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. 

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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.

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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!

Punk Goes Pop Volume 5- Various Artists

Hey, y'all! It's been a while since I've been on here! But, I've been wanting to do a blog for a while, and decided to talk about another CD on my shelf! As always, I put my iTunes on shuffle and, and the CD containing the first song that played is the one I'll be talking about!

Release Date: November 6, 2012

Genre: Alternative, Post-Hardcore, Punk

Track Listing
Since This CD is comprised entirely of different bands' covers of songs, I'll list the band beside the track.

1. Grenade- Memphis May Fire
2. Call Me Maybe- Upon This Dawning
3. Somebody That I Used To Know- Mayday Parade ft. Vic Fuentes
4. Glad You Came- We Came as Romans
5. Some Nights- Like Moths to Flames
6. Billie Jean- Breathe Carolina
7. We Found Love- Forever The Sickest Kids
8. Boyfriend- Issues
9. Girls Just Want to Have Fun- The Maine ft. Adam Lazzara
10. Payphone- Crown The Empire
11. Paradise- Craig Owens
12. Mercy- The Word Alive
13. A** Back Home- Secrets

About the CD:  Punk Goes Pop 5 is the most recent release in Fearless Records' "Punk Goes..." series. Besides pop, there have also been releases covering Rap/Hip Hop, Metal, and (my personal favorite) Classic Rock. Other releases include 2 acoustic "Punk Goes..." CDs, as well as an 80's CD and 90's CD. Punk Goes Pop has been the longest running series. The next release will be Punk Goes Christmas sometime near the end of this year.

IMHO: I'm a big fan of the "Punk Goes..." series. The only thing that bothers me about them is that I only enjoy certain styles of unclean vocals (screaming) in songs, and often, I find myself thinking 'I really like that clean vocalist, but not the unclean one' and wishing there were more clean vocals. On one on this CD, that was actually reversed. I feel like each CD, though good, is hit and miss. There are some I'm really excited about and others that I just never listen to. I also sometimes have some issues with the songs they consider to be "pop." Some songs they choose are alternative songs that happened to make it big on the radio, and I don't think that makes them pop, even though they are popular. But I'll get more into that when I get into the songs.

Since there are multiple artists on this CD, I'm going to do something a little different and talk about each song and artist individually... as well as the original song, because there are some songs on this CD that I had definite opinions on before hearing their covers.

Grenade- Memphis May Fire: I think this is a pretty good cover. I don't really listen to Memphis May Fire, but from what I have heard, it seems like they mostly have unclean vocals, so I enjoyed hearing what clean vocals they have to offer. Not my favorite song on the CD, but not a bad start either. I definitely prefer this cover over the original track, but the original isn't too bad. Bruno Mars is pretty OK in my book.

Call Me Maybe- Upon This Dawning: I have mixed feelings about this song. I really like the parts with the clean vocals. I'm not a big fan of this band's style of unclean vocals. I've never heard of this band, and they're also the only band on the CD that doesn't have a Wikipedia page. So, they seem to be relatively unknown. Overall, I like the clean vocals/vocalist, and what they've done with the instruments. It's hard to be worse than the original, but I feel like if they'd stuck with clean vocals, it would have been more successful.

Somebody That I Used To Know- Mayday Parade ft. Vic Fuentes: Mayday Parade has been featured on most "Punk Goes..." CDs that I have, and for a good reason: they do really great covers. They improve on the music but keep the clean vocals, which is how I really like to have it done. Also, they have Vic Fuentes (lead singer of Pierce The Veil, one of my favorite bands) singing the girl parts, which is just perfect. As always, I think they delivered a great cover. I also really loved the original song, so I was really excited that they were covering it. Since I love the original so much, it's hard to beat it, but I feel like this is definitely right on par with it. This is one of those songs that I thought shouldn't be considered pop, but this is my favorite song on the CD, so I'll let it slide.

Glad You Came- We Came as Romans: I actually haven't listened to this track very much. But, as I'm listening to it right now, I'm really liking it. I like the way that they're including the unclean vocals as the background vocals and as part of one verse. I haven't listened to much from this band, but I'm pretty sure they're another that's really heavy on the unclean vocals. I'm really liking the clean vocalist for this band as well. I didn't really have much of an opinion on the song before, and I'd have to say I really enjoy what they did with the cover.

Some Nights- Like Moths to Flames: When I discovered the original Some Nights in early 2012, I fell in love. That's why this cover hurts a bit. I like the grit that they added to the beginning of the song, and honestly, it's a pretty good cover (a bit heavy on the unclean vocals, but that's subjective). But, I just can't like it. I like the original too much.

Billie Jean- Breathe Carolina: Don't hurt me, but I'm really not a Michael Jackson fan. I like that this cover is a nice little relief from the heavy post-hardcore of the majority of the first few tracks... well, for most of the song. There's a cool breakdown at the end. This is another band I haven't really listened to much outside of this song, but I like this cover. And I like it better than the original, but only because I'm not a Michael fan. Seriously, you're talking to the girl who prefers both the Alien Ant Farm and dueling cellos versions of Smooth Criminal a lot more than the Michael version. Sorry, not sorry.

We Found Love- Forever The Sickest Kids: I really really hate Rihanna. Like a lot. She's probably among my least favorite singers ever. I do, however, like Forever The Sickest Kids. But this song, not so much. The way they arranged some of it is just weird and there was randomly screaming even though FTSK doesn't have unclean vocals normally. I'm just not a fan of the way they handled the cover.

Boyfriend- Issues: I feel like you already probably have an idea of how I feel about Justin Bieber. I absolutely cannot stand him, and the first time I heard the original song, I cringed so many times I probably looked like I was having a seizure. My reaction to this was the exact opposite. I really love this cover, thought I'd never heard of the band before this song. I like the unclean vocals and the way they're incorporated into the song. The clean vocalist isn't my favorite, but I think his voice works for the song. I also really enjoy tricking my friends with it, and when they actually hear it, they appreciate my music a bit more. Overall, this is one of my favorites on the CD.

Girls Just Want to Have Fun- The Maine ft. Adam Lazzara: I'm not a big fan of the original song, and I can't really say that I've ever heard it all the way through. I do really like the cover though. The Maine is one of my personal favorite bands featured on the CD, and I also like Taking Back Sunday, the band Adam Lazzara sings in. I wish they'd done a different song, because there's not too much that could convince me to really like this song. But, I do like what they did with it, so kudos to that!

Payphone- Crown The Empire: Crown The Empire is another band I believe is mostly screaming. Once again, I feel like the song would be stronger with just clean vocals, but I really like the way they incorporated the unclean vocals. They seemed to fit in really well. Overall, I'm pretty impressed with the cover, but I definitely prefer the original. It's really hard for anyone to top Adam Levine in my mind.

Paradise- Craig Owens: This is another one that left me a bit annoyed by what they consider to be "pop". Sure, this song became really popular, but it's still an alternative song. This cover got some crap for being lackluster, but I like that it's true to the original. HOWEVER, I feel like it may be a bit too true to the original. I wish it was just a little more punk. Just a little more punkified and it would get a significant amount more play on my iTunes. Don't get me wrong, though- I still really enjoy this cover!

Mercy- The Word Alive: My least favorite on the album. They literally just scream their way through a crappy song, and then do a barely intelligible rap later in the song. I dunno, I just wasn't impressed. I think I understood maybe like two words of the lyrics. Two thumbs down.

A** Back Home- Secrets: I've never even heard of this band before, but I like what they did with the song. I like the difference between the verses with unclean vocals and heavy guitar and the chorus with minimal instruments. Definitely far above the original song.

Favorite Songs: I'd have to say that my favorite covers are definitely Somebody That I Used To Know, Boyfriend, Paradise, and Grenade. I also like Glad You Came, Payphone, and A** Back Home.

Video! 

Somebody That I Used To Know cover

Boyfriend cover (lyric video)


Rating: 6/10. Beside the few winners, quite a few of these songs are completely mediocre.

Hope you liked my newest "The CDs on my Shelf" post! Want to know more information about the CD? Less? or just different info? Or is what I put good? What did you think of punk going pop? Let me know all of this in the comments. If you like my posts, I'd really appreciate if you'd subscribe, because it lets me know y'all are liking them! Hope you enjoyed! Comment, comment, comment! I love feedback! Thanks for reading!