[1] The title and music reference a number of tragic events that surrounded vocalist Bert McCracken during the album's production, notably the death of his pregnant girlfriend.

[2] In an interview with Billboard in February 2003, vocalist Bert McCracken said the group was aiming to record their second album at the end of the year.

McCracken added that they planned to write it in the same manner they did for their debut: "We're going to go back to Utah and jam at [drummer] Branden [Steineckert]'s house".

[5] A proposed UK tour with Head Automatica scheduled for February 2004 was cancelled when their frontman had a flair up of Crohn's disease.

[7] In Love and Death was recorded at Foxy Studios in Los Angeles, California with producer John Feldmann[8] in mid-March.

[8] Throughout most of the sessions, the band members argued about the album's direction, and had a confrontation with Feldmann on multiple occasions.

Steineckert explained that there was "always some kind of butting-heads going on, whether it was big or little stuff", which "created this underlying tension throughout the record".

Prior to her death of a drug overdose, the pair had split up but "decided to keep the baby and try to stay friends and work it out".

[11] Similar to their debut, he said "a lot of the songs are personal but ... written in a way that you're not gonna necessarily know what I'm talking about, but you'll definitely be able to get involved and make it your own".

[9] Discussing "Lunacy Fringe", McCracken said the track reminded him of "[the Cure's] 'Lovecats' meets [Soft Cell's] 'Tainted Love' a little bit".

[11] On July 9, 2004, the band's second album announced for released late August[17] under the rumoured title Light with a Sharpened Edge.

[9] McCracken said the album's artwork features "blood hearts, weeping trees and bony monsters", which were drawn by Alex Pardee.

[16] To promote the album, the band appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, and went on a series of in-store acoustic performances and signings.

[27] In October and November, the band went on a headlining tour of the US with Head Automatica, Atreyu, The Bronx, and The Bled supporting on select dates.

[28] On November 16, the band filmed a music video for "All That I've Got" in Los Angeles with director Marc Webb.

[37] On April 13, a cover of Queen and David Bowie's "Under Pressure" as a single, in which they collaborated with My Chemical Romance.

[40] In late June, the band filmed a music video for "I Caught Fire" with director Kevin Kerslake[41] in Los Angeles.

[15] MTV wrote that the video "intersperses footage of the Used performing in a 'shadowy, mysterious place' with artfully shot scenes of couples making out".

[42] In August and September, the band went on a headlining US tour with support from Thirty Seconds to Mars and Street Drum Corps.

[44][45] In October and November, the band headlined the International Taste of Chaos tour which visited Mexico, Australia, Japan, the UK and Germany.

The Guardian gave it 3 out of 5 stars, saying "Songs of self-abuse and suicide - and those are the sunnier moments - are wrapped in wailing riffs, big choruses and fiddly guitar solos."