Originally titled "10 reasons I dig the new My Chemical Romance album" and posted at my private Livejournal. But well worthy of being a part of my "Highlights from 2010" advent calendar thing. I do like this album quite a lot.
Vampire money, a New York Dolled-up glampunk blast that gives the finger to the whole Twilight phenomena in a most hilarious way. "Gimme gimme some of that vampire money c'mon!". It was apparently written as a reply to Summit wanting them to do a tune for a Twilight soundtrack. It rocks, name-checks Bowie *and* Bolan, got a incendiary guitarsolo, intro stolen from Ballroom Blitz, the opening lines "3, 2, 1, we came to fuck" and ends with the band apologizing for playing too loud. The chorus drives the point home, but best line is "Sparkle like Bowie in the morning sun".
Hair back, collar up, jet black, so cool!
Sing it like the kids that are mean to you (c'mon!)
So you wanna be a movie star (c'mon! )
Play the game and take the band real far (c'mon! )
Play it right and drive a Volvo car (c'mon! )
Sing it like the kids that are mean to you (c'mon!)
So you wanna be a movie star (c'mon! )
Play the game and take the band real far (c'mon! )
Play it right and drive a Volvo car (c'mon! )
It's just one of the most joyfully punk one-fingered salutes I've heard in ages.
Bulletproof Heart sounds like their attempt to rewrite Born To Run for the 21st century. There can only be one Born To Run and of course they fail, but Bulletproof Heart mines the same territory of escape, finding something better, living your life on your terms and dreams to great effect. As the second track it brings home one important point: My Chemical Romance have left The Black Parade far behind, both musically and in worldview. The whole album is really uplifting, without coming across as cheesy. A very tough trick to pull off.
Na Na Na, the most invigorating rock'n'roll in years. It's the kind of songs that starts at 100% and just revs up.
The Kids Of Yesterday is apparently the bands favourite track. It sounds very much like The Smashing Pumpkins on a serious 1979 trip. With added cowbell! How can that be wrong? It can't. There is a lot of nostalgia sparkled around this album, at the same time as it's about the band growing up. It's the band daring to do whatever they want, however they want it, without sacrificing what made them into who they're now.
"Cause you wanna live forever in the lights you make
When we were young we used to say
That you only hear the music when your heart begins to break
Now we are the kids from yesterday,
today"
When we were young we used to say
That you only hear the music when your heart begins to break
Now we are the kids from yesterday,
today"
Summertime on the other hand could've one of The Cure's poppier numbers and no one would've noticed. Well, if Robert sang it, obviously. It's also a lovely lovesong, which I always have a soft spot for.
Dystopian optimism. The album is very uplifting and quite optimistic. It's all about fulfilling your dreams, and that you can do what you want. At the same time it is "set" in a dystopian totalitarian future, and each video released this far has ended up with the band defeated/shot down. That dichotomy exists throughout the album and adds tension to the songs.
Planetary (GO) rushes ahead at breakneck speed, with moroderseque synths in the background. It sounds like My Chemical Romance doing a dance song but actually good, if that explanation makes sense. There is so much energy in the song. Actually there is electronics sparkled all over the album. Synths squeal, sequencers bubble and samples flare. But it's still a rock'n'roll album at heart.
S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W is at heart a stadium anthem where people wave lighters, sing along and sway from side to side. So the band drapes the guitars in a psychedelic haze, puts weird effects on low-mixed vocals but keeps the stadium drums loud and clear. The end result is hypnotizing enough to make me forgive the title.
Save Yourself (I'll Hold Them Back) would deserve a mention even if the line "We can live forever if you've got the time" was the only good thing with the song. But it also ties in with the dystopian optimism thing I mentioned earlier. It's the hardest, most aggressive cut on the record, but doesn't forget about those great melodies that always been My Chemical Romance's hidden weapon.
Salvation. The Black Parade was such a statement. I consider if one of the best rock albums of the last decade, and it still holds up when I play it. But the band couldn't go any darker, couldn't move any further down that line. And media took the blackness/emo thing and ran with it. The Black Parade must've been like a prison, because Danger Days sounds like the band throwing a live grenade at the perception of what My Chemical Romance is supposed to be. And then they dance in colourful outfits and lasers beams while The Black Parade blows up. Will Danger Days last like The Black Parade? I'm not sure, but it sets the band on a new path, musically and visually. And does so without losing the energy, the comic book flair that is integral to the band's heart. It feels like they're free to go any which way now, and I hope they'll do just that.
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