release, the band -- vocalist Bert McCracken, guitarist Quinn Allman, bassist Jeph Howard, and drummer Branden Steineckert -- began relentless nationwide touring that quickly saw their fan base multiply. Club dates soon turned into successful stints on larger-scale festival/package tours including the Warped Tour, Ozzfest, and Projekt Revolution alongside Linkin Park and Snoop Dogg. In the summer of 2003, the Used issued the introspective CD/DVD Maybe Memories, which contained unreleased songs, live material, behind-the-scenes footage, and more. Their official sophomore offering showed up in September 2004 as In Love and Death, and the guys hopped on the first incarnation of the Taste of Chaos tour early the next year. Around that time, they also recorded a version of the Queen classic "Under Pressure" with My Chemical Romance to benefit victims of the devastating tsunami of December 2004. Boasting a fuller sound, In Love and Death peaked at number six on Billboard's Top 200 and the Used continued touring behind it worldwide. Outside of the band, McCracken has also lent his vocals to the punk rock drum troupe Street Drum Corps. As the Used readied their third album, Steineckert parted ways with the group over creative differences in early fall 2006 (he went on to join Rancid). The live CD/DVD Berth appeared in February 2007 to tide over fans a bit longer until the proper full-length, Lies for the Liars, came out in May. Though he didn't perform on the record, drummer Dan Whitesides joined the band as an official member just in time for the supporting tour.