The other night I was travelling to a gig with my associate JJ and we started to discuss the new Chemical Romance album. I wasn’t too sure about how good or bad it was and wanted JJ’s view. He loved it and described the rather complex story behind it; it’s a concept album which Gerrard Way does not regard as a Chemical Romance release (he has said that 2007 will see the next band’s release) – hence the uniform dress code, etc… Gerrard described the album as: “The story of a man who dies tragically before his time in a hospital. Death comes for him in the form of a Black Parade because his strongest childhood memory is his father taking him to see a parade as a boy. The parade leads him to his final judgement; an examination of mortality.” He also said that The Black Parade also represents am alter ego for the band for this album as well as a collective name for their devoted fan base. With this information firmly lodged in my brain, I listened to the album again and discovered something new each time I played it. There’s no doubt it’s a grower, it’s very brave and one helluva recording…

The End opens the album and sounds like a circus master opening a show. Way talks rather than sings and is then greeted by a bombardment of rock and string instrumentals. It’s outrageous and wonderful. Dead is a continuation of the opening track with Way declaring, “The ending of your life/And if get to heaven/I’ll be waiting here babe/Did you get what you deserve/The end…” It’s a raucous, rhythmic cascade of sound that rushes along at breakneck speed (with a few quieter moments to take on passengers), and a pause for breath before a final ‘la, la, la’ close. The Sharpest Lives continues at frenetic rocky pace and is the sort of song I want to see performed live… Then comes the first single Welcome To The Black Parade which has to be one of the most complex and awesome rock songs ever to hit the number one spot in the chart. It’s classic, epic rock with a gorgeous intro and quickly gathering pace with heavy rock instruments and melody that lodge firmly in the brain. It’s a modern take on Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody with lyrics that make sense…Up next is what must be the next single. I Don’t Love You boasts a slower, contemplative pace, strong melody, a great solo guitar riff, and one of Way’s most expressive vocal performances here. If anything, the album gets stronger as it progresses with later highlights being the stunning, moving piano-led Cancer (another single?), venomous Mama, epic Sleep, and acoustic/electric stunner Disenchanted. This is a superb and adventurous record by a band firmly on the road to becoming one of the world’s biggest rock acts.

4.5/5