My Chemical Romance – The Black Parade Review
Posted by Marques Furumoto on 11.07.2006
New and improved MCR: now with ballads and running storylines!
When My Chemical Romance released Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge in 2004, they were quickly christened the kings of screamo on the strength of singles “Helena” and “I’m Not Okay (I Promise).” In 2005, the band opened for Green Day on the American Idiot tour, so it isn’t surprising that My Chemical Romance turned to Green Day producer Rob Cavallo to help compose their third full-length LP, The Black Parade. The Black Parade, like American Idiot, is a concept album, and revolves around a character known simply as “the Patient.”
Oddly enough, the first track is entitled “The End,” and features frontman Gerard Way playing the role of sullen host as he concurrently welcomes and warns listeners, “Now come on, come all to this tragic affair/Wipe off that makeup – what’s in is despair.” Indeed, My Chemical Romance has ditched the makeup this time around, but the product is more over the top and melodramatic than ever. We know that death is upon us as the intro comes to a close, but dying actually doesn’t sound all that bad with Way gleefully screaming, “Deeeaaad!/Have you heard the news that you’re dead?” (“Dead!”). The song marks the starting point of the Patient’s journey, as we find out that he is terminally ill and does not have long to live. “During this operation/Found a complication in your heart/So long/Cause now you’ve got maybe just two weeks to live/Is that the most the both of you can give,” Way crows, earnestly breaking the news, but not breaking away from the embellished guitar solos, as My Chemical Romance delivers probably the most addictive and vivacious song about dying ever. Hospital beds a good time? As odd as it may seem, it’s impossible to not sing along when Way and co. break into a jovial chant of “LA LA LA LA LA! (well, c’mon!) LA LA LA LA LA LA! (oh, motherfucker!) LA LA LA LA LA LA LA!”
So The Black Parade is nothing but fun and games? Hardly. With “This Is How I Disappear,” the Patient comes to terms with the fact that he doesn’t have long to live, and laments spending his final days alone and lonely. On “The Sharpest Lives,” he reflects on his past problems with drugs and alcohol, pleading for a “shot to remember/And you can take all the pain away from me/A kiss and I will surrender/The sharpest lives are the deadliest to lead.”
Then there’s the title track; it rears its head as a delicate lullaby, then gradually crescendos to the vigorous and impassioned anthem about moving on and celebrating life, not in spite of death, but in death: “So paint it black/And take it back/Let’s shout it loud and clear/Defiant to the end we hear the call/To carry on/We’ll carry on/And though you’re dead and gone believe me/Your memory will carry on” (“Welcome to the Black Parade”). Fittingly, the title track possesses all the qualities that the album as a whole has: an unearthly, eclectic, bittersweet, and riveting escapade through that window that separates life and death.
From there, the Patient’s story staggers onward, as he reflects on his destructive relationship with his lover on “I Don’t Love You,” and plans for his inevitable death on “Cancer.” Both songs represent My Chemical Romance’s first foray into the world of ballads, and Way’s sometimes grating delivery meshes surprisingly well with the backing piano. “Cancer” is especially heartrending, as the Patient asks his Aunt to “bury me in all my favorite colors,” and pleads with his lover, “If you say/Goodbye today/I’d ask you to be true/Cause the hardest part of this is leaving you.” As if to more accurately reflect the violent mood swings of the Patient, the two forlorn ballads sandwich the persistently surging “House of Wolves,” bursting at the seams with a ferocious Way, demanding that we tell him he’s a “bad, bad, bad, bad man.”
The record’s lone guest-appearance goes to Liza Minnelli, who plays the role of the Patient’s estranged mother on “Mama.” The song itself is a spectacular mishmash of polka and screamo; previously unheard of, but brilliant upon delivery. The Patient again reflects upon his life during “Disenchanted,” this time considerably more tranquilly, as he mentions that, “I hate the ending myself, but it started with an alright scene.”
The procession ends with “Famous Last Words,” and while it seems that the band members themselves aren’t really sure whether the Patient dies or not, that point is rendered moot once the chorus to the closing track kicks in - "I am not afraid to keep on living/I am not afraid to walk this world alone/Honey if you stay I’ll be forgiven/Nothing you can say can stop me going home.” Audiences will want to stand up and applaud the Patient for finding his way, and while he may hate the ending and think the beginning was merely “an alright scene,” in reality, The Black Parade is one hell of a ride from start to finish.
1) The End
2) Dead!
3) This is How I Disappear
4) The Sharpest Lives
5) Welcome to the Black Parade
6) I Don’t Love You
7) House of Wolves
8) Cancer
9) Mama
10) Sleep
11) Teenagers
12) Disenchanted
13) Famous Last Words
The 411: While all the comparisons that My Chemical Romance has been getting to Queen and the Beatles may seem a bit much, it’s certainly easy to get excited about what is arguably the best rock album of the year. Most importantly, even with all the melancholic content and the pretentious theatrics, The Black Parade never stops being an incredibly fun album to listen to.
