The Black Parade - My Chemical Romance

As someone with a large collection of vinyl records and a blog to rant and rave about music, I'm often asked what the first album I bought was. I've never been totally sure of the answer but I was always a little embarrassed by what I believe to be the honest truth. I think that I went through a stage of lying and saying that it was a Beatles CD, something by The Kinks or another of those so called classic albums from classic bands, or in other words, something I couldn't be mocked for, or that didn't expose my poor taste (no such thing as "poor taste" by the way).

So it's good to purge myself of any first-album-paranoia by stating here, on a public, if not very widely read, blog, that my first album was The Black Parade by My Chemical Romance. Actually My Chem, as we used to call them, were my first two albums because I'm pretty sure that I bought their second album, Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge, at the same time as The Black Parade at my local HMV.

So why the embarrassment? Probably because of My Chem's connotations with Emo subculture, not because I am/was against the Emos - as the old saying goes; an Emo never hurt anyone but themselves - but I was never really an Emo myself so saying that The Black Parade was my first album often gives people the wrong idea as to what I was getting up to during my teens. Yes I had some dodgy long hair but that was mainly due to me not wanting to go to the barber. I did dabble with mascara once, but the less said there the better. 

With the news that My Chemical Romance are releasing a 10th anniversary special of The Black Parade, I've been reliving my youth and giving the album a listen. What struck me after all these years is not just that I remember so many of the lyrics, but also just how incredibly camp the whole album is. It's a raving rock opera of incredible pomp, posturing and pop. It's pretty unfair that the band's been pigeonholed into the Emo genre, with its depressing death connotations, although it's fair enough, the song titles alone aren't the cheeriest; The End, Dead, Cancer to name a few, but it turns out that there's a load of fun to be had with this album. Opening track The End is a mental barrage of rock riffs and mood changes just like Welcome to The Black Parade. I challenge anyone of my generation not to get a little emotional at the opening piano notes, which are immediately recognisable as this operatic ballad. The song goes through three movements, each one being more dramatic and over-the-top than the last. Its wailing, Brian May like guitar is so incredibly camp alongside Gerard Way's performance, and it can only be called a performance - there's so much charisma, emotion and power in his voice, it's magnetic, it makes me want to join the Black Parade and march off to the Costa del Emo. Remind yourself of that video below. It's just brilliant isn't it? 

There's more to the album than just pop rock tunes to wail away to. There's a great level of light and shade and Way's voice can move from searing rage to trembling pain with ease. Tracks like Cancer and I Don't Love You are up there with some of the best heart-wrenching songs of all time and they sit perfectly alongside the anthemic, Teenagers - a classic punk/rock n' roll song that perfectly captures the ludicrous fear that "respectable society" can have of a group of teens. 

The Black Parade is a bonkers album. Its creativity and fun are often hidden beneath connotations of eyeliner and military jackets but this goes far beyond any superficiality. It hits at our deepest emotions and a wide array of them at that. It's a great album with every song a winner and blending together to make an album to last through generational fads and "growing-up". The 10th anniversary LP comes with a MCR flag and I might just fly mine high. Any first-album-shame has well and truly gone. 

My Chemical Romance
The Black Parade
Warner 
Triple Vinyl LP with FLAG!! out: 23/09/2016 at The Band's Official Page