My Chemical Romance Black Parade CD

My Chemical Romance: Gerard Way (vocals); Frank Iero, Ray Toro (guitar); Mikey Way (bass guitar); Bob Bryar (drums).
Additional personnel: Cheech Lero, Jamie Muhoberac, Liza Minnelli, Rob Cavallo.
On this ambitious 2006 outing, My Chemical Romance boldly follows in the footsteps of Green Day, both in working with producer Rob Cavallo and in taking a conceptual route (a la AMERICAN IDIOT). The result is an impressive collection of songs that finds the goth-leaning New Jersey punk-pop group transforming itself into the title's "Black Parade," a darkly clad marching band that relates the woeful tale of "the Patient," as portrayed by frontman Gerard Way (who bleached his hair blond to convey the character's sickness). In addition to bringing--believe it or not--the equally dramatic and eye-liner-loving Liza Minelli on board for a guest appearance, My Chemical Romance proves its theatrical mettle by moving from the melancholy grandeur of "Welcome to the Black Parade," which bears an undeniable Queen influence, to "Cancer," an emotive piano-driven ballad. Lifted by its lush, inventive arrangements and Way's dynamic vocal performances, THE BLACK PARADE effectively stakes its claim as the SGT. PEPPER'S of the brooding Myspace set, and secures My Chemical Romance's shadowy space in rock history.
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 rock 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 rock 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 BeaRolling Stone (p.69) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "[T]he best mid-Seventies record of 2006, a rabid, ingenious para-phrasing of echoes and kitsch from rock's golden age of bombast."
Rolling Stone (p.104) - Ranked #20 in Rolling Stone's "The Top 50 Albums Of 2006" -- "My Chemical Romance rev up the pathos with an arena-ripe panache..."
Spin (p.95) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "It's a savage, heartfelt, at times hilarious goth-mosh emopera..."
Spin (p.62) - Ranked #5 in Spin's "The 40 Best Albums of 2006" -- "[A]n orchestrated spiral of punk-goth, classic rock, Salvation Army bands, and high school musicals."
Entertainment Weekly (p.70) - "[U]plifting, ambitious, and at times riotously enjoyable....Pristinely produced by regular Green Day collaborator Rob Cavallo, this album is not just the band's most adventurous, but also its best." -- Grade: A-
Entertainment Weekly (p.128) - Ranked #3 in Entertainment Weekly's "Top 10 Records Of 2006" -- "PARADE stands as one of the most cohesive, engaging rock records of 2006."
Q (p.147) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "[T]hey've concocted a startlingly ambitious concept album, complete with Queen-inspired solos, windswept piano ballads and Sgt Pepper-style vaudeville."
Q (p.123) - Ranked #32 in Q Magazine's "100 Greatest Albums of 2006" -- "A major new band had arrived."
Alternative Press (p.179) - "What's really engaging is that THE BLACK PARADE is a concept album about death, yet even the most weepy sentiments are delivered with a swagger, a blistering guitar lead or a joyful, bouncy cadence."
Alternative Press (p.136) - Included in Alternative Press's "10 Essential Albums Of 2006".
Kerrang (Magazine) (p.10/14/2006) - "[W]hen THE BLACK PARADE reveals its secrets to you, you'll be dazzled by its brilliance."
Kerrang (Magazine) (p.69) - Ranked #4 in Kerrang's "20 Greatest Albums of 2006" -- "[T]his was punk rock in glorious Technicolor."
Mojo (Publisher) (p.110) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "A record riddled with blood-soaked riffs, morbid lyricism and the biggest of conceptual game plans..."