At the heart of My Chemical Romance lore is the story of lead singer/songwriter/mouthpiece Gerard Way, an animator who decided to abandon illustrations and do "something with his life" in the wake of 9/11. Needless to say, that "important" thing was My Chemical Romance, which quickly rose to prominence among the emo and neo-punk bands that cluttered the ock landscape of the 2000s thanks in large part to "I'm Not OK (I Promise)," a surging piece of emo pop with a hook as ridiculously catchy as its title was ridiculous. It deservedly became a hit on both sides of the Atlantic in 2005, dragging its accompanying album -- 2004's Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge, the group's second -- along for the ride, turning MCR into stars, at least in modern ock circles. But, anybody who didn't follow the fashions of emo and punk closely might have ignored the group's tragic, romantic neo-goth image and merely assumed that MCR was another good poppy punk one-hit wonder, not far removed from, say, Fall Out Boy. My Chemical Romance intended to dispel all such misconceptions with their third album, The Black Parade, an unabashed, old-fashioned concept album, complete with characters wandering through a vague narrative that concerns very big themes like death.
Actually, death is the only big theme on The Black Parade, which shouldn't come as a big surprise for a band that named their stopgap live album Life on the Murder Scene, nor should the record's theatricality come as much as a shock, either -- tragedy and melodrama are hardwired in the group's DNA, as illustrated by the often-told tale of Way's inspiration to form the band. Also, it's not as if The Black Parade is MCR's first concept album, either. Their 2002 debut, I Brought You My Bullets, and its follow-up, Three Cheers, told the interlocking story of doomed lovers on the run from vengeful vampires or some such nonsense, but only the hardcore who were willing to analyze endlessly on the Internet were aware of this; based on pure sound, MCR was an emo-punk band through and through, screaming out their feelings as if they were revelations, so it was easy to assume that their music was merely autobiographical. My Chemical Romance took great pains to have The Black Parade seem like its own theatrical work, launching a whole Web-based campaign, filled with videos and interviews explaining how the album tells the tale of "the Patient," a young man dying of cancer in a hospital bed who flashes back on his undistinguished life upon the moment of his death, and how the band got so into this project they considered themselves not My Chemical Romance, but a band called the Black Parade -- shades of the Beatles and Sgt. Pepper! Naturally, those allusions are quite deliberate, and one that MCR played up in that pre-release campaign, dropping liberal reference to Queen (particularly A Night at the Opera) and Pink Floyd's The Wall as well.
It was all quite reminiscent of how the Killers set up Sam's Town with endless name-dropping of Bruce Springsteen and U2, but where the Las Vegas quartet wound up with an unholy fusion of these two extremes, MCR never synthesizes; they openly steal from their holy trinity, then graft it upon the sound they've patented. Often, it seems as if they copied The Wall onto tracing paper and placed it upon Three Cheers. The story of The Black Parade is nearly identical to The Wall -- Pink and the Patient run through a litany of childhood and adulthood traumas; absent fathers loom large; many of the main character's flaws are cruelly deemed the fault of the mother -- and there are plenty of flourishes lifted from Roger Waters' magnum opus: the opening fanfare "The End" is a re-creation of "In the Flesh," right down to the churning heavy guitars that come crashing in halfway through, while "Mama" -- shades of "Mother"! -- sounds like Green Day performing "The Trial," as Way affects Billie Joe's affected mock-English accent as he comes tantalizingly close to following "You should have raised a baby girl/I should have been a better son" with "The way you made them suffer/Your exquisite wife and mother/Fills me with the urge to defecate." These are not the only allusions to classic concept albums, either -- as promised, guitarists Ray Toro and Frank Iero conjure Brian May's spirit, "Cancer" recalls Sgt. Pepper as filtered through Oasis -- but The Black Parade doesn't feel like a revival of '70s prog as much as it hearkens back to the twin towers of mid-'90s concept alt-rock: the Smashing Pumpkins' Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness and Marilyn Manson's Antichrist Superstar. Manson's enduring fascination with the grotesque echoes throughout the album, from the artwork through Way's overcooked, bluntly ugly lyrics (highlighted by "soggy from the chemo"), but its heart lies with the Pumpkins, and not just because after his Parade makeover Way strongly resembles Billy Corgan.
Like the Pumpkins, My Chemical Romance shares a love of classic metal that manifests itself in both pummeling riffs and soaring guitar solos, plus they also have a flair for melody, two things that give their solipsistic ock muscle and grandeur. If MCR didn't have these gifts, The Black Parade would collapse in a pile of drama club clichés, sophomoric self-pity, and an adolescent obsession with death, yet they manage to skirt such a disaster even if they flirt with it shamelessly. But that doesn't necessarily mean that the album is a triumph. For one, The Black Parade plays a lot straighter than it reads. Sure, it has the marching bands, overdubbed choirs, radio-play theatrics, and Liza Minnelli cameos, a list that makes the album sound like a wild Grand Guignol ock opera but all of that winds up being window dressing to music that often isn't far removed from what My Chemical Romance has done before. Despite all these seemingly fancy accouterments, they're still a modern emo-punk band, which means for all the emotion poured out by their ever-earnest lead singer, there's little grit in their sound and Rob Cavallo's brittle production doesn't help, as its wall of digital sound emphasizes the sonic similarities between the songs instead of their differences. And there are a lot of similarities here: the bulk of the record is firmly within MCR's comfort zone, which helps make the extra flair -- which doesn't arrive as often as it should -- stand out all the more. But even if this isn't quite the radical break that it was intended to be, MCR does their signature blend of Sturm und Drang better than ever -- "Dead!" rushes along on a series of escalating hooks, "This Is How I Disappear" surges with purpose -- and when they're paired with tunes that do break the mold, like the wonderfully pompous title track "Welcome to the Black Parade" or "Teenagers," a tremendous reworking of the "Bang a Gong"/"Cactus" riff that is the simplest and best song they've ever written, it makes for a record that's their strongest, most cohesive yet, even if it isn't quite as weird or compelling as it should be given the group's lofty ambitions.
Good thing I am out of town this week. There are not many quality CDs hitting stores. Here is the proof: John Mayer - Where the Light is: John Mayer Live in Los AngelesLos Lonely Boys - ForgivenVanessa Hudgens -IdentifiedMy Chemical Romance - The Black Parade is DeadG-Unit - T.O.S.: Terminate on SightKansas - Two For the ShowAlkaline Trio - Agony & IronyTech N9ne - KillerRelient K - The Bird an...
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It may be bias, because I'm a dedicated Sopraonos fan, but I think this brief trailer promoting the series' run on A&E qualifies as an inspiring artistic achievement. I can't figure out which is creepier the lyrics or the vocals.
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Evil, evil midterms are coming right up on my worn little heels so I'll just say these things:- Saw 300 in IMAX last weekend and it was AWESOME!!!!! Go see it when it comes out tomorrow!- My Chemical Romance lead singer Gerard Way is apparently a gigantic comic geek, interned for a few at DC Comics, and wrote and is now publishing (through Dark Horse Comics) his first story, "The Umbrella Acade...
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ok My Chem's new video........has just left me speechless. I honestly don't know what to say. emotionally... wreckingly... beautiful. wow! i'm gonna go be speechless somewhere else. The address: http://youtube.com/watch?v=SO9Lj0T93XkLet me know what you think :)
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A friend gave me a copy of My Chemical Romance's latest, The Black Parade. There's been quite a bit of hoopla about the band and the album everywhere. Being open-minded, I gave it a listen. It's not horrible, but it is terribly slick and just a wee bit overproduced. And just look at them...they really are too cute and precious to think they are so angsty.If I were fifteen I'd be drooling. Inste...
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When I was a young close-minded musichead, I was often confused by a certain genre of concertgoer. Mid-30s and up, balding (for guys) or with graying hippie hair (for girls), they dressed in faded concert Ts of dead bands and jeans of an indeterminate age. They bopped to bands 20 years younger than them, drank good beer and hit on the college kids. They were the crusty punks.What do you make of...
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I know that it's very popular to hate MCR. They're posers, emo, whatever. For me, Black Parade was a nice throwback to the glam rock of the Queen era. And it was honest about it's legacy and truthful to those it was ripping off.But there was one song on the CD that I adore. It's called Teenagers and it sounds like it could have fallen off an album by The Sweet or New York Dolls. I miss tunes li...
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EVERYONE CLICK ON THIS BANNER AND i'LL LOVE YOU FOREVER!!!!!THANKS!!!
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Have you heard it? It's amazing! Something you can completely fall in love with (or I can). Anyway it's my first song on myspace. If you wanna take a listen and get back to me that would be great. That sounded to gay, but do it anyway, and that totally rhymed. HA HA!www.myspace.com/raeraereject
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2006 is coming to a close in just about 12 hours, and this is the day that I typically compose a list of the best things of the year (albums, movies, books, etc).I don't have time for a full list today as I have to head off to work shortly (bleh), but I do want to make note of one album in particular: My Chemical Romance's "The Black Parade".Who would have thought I would ever get into this ba...
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I think The Black Parade is MCR's best album yet. They get a new twist to their old style and get a completely unique sound. I love the fact that they stick with their morbid like themes but get upbeat sounds to do so. 'Mama' and 'Blood' are a great example of this. Their songs are dancable and fun but still sound like MCR. It is an awsome album and everyone should get it.
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The next time someone asks me, "Are you part of the Black Parade?" I'm really going to go wacko.Asking, "Do you like My Chemical Romance?" is one thing. It's a logical, simple question, that can be answered with a logical. simple answer."No."But even if I did like them, asking me if I'm part of the Black Parade would still anger me. No, I'm not part of the Black Parade, and neither are you. ...
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Let me start off by stating that I am an emo music fan. Many may not appreciate the emo/screamo/whatever-they're-calling-it-now genre, but the emotion fervent in the music is far too compelling for it to be ignored.That being said, I've been listening to The Black Parade by My Chemical Romance almost continuously for two months now... and it continues to amaze me. The musical depth to the album...
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While many people who will be reading this are going to be hoping for a different ending to the story, it sounds worse than it actually is. Both MCR and Muse have canceled dates of their ongoing tour after various members of both bands got food poisoning. This was after a show in Williamsburg, Virginia. The poisoning was so severe that it put quite a few members in the hospital, and forced them...
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Well, here it is... complete with cheerleaders in gasmasks... do MCR & Against Me! run in the same circles... I just watched the "Against Me! video":http://mog.com/Rawkkiddo/blog_post/83023 last night, then I see that MCRs latest is up on Youtube... damn those teens, they really do scare the living poop outta me. I love how the video _tries_ to mute the "shit" in the song... not quite successf...
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Still got quite a few CDs to get on the *Lizzie's iPod*, but this afternoon I passed the 10,000 mark ... *10,035* to be exact ... I will fill this contraption with music/videos/Episodes of The Black Donnellys (how in the Hell did that show get cancelled - what a bunch of nincompoops), if it's the last thing I do ... or it will be my *_Famous Last Words_* ...I _Get So Emotional Baby_ (I know, S...
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Good thing I am out of town this week. There are not many quality CDs hitting stores. Here is the proof: John Mayer - Where the Light is: John Mayer Live in Los AngelesLos Lonely Boys - ForgivenVanessa Hudgens -IdentifiedMy Chemical Romance - The Black Parade is DeadG-Unit - T.O.S.: Terminate on SightKansas - Two For the ShowAlkaline Trio - Agony & IronyTech N9ne - KillerRelient K - The Bird an...
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liza minelli cameo's as gerard way's bad mama and he's eagerly awaiting her painful death. need i say more?
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I have been anticipating this video for a little bit now. Not a huge long while, but at least a few days. I heard it was finally getting released so I've been keeping an eye out on YouTube for it.Now lemme just say that I really liked Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge, the entire album was really good. And I've been waiting for new material from them, and since the first time I heard Black Para...
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Evil, evil midterms are coming right up on my worn little heels so I'll just say these things:- Saw 300 in IMAX last weekend and it was AWESOME!!!!! Go see it when it comes out tomorrow!- My Chemical Romance lead singer Gerard Way is apparently a gigantic comic geek, interned for a few at DC Comics, and wrote and is now publishing (through Dark Horse Comics) his first story, "The Umbrella Acade...
More >
The New Anthem for Youth, in my opinion. Teenagers - My Chemical Romance They’re gonna clean up your looks With all the lies in the books To make a citizen out of you Because they sleep with a gun And keep an eye on you,son So they can watch all the things you do Because the drugs never work They’re gonna give you a smirk ‘Cause they got methods of keeping you clean They’re gonna rip off y
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So recently I'd heard several times on the radio a song with a catchy chorus, starting with "Teenagers scare the living shit out of me." (Well, y'know, up to radio edits, anyway.) So I finally remembered to look it up when I got home to find out who it was.I was incredibly disappointed to find out it was My Chemical Romance.Nevermind the fact that it sounds nothing like anything else I've hea...
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Cannot get enough of these guys, they just keep getting better
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ok My Chem's new video........has just left me speechless. I honestly don't know what to say. emotionally... wreckingly... beautiful. wow! i'm gonna go be speechless somewhere else. The address: http://youtube.com/watch?v=SO9Lj0T93XkLet me know what you think :)
More >
I know that it's very popular to hate MCR. They're posers, emo, whatever. For me, Black Parade was a nice throwback to the glam rock of the Queen era. And it was honest about it's legacy and truthful to those it was ripping off.But there was one song on the CD that I adore. It's called Teenagers and it sounds like it could have fallen off an album by The Sweet or New York Dolls. I miss tunes li...
More >
When I was a young close-minded musichead, I was often confused by a certain genre of concertgoer. Mid-30s and up, balding (for guys) or with graying hippie hair (for girls), they dressed in faded concert Ts of dead bands and jeans of an indeterminate age. They bopped to bands 20 years younger than them, drank good beer and hit on the college kids. They were the crusty punks.What do you make of...
More >
It may be bias, because I'm a dedicated Sopraonos fan, but I think this brief trailer promoting the series' run on A&E qualifies as an inspiring artistic achievement. I can't figure out which is creepier the lyrics or the vocals.
More >
...is actually pretty good. I've been listening to it for a week via their website (being too tight to spend money on it) but finally picked it up today. It's nicely presented, with the typical moody band photo on the back of the actually case and some very nice James Jean (best comic book cover artist in the biz) doing lots of nice drawings.The songs are a mixed bag, but the ones I really hea...
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| Title | Lyrics | Buy |
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| 1 The End. |
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| 2 Dead! |
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| 3 This Is How I Disappear |
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| 4 The Sharpest Lives |
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| 5 Welcome to the Black Parade |
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| 6 I Don't Love You |
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| 7 House of Wolves |
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| 8 Cancer |
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| 9 Mama |
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| 10 Sleep |
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| 11 Teenagers |
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| 12 Disenchanted |
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| 13 Famous Last Words |
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| 14 [Untitled Track] |
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Click to purchase…
© 2006-2009 Mog Inc. All Rights Reserved
 "The Black Parade")
