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The Used is a rock band from Orem, Utah. Their sound mixes many different genres and has been described as anything from post-hardcore to emo to alternative rock. They signed with Reprise Records in 2002 and rose to fame in that year after releasing their debut self-titled album, The Used.

They followed up with their highest-selling album to date, In Love and Death in 2004, which received generally favorable reviews. These releases have been certified platinum, and multi-platinum, respectively. Their latest album, 2007's Lies For The Liars, has sold well, and an EP, Shallow Believer was released in 2008 that featured some of the band's b-sides.

Biography
The Used officially formed in January of 2001, but the members had played in previous bands since the early 1990's which helped lead to the formation of The Used. Under the name Strange Itch in around 1994, the band consisted of Branden Steineckert on drums, Jepha Howard with the vocals, Joel Pack on bass, and Matt Brown on guitar. They put out one self titled album in 1998 and lasted under that name until Quinn Allman took over guitar and Ashton Johnson took over the bass in 1999. At this point they changed their name to Dumb Luck.

In 2000, an EP called The Naked Truth was released. Dumb Luck was short-lived and not long after the release, there was another line up change as Howard moved to bass but the band had no singer. Tryouts for singers were held in Branden's bedroom, but they weren't satisfied with anyone they heard until Quinn remembered Bert McCracken from school and called him to see if he was interested in trying out. Bert met up with the other members and liked the music they wrote, he wrote the lyrics to the songs they had and everything seemed to click perfectly. So Bert took over the vocals, and the band was renamed Used. Although it may seem like these early bands were The Used under a different name, Jeph stated in an interview that the bands were so bad that they weren't real bands and didn't have anything to do with The Used. He did say, however, that if it weren't for them, The Used would have never formed because they learned so much about music and each other playing in those bands.

Used wrote songs together and made a demo cd now known to fans as Demos from the Basement. Drummer Branden Steineckert sent their songs to producer John Feldmann from the pop punk group Goldfinger. After he heard "A Box Full of Sharp Objects", he wanted to get them signed because he believed this band had something no other band had and could change what's happening in the music world. John played the songs for various record executives to try and get them signed, however, the first few weren't interested and it left John discouraged because he felt this band was like no other. Eventually, more people got hold of the demo and a few record companies were eager to sign them, and they decided to sign with Reprise Records in 2001.