IN LOVE & DEATH

Personnel: Quinn Allman (vocals, guitar, toys); Bert McCracken (vocals, piano, keyboards); Jeph Howard (vocals, bass instrument); Branden Steineckert (vocals, drums, percussion, programming); Sean Ingram (vocals, background vocals); Danny Lohner, Joshua Eustis (programming). Audio Mixer: John Feldmann. Recording information: Foxy Studios, Los Angeles, CA. Photographer: Seth Smoot. With 2004's IN LOVE AND DEATH, emo icons the Used go to the next level in polishing up their production without losing any of the raw emotion that's defined their work. For their second studio album, the Utah quartet taps into the same degree of angst, but with the perspective of people who've been immersed in a world gilded by fame and success. "Light with a Sharpened Edge" and "Take It Away" reverberate with desperation amid waves of pile-driving riffs and singer Bert McCracken's howl. Still, there's no doubt that the Used have embraced more of a pop approach, be it the eminently catchy "I Caught Fire," with its uber-hooks and choruses, or the loping "Cut Up Angels," which is one Joe Perry guitar solo away from being a late-era Aerosmith outtake. Most impressive is the Used's stylistic risk-taking (glockenspiel and soothing vocals on the lo-fi "Yesterday's Feelings," the Burt Bacharach-meets-the Cure oddity "Lunacy Fringe," complete with strings and brushed drums). On IN LOVE AND DEATH, the Used succeeds in adding yet another twist to the emo aesthetic.

• Genre: Pop
• Format: CD
• Released: 05/03/2005