Welcome to the Boolin Tunes Staff Spotlight, where we showcase albums that either deserve a second glance, or records that are very near and dear to our hearts.
We all have that one band, artist, or album where we can say “This is where it all started. This is going to change everything.” And for me, this completely encapsulates my thoughts on My Chemical Romance‘s The Black Parade. Through the beginning of my early teenage years, this was the start of a new era. Even spinning the record again recently, I can say that I do hold the album as dearly as I did back 10 years ago.
The album opens with a two-part song in “The End!” and “Dead”. The former acts as a bard-esque ballad with a sickly juxtaposition in lyricism and instrumentals. Using a blend of acoustic guitar and anthemic rock styles, the feeling is almost surreal as you discern how to feel after listening. Trading back into their punk rock styles in the latter, the theme is definitely carried over as the darkness is almost overshadowed with joyful sounding instrumentals.
Now come one, come all to this tragic affair
Wipe off that makeup, what’s in is despair
So throw on the black dress, mix in with the lot
You might wake up and notice you’re someone you’re not
As much as I do love the next two tracks on the album, I want to move onto the meat. “Welcome to the Black Parade”. The scene kid anthem. Admittedly, this is what first got me into them so I have to pay my homage here. The dreaded G-note piano intro, Ray Toro‘s brilliant guitar work and Frank Iero‘s amazing harmonization to it. Everything works in tangent to bring back so many memories.
Starting off, the song is a slow building crescendo. The steps traversing on the piano, the marching band style snare that follows, leading into the main guitar mimicking the piano in its own style. After the intensity climaxes 1:45 in, the pace begins to really drive. Both guitars help move the song along with their aggressive, fast-paced, downpicked and accented palm-mutes before exploding into the chorus. Here, you can definitely see Toro and Iero‘s styles work together, as an octave melody can be heard underneath a bed of chord progression. Moving onto the bridge/solo, Toro does an amazing job with its elegance, just enough to accent Gerard Way‘s vocals. This track shows the harmony that the band has as a whole, working with each other to create an anthem that is still iconic and felt to this day.
Now it’s time to move on to my favourite, undisputed best track of the album, “I Don’t Love You”. Hell, I’d be bold enough to put it as my all time favourite MCR song. The two guitars work perfectly in unison, playing completely different parts but telling the same story. Way‘s polished yet emotion-evoking vocals spark anxieties I didn’t know I even had. To this day, I still feel a pang of pain listening, but have no regrets whatsoever.
Sifting through again, we find ourselves at “Teenagers”. I always found this to be a very bluesy song with the style of riffs that Toro incorporated. Nonetheless, I am a big fan of it. It works in tangent to how the song is laid out. You can feel a sort of angst due to the lyrical content, and the instrumentals help capture the mood. Tackling the subject of society’s perception of teenagers, it makes sure to drive the message home in an almost comical way. It’s catchy and infectious in all aspects, but what you end up singing in your bedroom, you can’t help but chuckle to as you grow up. This is 100% a chapter in my teenage years, that’s for sure.
They said “All teenagers scare the living shit out of me
They could care less as long as someone’ll bleed
So darken your clothes or strike a violent pose
Maybe they’ll leave you alone, but not me
Next up is “Disenchanted”, the sad song of the album. And by god, this definitely is a tear jerker. The dissonance in the acoustic fingerpicking, Way‘s storytelling, and having it clash into a definitive intro. Throughout the song, there is a melancholy that can be felt as the song continues to build up. Climaxing on another one of Toro‘s signature solos, the pressure starts to de-escalate, and it ends on the same acoustic fingerpicking it started on, leaving us to reflect and ponder.
Finally, the album closes out on “Famous Last Words” (omitting “Blood”). Albeit, this is the only point where I feel kind of conflicted as I don’t want this journey to end. Building off an interesting chord progression layered under Toro‘s palm-mutes, tension can be felt in what almost feels akin to a deafening silence. This tension carries on through the song, even as dynamics and styles change. Iero‘s style of underlying leads is the perfect complimentary to this progression, driving each verse forward before the solo is at least reached. At this moment, the tension is amplified one last time, a blistering fury of shred before a moment of respite is finally reached. Finally, the bridge begins to close everything out, the song and the album. Fading out, it becomes clear that the journey is over; we have walked alongside the black parade.
In summary, The Black Parade is a stellar album that transformed who I am today. I could go on and on with each minute detail on what makes it so great, but this is a brief overview on why I hold it so dearly. A highlight reel if you must. I’ll always have that spot in my heart that takes me back to those scene kid days. However, thinking back, I don’t think I’ll ever truly move on.
That will be all for this week’s edition of Boolin Tunes Staff Spotlight. We hope to keep you here for more music news and reviews, and tune in next week for another spotlight.