The Used is the debut full-length studio album by the eponymous American rock band the Used It was released on June 25th, 2002 through Reprise Records. 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, " one thing we all took from ... to not lose yourself through everything." The album's sound has been described as emo and post-hardcore. "The Taste of Ink" is "pretty much about being frustrated and maybe biting on a pen," according to McCracken. McCracken said "Buried Myself Alive" was, "about a girl. It's about drugs. It's about loss. It's about being alive, about living." "A Box Full of Sharp Objects" was inspired in part by McCracken's past experiences with drugs. He said it was about, "drugs and alcohol and loss and love ... and just being stoked that things are always going to get better or always gonna get worse and that's such a great thing." "Blue and Yellow" is about McCracken and Allman's friendship, as the l