The Used: Lies for the Liars : F

It's another sad case of a decent band plummeting into the ground. Success can mess with your head, and if it's been done before and the kids will buy it, then by God that's the way it's going to be done.\nOne thing's immediately apparent: The Used sound like the bastard child of My Chemical Romance and Fallout Boy, straight from the womb of a radio that craps out rainbows and screaming Paris Hilton heads. The album's first single, "The Bird and the Worm," features straight-up Panic at the Disco!-style staccato strings in an attempt to be something of epic proportions. Instead, the track just sounds like a pathetic emo storybook suckfest. \nThis album is toned-down from the band's previous material. Angry screams are traded in for sappy, whiney cooing and poppy, bitchy, clean vocals. Many of the songs are characteristically emo, and several of them are attempts to create popular hits, like the first track, "The Ripper," which is instead worsened by its industrial techno drums and pseudo-punk guitars. \nFor what it's worth, this is a diverse album. Unfortunately, that means that once the band gets something right, it is immediately erased by the next song. \nIf you buy this CD at Best Buy you get two bonus tracks. My God, I don't think I could take any more.