The Used is the debut studio album by the American rock band The Used, released on June 25, 2002, through Reprise Records The album has been certified platinum by the RIAA in 2019. Background Jeph Howard and Branden Steineckert played in a local act that performed shows with another band, which featured Bert McCracken. The former band soon broke up; Howard, Steineckert and Quinn Allman formed a new band, Dumb Luck in October 1999. Shortly afterwards, the group split up. The Used formed in January 2001 with Allman on guitar, Howard on bass and Steineckert on drums. The trio, who were in need of a vocalist, held many fruitless auditions. According to Howard, they "remembered [about McCracken] and called him. After that, everything just fell into place." Following a period of homelessness, the group recorded a demo release, Demos from the Basement. Allman said the group listened back to the demos "over and over, getting stoked talking about what we wanted to do with them". The group eventually gave a copy to John Feldmann of Goldfinger, "but he would tell us they totally sucked", Allman added. The band subsequently honed their sound before Feldmann flew the group out to Los Angeles, where they played label showcases without any success initially. However, they soon began to receive offers from record companies. Soon afterwards, the group signed to major label Reprise Records in late 2001. McCracken said the label staff "really seemed to get what we're about ... offer[ing] us 100% creative and artistic freedom". Production and composition The Used was recorded at Foxy Studios in Marina del Rey, California with Feldmann as the producer. The group recorded piano parts in London at Olympic Studios. Feldmann acted as an engineer with assistance from Mark Blewett and Donny Campion. Feldmann contributed backing vocals to "Bulimic" and "Greener with the Scenery", the latter of which also included additional backing vocals from Carmen Daye. String arrangements on "Greener with the Scenery" and "On My Own" were done by Nick Ingman. Feldmann mixed the recordings, while Joe Gastwirt mastered them at Ocean View Digital Mastering. Steineckert said that "[the] one thing we all took from [working with Feldmann] ... [was] to not lose yourself through everything". The album's sound has been described as screamo, emo and post-hardcore. "The Taste of Ink" is "pretty much about being frustrated and maybe biting on a pen", according to McCracken.