My Chemical Romance Releases Welcome to the Black Parade
Jonathon Stone
Issue date: 12/6/06 Section: Arts & Entertainment
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Their last album, Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge, contained the hit singles "I'm Not Okay," "Helena," and "The Ghost of You." The songs and their themes of horror and fantasy confirmed the band as punk rockers, clearly defining them and making them different from other bands with a similar sound that are classified as "emo."
My Chemical Romance has changed their sound over the past two years to a combination of punk and 80's rock. The sounds of Queen, the band MCR admits is their main influence, can be heard in almost every song on The Black Parade, especially in the guitar riffs in the single "Welcome to the Black Parade."
Each song on the album adopts a different sound and theme to the running topics of death and tragedy. The band looks at death at different angles, and acknowledges the effects death has on different types of people. The first track on the album, "The End," portrays the last few moments someone in on their deathbed. One's life flashes before their eyes causing one to realize they did not accomplish everything they had set out to do. The song also acts as a lead into the second track, "Dead!," which is concerned with how the living is thinking of the deceased. The song poses the idea that the living might not be mourning the loss of the deceased, but instead might be glad that the person died.
"This is How I Disappear" shows how one person can make or break a couple. If one person leaves, the other is left alone without the one thing they counted on always being there. "Mama" tackles the idea that kids could die before their parents and that kids should do right by their parents in order to leave their parents proud of them in case they do die first. "Cancer" follows a cancer patient through diagnosis, chemotherapy, and death. "Famous Last Words," describes the dialogue of a one sided conversation. One person is asleep on their deathbed, and the person talking to them never did much to help the situation, but regrets it.
The band consists of lead vocalist Gerard Way, guitarists Frank Iero and Ray Torro, bass guitarist Mikey Way, and drummer Bob Bryar. They formed in 2001 in Belleville, NJ.
Their first album, I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love, was released in 2002. They earned a spot on tour with Avenged Sevenfold, expanding their fan base out of the tri-state area. After the tour, they completed their second album and replaced their original drummer Matt Pelissier with Bob Bryar.
My Chemical Romance started their latest tour on the U.S. release date of The Black Parade at Webster Hall in Manhattan. The tour travels to Norfolk, Boston, Los Angeles, San Diego, New Orleans, Seattle, Detroit, Milwaukee, and Tampa Bay, along with three shows in Great Britain. The tour ends on December 15 in Chicago.
Their next single, "Famous Last Words" is set for release in December.