My Chemical Romance- The Black Parade

Hey, y'all! It's time for me to talk about another CD on my shelf! As always, I put my iTunes on shuffle, and the CD containing the first song that played is the one I'll be talking about!

Release Date: October 24, 2006

Genre: Alternative Rock, Pop Punk, Emo

*New Section/ Info*- When I bought the CD: I know it was around Christmastime, because I was with my cousins, and my best guess would be that it was 2009. Not sure why I hadn't bought it earlier, since I got into alternative music in early 2008, but at least we got there!

Track Listing

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
14. Blood [Hidden Track]

My Chemical Romance lineup on this CD:
Gerard Way- lead vocals
Ray Toro- lead guitar
Mikey Way- bass guitar
Frank Iero- rhythm guitar
Bob Bryar- drums

From L-R: Bob, Mikey, Gerard, Frank, Ray

About My Chemical Romance: 
Once again, I've ended up with a pretty well-known band. My Chemical Romance was formed in 2001 and gained significant commercial success in the early 2000s. They released four full length CDs: I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love in 2002, Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge in 2004, The Black Parade in 2006, and Dangerous Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys in 2010. Beginning in 2012, My Chemical Romance released a series of singles/EPs called the Conventional Weapons. Upon the conclusion of these releases in early 2013, the band announced its break-up.

My Opinion about My Chemical Romance:
I find My Chemical Romance kinda hit or miss. There are a couple CDs that I really enjoy by them, and a couple I just don't really enjoy as much. I admire them for their ability to create such great concepts to base albums off of, like they did with The Black Parade and Dangerous Days. While they've never been my favorite band, they do have some really outstanding songs.

About the CD:  

This is probably My Chemical Romance's most well-known and commercially successful CD. This concept album is a rock opera, focusing on a patient dying of cancer. The songs tell the story of his death and reflect upon his life. 

IMHO: 
This is my favorite My Chemical Romance CD. I think it's incredibly well-constructed and cohesive and really enjoy almost all of the songs on the CD. It's really, really great.

As always, I'm going to give each song a rating out of 10 and then give a brief explanation of why it got that rating. 

---------------------------------------------------

The End- 8.5/10. Not too much to say about this one. I like it as an opening song. It starts out relaxed (well, relaxed for MCR) and then gets some MCR crazy thrown in before going straight into Dead!

Dead!- 9/10. I love so many of the lyrics in this song. First of all, "Have you heard the news that you're dead?" but aside from that, there's "If life ain't just a joke, then why am I laughing?"

This Is How I Disappear- 8/10. A pretty average song. Pretty good, but not a standout. I do really enjoy the guitar on this one though. That's definitely the highlight.

The Sharpest Lives- 10/10. I just really love how completely creepy the verses of this song are, and I love the contradiction between that and the chorus. I wasn't a huge fan of this one when I first heard the CD, but it really grew on me, and now it's one of my favorites.

Welcome to the Black Parade- 10/10. Is it really possible to not give this one a 10/10? It's the epitome of the entire CD, and arguably MCR's best song ever. It's certainly the one they're best known for. It's a masterpiece, and I definitely think it's one of their best songs they've ever done.

I Don't Love You- 8.5/10. I've fallen out of love with this one a little, but it's still a really good song. I generally don't tend to gravitate toward slower songs (especially when it's MCR), but this is one that I've always enjoyed.

House of Wolves- 9.5/10. This song is really great. It's got all of the craziness I've come to expect from My Chemical Romance. The guitar and vocals are outstanding on this one, especially in the bridge. So great. 

Cancer- 8/10. I don't have a ton to say about this song. It's good, but for me, it's not a standout. I'm sure there are people who really love this one, but as I said before, slower songs aren't really my thing. And my favorite of Gerard's vocal styles is the harder, in-your-face vocals, like in House of Wolves, not the slower songs. 

Mama- 9.5/10. The creepy factor is so incredibly high on this song, and it's just so incredibly dark but it works really well. Typically, I pay attention to the music more than the lyrics, but the minimal instrumentation on the verses forces you to listen to the dark lyrics. So much love for this song. 

Sleep- 7/10. Forgettable, for me. It's just average. The chorus isn't bad... but I generally don't want to listen to the opening bit, and the rest of the song isn't good enough for me to put up with it. Kudos for making a "Three Cheers" reference though.

Teenagers-10/10. Oh, man. This song. Probably my favorite My Chemical Romance song. The only complaint (which really has nothing to do with the song) is that it doesn't really seem to fit into the CD. I dunno, it just seems like its own separate entity among all of the songs dealing with the patient dying of cancer. But I don't mind because I absolutely love this song. 

Disenchanted- 7.5/10. A little forgettable for me. I had to listen to it to even remember anything about how it sounded. Once I listened, I remembered that I do kinda like it, but it's not one of the better songs on this CD.

Famous Last Words- 9/10. I was really torn between a 9 and a 9.5 for this one, but I went with a 9 just because I often think that I like it more than I really do. It's a good song, but I don't tend to listen to it very much. The chorus is a little flat... probably because it's mostly the same note. But I think the guitar is really cool in this one!

Blood [Hidden Track]- 9/10. This one always makes me laugh. Gerard's vocal style on this is great, and the cheesy ghostly moans in the background are hilarious.

---------------------------------------------------

Favorite Songs: Teenagers, Welcome To The Black Parade, and The Sharpest Lives.

Least Favorite Songs: Sleep and Disenchanted.

Video! 

Welcome To The Black Parade music video

Teenagers music video

Rating: 9.5/10. While the individual songs don't necessarily merit the 9.5, the concept and my overall love for the CD get it up there. I'd prefer to give it like a 9.25, but I don't have a category for that, and don't plan on making one. But, either way, this is a really great, well-written and well thought out CD.


Hope you liked my newest "The CDs on my Shelf" post! Have any questions? What are your opinions on My Chemical Romance? Let me know in the comments. If you like my posts, I'd really appreciate if you'd subscribe/follow, because it lets me know y'all are liking them! Hope you enjoyed! Comment, comment, comment! I love feedback! Thanks for reading!