Used & Abused

Danger Radio | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 8, 2008)
• Original Release Date: 2008
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: PHOTO FINISH
• ASIN: B001A2AD3G
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #238,101 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Used And Abused fuses more classic Pop styles and eras than a free-form radio station. Danger Radio stir up the sort of chemistry you can't manufacture or buy. Forget genre tags. Don't obsess over individual influences. These dudes are one nation under a groove and it didn't happen overnight. Being from Puerto Rico and Finland, singer Andrew De Torres and drummer/programming whiz Nico Hartikainen first landed in each other's world around 1999, during middle school in the Seattle suburbs and the pair looped in De Torres' friend and Idaho native Marvin Kunkel, and planted the seeds for what would eventually morph into Danger Radio. 13 tracks.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic Guys that Love to Entertain!, April 30, 2009

By 

C. G. - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Used & Abused (Audio CD)

Before I rate their album, let me just say that I had the opportunity to see Danger Radio live before I had ever heard of them. Their stage presence was phenomenally energetic and you could immediately hear their musical influences. Additionally, they went through pains to go through the audience and not only talk to them but take more time to take photographs with old and new fans alike!

Moving into their album: Danger Radio takes their pop beats from artists like Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears. As far as their rock tunes go, they are definitely influenced by bands such as Maroon 5 and can be compared to The Cab.

Regarding the lyrics: The songs go anywhere from falling for a wonderful person to meeting a "perfect" stranger to being completely over a partner.

Overall: This is an awesome pop-rock group that has many more hits to come! Their energy flows through their music, straight through the earlobes, and leaps to your tapping feet with each song! I encourage you to give them a try; especially if you love bands like Fall Out Boy, The Cab, Panic at the Disco, and Plain White T's!

4.0 out of 5 stars Wish More People Knew This Band...., March 16, 2009

By 

Nae24 (Grand Forks, ND) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Used & Abused (Audio CD)

They really deserve to hit the mainstream. Not in the overly glossy, manufactured way. Just in the sense that this band deserves a solid fan base. Great music, catchy lyrics, seamless production. I'm impressed, especially since I stumbled upon this band and was worried about the $13.99 I had just spent on a possible flop. Well, let's just say: Money Well Spent. Money Well Spent:)

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best of 2008, July 11, 2008

By 

J. Kasko (Maryland, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Used & Abused (Audio CD)

It really is too bad that major labels exercise so much control over the music business. Otherwise, Danger Radio might become huge. Very quickly. On Used and Abused, they took the formula for making amazing pop music, stretched it, broke the limits, and put their own twist on it. And yet, what may be one of the best pop/rock albums of the year will most likely be overlooked completely.

There is no denying the similarities to Maroon 5 on Used and Abused. Mike Elizondo, who has produced Maroon 5 abums (as well as Eminem), shared the recording with Mike Green, of Paramore fame. With the slick combination of R&B, boy-bands, and The Cab-style pop/punk, Danger Radio may seem like they're ripping off the band of "This Love" fame. However, their lyrics are less about sex and contain more variety, their sound is less apologetic, and they trade the jazz influence for a Latin influence. "One More Chance", a stand-out track and potential hit single, combines a Marc Anthony flair with chorus falsettos reminiscent of N*Sync. And the surprising part? It works.

Those looking for new, different, unique music may turn away from this album faster than Superman from Kryptonite, but can we really afford not to feed our guilty pleasures sometimes? The bouncy, Ben Folds piano of the title track paired with the blunt lyrics ("use and abuse me, but I won't be comin' back no more") monopolize the ears, while the singalong closing track "Where I Started" sticks in the head and refuses to leave. Even the more melancholy songs like "Another Lesson In Love" and "Kiss 'N Tell" are danceable and catchy without being over-the-top.

Fortunately, Danger Radio stops just short of being too sugar-sweet. Nearly every song could possibly be a radio hit, and not one track is weak. Some sound almost like Rob Thomas doing solo work ("So Far Gone"), and others take on handclaps and synthesizers to put forward an interesting type of desperate love song ("Alive For The First Time").

There is no indie here; there is no Guitar Hero potential; there is no lush concept album. What is on Used and Abused is fun, bouncy, memorable, and one of the only positive results ever to come out of the boy-band phenomenon.