Customer Reviews

Lies for the Liars (+2 Bonus Tracks)

5 star:		(50)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Brilliant.
Anyone knowing me personally, know it's a rarity for me to grace an album with that title. With my CD collection nearing the thousand(s) mark it seems like after around 99-00 I couldn't for the life of me buy an album and enjoy it from start to finish, and to be honest, after buying The Used's "In Love and Death" I almost had to force my self to sit thru it at times, it didn't have that edge to it like the first release.

If you are a fan of the used for any release or even a single alone, PICK UP THIS ALBUM. The creative element on this album are remarkable..bringing glimpses of other Genres into it like swing, big band (Track 6/Paralyzed),electronic(The Bird and the Worm), and many other genres.

For true fans of their first release, particularly fans of the tracks "Blue and Yellow", "On my Own", and "Poetic Tragedy"; Lies for the Liars comes close to pegging the impact of those with songs of similar sound like "Smother Me" and "Find a Way"

Even though this album IS toned down a few notches due to Bert's inability to scream as he would want to anymore, in no way does that make this album less of a phenomenal release. Some people look to The Used for JUST that reason, then buy this album and try to down-talk it because of the lack of screaming. If you are a true The Used fan , you know that's not what this band is all about.

Face it: The Used needed to change. Sure, when they appeared on the scene in 2002 with their self-titled debut, they were a force to be reckoned with. All genre labelling aside, they were a rarity because they could back up their status with some great song-writing and beautiful musical moments, as best displayed on "Blue & Yellow" and "Poetic Tragedy." But this is 2007. Screamo has gone the way of rap-metal, meaning that it is horribly oversaturated and even the innovators are starting to sound like parodies. So it's not such a terrible thing for the boys from Utah (with a new drummer) to want to change things up and earn themselves some staying power. It's just that on "Lies For The Liars," the band's third effort, it just doesn't work.

I will have to state right off the bat that the bulk of this album is forgettable. We have the meaty, catchy tracks like "Pretty Handsome Awkward" and "The Ripper" which will satisfy the usual Used fan, but which provide no substance whatsoever. Elsewhere, they sound like they are trying to be a completely different band. "The Bird And The Worm," the first single, is the kind of drab, tuneless garbage you'd expect a band like Panic At The Disco to churn out. Likewise, "Liar, Liar" makes them sound like a heavy Fall Out Boy. Wipe the smile off your face, that is not a good thing.

I'll give them that "Earthquake," "Wake The Dead" and "Smother Me" do a decent job at updating their sound while at the same time pleasing the core fanbase, but much of this album seems bound and determined to eliminate The Used's personality. Too many times, on too many tracks, they sound like other bands. Instead of experimenting with their sound and turning out something new or at least fresh sounding, they seem to have taken the easy route, listened to what their peers were doing, and try to mimick and milk it for all it's worth. Thousands of eyeliner stained teens with hair in their face and their eyes glued to Fuse might find this to be a good album, but everyone else will leave disappointed.

The Used have themselves in a difficult situation. First of all, they're a band that had a strong first release and came out of nowhere. Now that they're commercially successful and their third CD is out, everyone wants to believe that they're either dead, selling out or turned to crap. It's just a popular idea, like believing that the world is coming to an end. (The world has never ended once, mind you, despite all the people who said it would.)

Secondly, between the band and their producer (John Feldman) and mixer (Chris Lord-Alge), there are a lot of envelopes being pushed here. Bert intermittently flirts with things that good vocalists are neither required nor traditionally expected to do, the record itself was recorded in some surprisingly experimental ways (e.g., the vocals on "Smother Me" were recorded outside at the beach), and the songs incorporate and manipulate sound in ways that are occasionally very original and captivating. This is a double-edged sword in a way, though, because whenever you attempt to go out on a limb and do something in an even halfway-inventive manner, people will inevitably become scared and indignant toward change. Don't be one of those people.

In summary, this is a solid third release from The Used. If you are a fan of ANY of their material and not the type to become intimidated or bitter toward a band's continued success and growth, I can't imagine you being disappointed by this CD. I know I wasn't.

Remember when The Used straight up rawked? Yeah, me too. Their first CD was so raw and had such a great balance of Bert's singing/screaming. I was always amazed how in the same line he could go from melodic singing to screaming and then back to the melodic singing in the same breath, while at the same time staying catchy. He doesn't seem to do that anymore. This CD feels like he is trying to rip-off MCR's sound, but failing. Maybe they will come back and rawk, but for now, I will stick to 30 Seconds To Mars and MCR for my fill of catchy, hard rock.

I love this cd! Everytime The Used come out with a new cd, its a different unique style, this cd is no exception. I think all of the bands cds are too different to even compare, but if I could only choose 2 of their cd's to buy, I would get this one and their first one for sure! Very well done cd!
(Kind of a scam going on with different bonus tracks being sold on cds at different stores though, so a die-hard fan would have to buy this cd about 5 times to collect all of the bonus tracks. I think that's a little gay but The USED are still one of my favorite bands ever! Its their choice if they want to pull a stunt like that and see if it doesn't promote piracy like nothing else. ;) )

Let me first say that all of the reviews giving this album a bad rap are simply ridiculous. You obviously have no idea who the Used are or what their music represents. Apparently, you somehow missed the subject matter of this album and only compared the music, not the lyrics with their past albums. This is the same Used that we have always listened to. It is a chaotic, in your face, passionate love song. Lies for the Liars is a very well done album! The music and lyrics work perfectly just as with past albums. Granted my personal favorites are still the "self titled" and "In Love & Death" albums, but Lies for the Liars shows promise. The album is full of angst, heart, frustration and love. To put it bluntly, get this album is you are a true Used fan. Don't read the negative reviews they have no idea what they are addressing. If you enjoyed past Used albums you will enjoy this. Ever band changes (grows) over the years musically as well as lyrically, so did the Used. This is NOT screamo. It's closer to Post Hardcore if you plan to classify it at all. Lies for the Liars is a fistful of love to the ears!

The Used have a different sound here. Its alot different from young Bert's Taste of Ink mode. But it sounds great =)

I thought this CD needed a review from someone who had never heard The Used before and wasn't comparing it to their previous albums. That would be me.

The weak tracks on this album are the slower ones, "Find a Way" and "Smother Me." A few of the other tracks may be a bit poppy for some tastes ("With Me Tonight" springs to mind), but they're musically solid.

I have to agree it sounds a little overproduced, but I still enjoy it immensely and listen to it nearly every day. "Pretty Handsome Awkward" is particularly good when you're stuck in traffic!

I expected screaming, I expected the random beautiful ballad and lo and behold I got both with an added bonus.....Monique Powell (of Save Ferris fame) doing vocals on two songs. I love The Used, I have purchased the other two albums more then once (I tend to play them until they just won't play anymore) and I was very much looking forward to this album. It's not like the first one, it's more like the second one.....there's one song that makes me cringe (Liar Liar) and there's one that makes me damn near cry (Smother Me, I'm a girl it works for me). Overall I liked it alot and the addition of Monique Powell made it WELL worth the money I paid for it, not to mention that when it comes down to it, they're a pretty good band.

I have both the previous The Used cds and this one is way downhill. If you're seriously considering this band, buy their debut instead. You will be impressed, but not with this p.o.s.