My Chemical Romance – 'The Black Parade' (Reprise) Released 23/10/06

Under the facade of The Black Parade, My Chemical Romance are now marching to a brand new beat. Even with new song titles such as ‘The End’, ‘Dead!’ and ‘Cancer’ The Black Parade isn’t the blood-soaked gothic thriller that was ‘Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge’. It’s so much more than that, as the newly peroxide blonde Gerard Way has taken the boldest and most audacious material MCR have penned to date and created a melodramatic masterpiece.

Front-cover stars and leaders of their ‘scene’ the quartet had undoubted pressure to prove they were more than just media puppets. But instead of playing it safe and reproducing the simple yet stunning songs of their sophomore effort they have grown some balls and put out an ostentatious, barn-storming beast of an album that tips its hat to Queen, The Smashing Pumpkins and even T-Rex. The theatrical side of MCR was evident when they first introduced their alter-ego at the Hammersmith Apollo gig this summer by declaring that “My Chemical Romance will not be performing tonight and have instead been replaced by a band named ‘The Black Parade’” which confused even the most die-hard of fans until the new-look Gerard Way and co walked out to rattle through their new material.

As soon as opening track ditty ‘The End’ starts you know you’re in for a grandiose performance. The chaotically brilliant ‘Dead!’ rapidly follows and you feel all the pre-release hype is more than justified. Current single ‘Welcome to the Black Parade’ confirms they can still carve out the perfect pop-punk song with razor-sharp verses backed up by a haunting chorus. ‘The Sharpest Lives’ is brilliantly simple, full of vigour and panache that showcases Way’s distinctive vocals perfectly. While ‘Cancer’ highlights their growth in both lyrics and sound as an emotionally-charged Way sings “Now turn away, ‘cause I’m awful to see, ‘cause all my hairs abandoned all my body”.

‘Mama’ and ‘I Don’t Love You’ have Queen’s epic sound and reveal a whole new side to My Chemical Romance’s song-writing and structure. Although some flamboyant efforts fall short the majority make the grade resulting in a gutsy and superlative LP which will also give their future gigs that extra depth. The fact ‘The Black Parade’ is double the length of their previous release underlines the creativity and invention that has been etched into this intelligent concept album. Although producing an alter-ego may seem a little pretentious, the change and escalation My Chemical Romance have gone through means they are a different beast now and thus the album benefits from the new channel an alter-ego brings.

‘The Black Parade’ may have the skeleton of their previous offerings but it has been fleshed out with an added confidence and swagger that lifts it above its peers and rubber-stamps their status as the most awe-inspiring band of their genre. Three cheers for a sweet return.