My Chemical Romance

My Chemical Romance is arguably one of the most influential bands of the early 2000s, garnering a gigantic loyal fanbase over the years who do everything from following their tours to supporting their causes in public demonstrations.

When the native New Jersey band disbanded back in 2013, followers believed it was the end of an era, but that proved untrue with a powerhouse reunion in 2019. And now, the long wait for more dates is over as Way, along with his brother Mikey and bandmates Ray Toro and Frank Iero are back with a vengeance.

My Chemical Romance started as the brainchild of lead singer Gerard Way. In the aftermath of the 9/11 attack, the vocalist was inspired to write about the event and start a band with guitarist Toro, his brother Mikey on bass, Iero on rhythm guitar, and original drummer Matt Pelissier.

My Chemical Romance released its first album, I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love, in 2002. While it wasn’t a major hit, it used the music to cultivate a fan base following via MySpace. These efforts plus solid touring performances led the band to sign with Reprise Records in 2003.

In 2004, MCR’s second studio album, Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge, climbed to a respectable position on the Billboard charts, peaking at #28, and went platinum within the year. Pelissier departed soon after the record’s release, so Bob Bryar took over behind the drum kit.

Over the next two years, My Chemical Romance opened for bands like Green Day on the American Idiot Tour and Fall Out Boy on the Warped Tour. With a robust following, the band was ready to amp things up.

In 2007, the band released its magnum opus concept album, The Black Parade. This rock opera centers around a central character dying of cancer. The band staged powerful events like a hosting live gig using a pseudonym that almost resulted in the audience revolting and a releasing faux parade of black-robed marchers.

Not only did The Black Parade solidify My Chemical Romance’s burgeoning cult following, it was a huge commercial success. The album debuted at #2 on the Billboard charts and went on to go triple platinum in both the US and UK.

Mistreated and misunderstood by some media outlets, Gerard Way and his band had to overcome controversies generated by misinterpretation of MCR’s lyrics. After releasing their fourth album, Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys, in 2010, the band would release a series of singles over the next two years compiled as the Conventional Weapons album.

Then, almost without warning, My Chemical Romance amicably broke up. But by 2019, a surprise show in LA signaled a reunion tour. COVID-19 postponed it in 2020, but now the boys are back and ready to take the world by storm.

The band takes their name from a Virginia Woolf quote. Truth be told this is quite a fitting lineage as, like Woolf herself, fewer artists give quite as convincing a portrayal of someone on the verge of a mental or nervous breakdown as Modest Mouse.

Isaac Brock’s is the man responsible for that. His voice could convincingly stand up with the likes of Tom Waits, Bob Dylan, Morrissey and David Bowie as one of the acquired tastes that you’ll eventually wonder how you ever did without it.

However, it’s when his guttural howl delivers his lyrics that things get truly worrying. The evocative images of everything from the endless dust bowl deserts of the American West, to the sheer expanse of space and the cold, unfeeling ocean posit how we as individual people can possibly mean anything compared to the vast canvas of existence itself. Don’t worry, there’s also some damn catchy choruses in their as well!

Catchy enough to have arguably lead the charge of indie rock into the mainstream after The Strokes and The White Stripes kicked the doors down. They have sold 1.5 million copies of April 2004’s “Good News for People Who Love Bad News”, the album which gave the world their deathless Billboard Hot 100 hit “Float On”. The follow up album 2007’s “We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank”, which featured the aforementioned Johnny Marr as a member of the band for the album’s creation and subsequent tour, was certified Gold as well.

On the surface, it would seem that they are an odd band to have Gold and Platinum albums to their name, but look closer and they always temper their experimental and haunting tendencies with solid gold hooks. If R.E.M are no more, they can be satisfied in the knowledge that there are still alternative rock bands bringing literate, profound and edgy rock and roll to arenas and concert halls the world over.