My Chemical Romance's 'The Black Parade' Turns 10: How It Defined Their Career
Every generation gets the weirdo artists it deserves. A decade ago, My Chemical Romance was ready and willing to fill a void for the rejects, and did so with incredible grace.
It was a quick build, but a natural one. MCR was born from the suburbs of New Jersey, wrote a bunch of songs about vampires and fantastical things for a while, and found its footing on its second LP, 2004's Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge.
Before them, there wasn't anything like them: these nerdy, comic-obsessed dudes wrote songs about the isolation they felt through the lens of Queen-inspired theatrics. It was aggressive and guitar-driven, but dependent on melody. It made them the kings of mall emo, the gods of Hot Topic, and they owned it, because these were songs about adolescence and growth. Finally, there was a rock band that could be cool and for the outcasts. The mainstream rise culminated in "I'm Not Okay (I Promise)," where frontman Gerard Way didn't suggest, but demanded we learn it's okay to not be okay. For people of a certain age and generation, it was a crucial message.
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