Imaginary Enemy (album)

Imaginary Enemy
Studio album by The Used
Released	April 1, 2014
Genre	Alternative rock, post-hardcore, punk rock, pop punk
Length	54:09
Label	GAS Union Hopeless
Producer	John Feldmann
The Used chronology
The Ocean of the Sky (2013) Imaginary Enemy (2014)
Singles from Imaginary Enemy
"Cry" Released: February 4, 2014 "Revolution" Released: September 30, 2014[1]

Imaginary Enemy is the sixth studio album by The Used. It is the first album released on, and the second label the band created and own, GAS Union.

Imaginary Enemy is the final album to feature guitarist Quinn Allman before he parted from the band in November 2015.

Recording

The album was produced by John Feldmann, who also produced the band's first three and fifth studio albums.^[2]

In an interview with Jeph, he stated that they recorded the album "backwards" by having the vocals recorded first and then having the music written to the vocals. It is the first time they have recorded like this and did so because they were unhappy with the sound of the songs when recording the music so they scrapped the dozen songs they had written and tried something new.^[3]

Release

"Cry" was released to radio on February 4, 2014.^[4] Imaginary Enemy was released on April 1, under their own record label GAS Union through Hopeless Records. "Revolution" released to radio on September 30.^[5]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[6]
Alternative Press	[7]
HM Magazine	[8]
Punknews.org	[9]

At Alternative Press, Evan Lucy rated the album three-and-a-half stars out of five, writing that "Whether the band's fanbase latches on to the politicism is yet to be seen, but these song will sound great from the pit regardless."^[7]

The album charted at #14 on the Billboard 200 and number 1 on the Independent albums chart.^[10]

Track listing

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Revolution"	4:04
2.	"Cry"	3:30
3.	"El-Oh-Vee-Ee"	3:32
4.	"A Song to Stifle Imperial Progression (A Work in Progress)"	4:05
5.	"Generation Throwaway"	3:05
6.	"Make Believe"	3:27
7.	"Evolution"	4:38
8.	"Imaginary Enemy"	3:24
9.	"Kenna Song"	4:20
10.	"Force Without Violence"	5:23
11.	"Overdose" (ends at 3:52, hidden track "Red Heart" starts at 7:41)	14:41

Limited edition bonus track[11]
No.	Title	Length
12.	"Money Monster"	3:02

- Note that "Money Monster" is also the b-side of the single "Revolution".

Songs played live

- Revolution

- Cry

- A Song to Stifle Imperial Progression (only one time)

- Overdose (only one time)

Limited edition

A limited edition of 15,000 numbered copies will be made featuring deluxe artwork and a bonus track titled "Money Monster".^[11]

Personnel

The Used Bert McCracken — Lead Vocals Quinn Allman — Guitar Jeph Howard — Bass Dan Whitesides — Drums

Technical and production John Feldmann – Producer, Mixing Zakk Cervini – Programming, Additional Mixing, Engineering Ago Teppand – Programming, Additional Mixing, Engineering Kenny Carkeet – Programming, Additional Mixing, Engineering Chris Qualls – Additional Engineering James Clarke – Additional Engineering

Chart performance

Chart (2014)	Peak position
US Billboard 200	14
US Billboard Rock Albums	5
US Billboard Alternative Albums	5
US Billboard Independent Albums	1

Release history

Region	Date	Format(s)	Edition(s)	Label	Ref.
United Kingdom	March 31, 2014	CD LP digital download	Standard	GAS Union Hopeless	[12]
United States	April 1, 2014		Standard limited		[13]
Japan	April 2, 2014	CD digital download	Standard	GAS Union Hopeless Kick Rock Invasion	[14]
Australia	April 4, 2014		Standard limited	GAS Union Hopeless	[11]
Germany		CD LP digital download	Standard	GAS Union Hopeless Soulfood	[15]

References

1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on September 16, 2014. Retrieved August 18, 2015.
2. "The Used stream new album 'Imaginary Enemy'". KROQ-FM. March 25, 2014. Retrieved March 28, 2014.
3. Chatterjee, Upasana (October 25, 2013). "Interview with The Used". AMH Network. Retrieved March 9, 2014.
4. "AllAccess.com Alternative eWeekly". AllAccess. January 28, 2014. Retrieved July 3, 2016.
5. "AllAccess.com Alternative eWeekly". AllAccess. September 23, 2014. Retrieved July 4, 2016.
6. http://www.allmusic.com/album/imaginary-enemy-mw0002615094
7. Lucy, Evan (2014). "The Used – Imaginary Enemy". Alternative Press. Alternative Press Magazine. May 2014 (310): 88. ISSN 1065-1667.
8. Ullman, Zane (April 17, 2014). "The Used - Imaginary Enemy". HM Magazine. HM Publications LLC. ISSN 1066-6923. Retrieved May 9, 2014.
9. Punknews.org review
10. http://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-used-mn0000577358/awards
11. "Imaginary Enemy (Deluxed Edition)". The Music Shop. Retrieved March 27, 2014.
12. "Imaginary Enemy". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved March 25, 2014.
13. "Imaginary Enemy". Amazon.com. Retrieved March 25, 2014.
14. "Imaginary Enemy" (in Japanese). Amazon.co.jp. Retrieved March 25, 2014.
15. "Imaginary Enemy" (in German). Amazon.de. Retrieved March 27, 2014.

External links

• Imaginary Enemy at YouTube (streamed copy where licensed)