critically acclaimed

get out your eyeliner it's an emo-punk review

My Chemical Romance- The Black Parade
yes folks it's a review of one of the Hot Topic emo parade's foremost bands My Chemical Romance. i know how cliche it is for me to talk about emo bands and to tell you the truth i have been getting out of the scene and moving to much better and interesting music. but i still have a soft spot in my heart for the heart on your livejournal style bands and i was actually excited for this record.

i bougth MCR's last record the day it came out and was one of the first people to start the big push as i knew these guys were gonna be huge. now i'm sitting here two years later as the poster boy emo boys win MTV movie awards, dot teenybobber magazines, and get bottles thrown at them in England. are these bands my Grunge era like most of the early 90s folks, and the answer is yes. am i proud of that, well i don't know yet i need more alcohol and years to contemplate this thought.

but onto the record. like the last one it is a rock opera of sorts about death and hell and love and blah blah blah. the lyrics themselves are not too much of a departure from the last album but ultimately that isn't a bad thing. i can't blame frontman Gerad Way from breaking new ground with the lyrical material, it sold records last time and it should this time.

the big thing i want to talk about is the sound. much like the new Killers record MCR try to break into the arena rock style but instead of the Boss they decided to channel Freddie Mercury and turn it up to 11 Queen/Spinal Tap style. the songs are gawdy and expansive with brief stops to add piano, acoustic guitar, and Liza "Lucille 2" Minnelli. The best song on the record by far is the single "Welcome to the Black Parade" because it combines all the good things of Bohemian Rhapsody and throws on the black t-shirt of the emo crowd. But when listening to the record you can totally tell that it is the single and a total set up for the marketing folks.

listening to this record i didn't quite know what to think. one thing is for sure i love that the boys from Jersey took a small chance and tried to blow off the doors to classic rock/emo punk barrier that a lot of bands have thought about doing. i think they have more style and songwriting craft to be able to stay for more than 5 years like most of these bands will. but i could be wrong this could be their 2nd trick of a 2 or 3 trick bag and they will peter out quicker than 15 year old virgins first time in the sack. but you can see they are trying to do something different and in some cases they succeed. "Cancer" which is mostly a piano based track is well put together. But ironically the song that sticks in my head the most is the prototypical emo/punk "Famous Last Words" which just sticks in your head right after you hear it.

so pick it up if you are a fan and if you're not get a hold of it somehow to see if you agree with me or not. it is at least an interesting analysis of the dominant music culture right now and it gets all the bloggers riled up to discuss what is emo and why this is bad and blah blah blah. enjoy.

posted by critically acclaimed @ 1:24 PM