Artwork

Artwork is the fourth studio album by American alternative rock band The Used, released through Reprise Records in the United States and the UK on August 31, 2009.

The Used began writing for Artwork in early 2008, and originally hoped to enter the studio shortly after Kevin Lyman’s 2008 “Get a Life Tour” with Weezer front-man Rivers Cuomo as producer of the album. The Used expressed their interest in the raw sound found on Weezer’s 1996 album Pinkerton, and hoped to create a similar sound by working with Cuomo. The band ended up working with producer Matt Squire (Panic! at the Disco, Boys Like Girls, The Receiving End of Sirens) and did not enter the studio until the end of 2008.

The Used experienced several changes upon making Artwork. The band changed management within their label Reprise Records. This was the first album with new drummer Dan Whitesides; also the first studio album that was not produced by Goldfinger’s frontman John Feldmann. Feldmann had been working with The Used since lead singer Bert McCracken threw a demo on stage during a Goldfinger concert in 2001. Commenting on the band’s state prior to these changes, guitarist Quinn Allman felt that, “we were kept in a space with our resources that was creating an essence for our band that wasn’t who we truly were.” These changes allowed The Used to take their music in a new direction with Artwork.