The Used – "Revolution": Hard Rock Daddy Review

The Used are ready to start a “Revolution,” and after one listen to this powerful rock anthem, you’ll be ready to join them…at least, I am.

Back in the 1980s, the PMRC (Parents Music Resource Center) shook the music industry to its core, as it tried to place its holier-than-thou stamp of disapproval on numerous heavy metal artists.  They were met with opposition from many, most notably Judas Priest and Twisted Sister, who not only testified in front of Congress, but also penned anti-establishment heavy metal anthems (“Parental Guidance” and “We’re Not Gonna Take It”).

Since the PMRC days, the U.S. government has grown more powerful, and left more people disenchanted with the state of the country.  With people feeling more powerless than ever to affect change, we needed another anthem to galvanize the masses, and fight the power (so to speak).  Enter The Used, a four-piece rock outfit from Utah, led by frontman, Bert McCracken.

While many artists focus on developing a sound that can be targeted towards a specific niche, The Used blurs the sub-genre lines, creates music that moves them and lets the chips fall where they may.  There is nothing formulaic about the band, or their latest single, “Revolution,” which by all rights, should be garnering massive attention at radio.

Lyrics are usually overshadowed by music and melody, but songs that feature lyrics that move you emotionally, provoke you to think or inspire you to act, tend to make deep, long-lasting impressions.  “Revolution” definitely fits into this category.

The song begins with a voiceover stating…“All revolutions are impossible ‘til they happen, then they become inevitable” and ends with a voiceover stating…“One of the things that’s happened, is that this movement has acquired an heir of inevitability.”

To fully appreciate what “Revolution” is all about, watch the video below as you listen to the song.  In between the opening and closing voiceovers, The Used takes you on an inspiring, energetic, melodic, blood-pumping, fist-in-the-air, emotional thrill ride that will inevitably make you want to join the “Revolution!”