Heartwork – The Used

Although the artwork for the album Heartwork is similar to the artwork for The Used’s previous album In Love and Death, the sound and structure of the album itself is very different. Heartwork opens with the previously released single “Paradise Lost, a poem by John Milton.” This song gives a preview for the rest of the album, incorporating the pop punk sound shown in the chorus with singer Bert McCracken’s incredible lyrics and raspy screams in the second verse. The song also has a subtle reference to a previous The Used song. The next song, “Blow Me”, has lyrics that are clearly about murder and morals, and McCracken’s screaming in “BIG, WANNA BE” makes the song motivational. Then, with “Bloody Nose”, the lyrics get personal with rhetorical questions like “do I deserve what’s coming?”. Heartwork is a very drum based album, as proven with the incredible drum sequences in “Wow, I Hate This Song” and “Gravity’s Rainbow”. “My Cocoon” and “Heartwork” are short track that make perfect interludes for the album, and the band brings in more unique sounds with “Cathedral Bell” and “Clean Cut Heals”. In addition, “Clean Cut Heals” has an incredible chorus.

Now, for the song everyone is talking about: “1984 – infinite jest”. McCracken makes a reference to My Chemical Romance with the lyrics “the prettiest corpses, the real black parade”, as well as a reference to The Used’s previous album Imaginary Enemy. And the whispered line “ignorance is this” repeated in the chorus brings the song to a new level of amazing.

All 16 tracks in Heartwork are masterpieces. The last five songs were not mentioned in this review, but that doesn’t make them any less amazing. Go listen to the full album to have an out-of-body experience only created by albums produced by a band with real talent, like The Used.