Review of My Chemical Romance discography¶
Review of MCR discography, in the same order I listened to each album from start to finish for the first time. Expect diminishing neutrality.
The Black Parade¶
First listen: late 2020 or early 2021, I don't remember
General remarks: Formed my first impression of MCR: monochrome pop punk talking about death. Or living in pain. Never got the point of the Patient as deeply as the real fans do.
Fav track: Sleep
Close runners-up: This Is How I Disappear, Mama (these are two tracks if you're unaware)
Track stuck in head for longest: Disenchanted
Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge¶
First listen: June 2022
General remarks: Another concept album but this time I got the idea. In fact just go to the Amazon HQ and start killing. There's never a shortage of evil men. Sounds homogeneous genre-wise (not necessarily a bad thing).
What I like: Dynamics — angelic hums in Interlude, then immediately the heavy guitars in Thank You For The Venom. The time change in INTYWIDFAL. Also, only two songs are named after a chorus line.
Fav track: I Never Told You What I Do For A Living
Fav line: And we all dance along to the tune of your death (I, for one, am certaining anticipating the tune of the death of certain people whose names my lawyer advised me not to elaborate)
Close runner-up: The Ghost Of You
Track stuck in head for longest: Cemetery Drive
Danger Days¶
First listen: August 2022
General remarks: Another concept album? This time the lore goes as far as comic books, which I never read. To summarize, band fights evil corporation with laser weapons.
What I like: Lots of mixed genres this time, and I'm glad they took a break from dark sounds.
What I don't: This time 9 songs are named the easy way.
Fav track to sing: Summertime (only song playable on ukulele)
Fav line: Terrfied of what I'd be / as a kid from what I've seen / every single day when people try / and put the pieces back together / just to smash them down
Fav track to listen to: Bulletproof Heart (extremely relatable)
Track stuck in head for longest: The Kids From Yesterday
I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love¶
First listen: September 2022
General remarks: As with most debut albums, it didn't grow on me until a couple listens. I'm in a phase where I'd pick select tracks to listen to at will.
January 2023 update: now I put on the entire record daily.
What I like: Tempo changes! I wish they had more of them in later albums. Also the way Drowning Lessons has an outro, and Demolition Lovers is broken in half.
What I don't: One, it's underproduced; two, Gerard's lines often consist of a bunch of half notes or quarter notes in succession (example: all but the last word in this line: We walk in single file / we light our rails / and punch our time / ride escalators colder than a cell), and eight words in, this begins to sound monotonic.
Fav track: Demolition Lovers (this started all the Three Cheers lore didn't it)
Close runner-up: Early Sunsets Over Monroeville
Remarks on ESOM: This song goes HARD. The first verse is all fun and games like "late dawns and early sunsets" and "holding hands and life was perfect" but by chorus it was shit like "before I pull this trigger" and "there's a corpse in my bed". Can't wait to recommend to people I hate.
Track stuck in head for longest: also Demolition Lovers
Misheard lyrics: "dressed in red and blue ice cream" where it should be "I squeezed" and "ice cream and roses fall at your feet" where it should be "rice grains"
Conventional Weapons¶
First listen: October 2022
General remarks: Well, I sure am glad MCR shelved these songs in favor of what is now Danger Days.
Conventional Weapons is like No Phun Intended by Tyler Joseph in many ways, including how they reused some of its lyrics.
What I like: Gerard's voice is crystal clear in many tracks.
What I don't: Too much repetition, and there are artifacts of monotonic quarter notes from Bullets. Also some lyrics sound rhymed for rhymes' sake.
Fav track: The World Is Ugly
Misheard lyrics: "I wanna suicide, get my gun" where it should be "As soon as I get my gun". Truly horrifying misunderstanding.
Bonus mention: The Foundations of Decay¶
First listen: May 2022
General remarks: Just imagine how the real fans reacted. First song in 8 years?! I hear it's categorized "progressive rock", but because the only other progressive rock song I've ever heard is Bohemian Rhapsody, the only conclusion I can draw is that all progressive rock songs are exactly 6 minutes long.
What I like: This song leaves a lot to be anticipated. It's like a fragment of a map. Let's wait till MCR releases their fifth album.
What I don't: "And so he gets to die a saint but she will always be the whore" ← like, which she? This sounds sus out of context (I say this because I don't get the context).