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Rating: My Chemical Romance was formed in 2000 and hails from the state of New Jersey. With this work, with its long title, the band debuts on the American music market in 2002 as semi-unknowns. The album was released under the independent label Eyeball Records and was produced by Geoff Rickly, member of Thursday.
The album consists of 11 songs (10 plus an instrumental intro characterized only by guitars).
During the listening of the platter, the influences of other bands make themselves felt, with those of A.F.I. particularly standing out, so much so that at times it seems like listening to them under another name.
The album takes two different paths: dark and gothic tones with rather slow and gloomy compositions (just like A Fire Inside) and songs instead more oriented towards melodic hardcore with emo-core openings (with light splashes of screaming vocals) that play it all on the dynamism of the rhythmic section.
Among these two paths, the second one certainly convinces more, a path that will be fully pursued in the next album. Among those with new-school hardcore nuances, as well as the most beautiful of the album, is undoubtedly the sunny "Drowning lessons" with a really nice riffing, it almost seems suitable as a soundtrack for a holiday. A track, which, if we weren't told it was played by Gerard Way's band, would seem to be picked from the Lagwagon-ian repertoire, especially for the typically made-in-California guitar aftertaste.
"Headfirst for halos" is also good, with a really pleasant instrumental attack for the first 60 seconds and presents a good guitar solo with a more aggressive ending, as is "Skyline and turnstiles".
It's a pity the album isn't entirely on this wave but presents many forgettable songs and others excessively long and less successful. Moreover, the CD lacks a bit of homogeneity between the different episodes. In this sense, "Demolition lovers" is noteworthy, in which during its six and a half minutes it fails to provide particular insights other than boring with the attempt to copy from a certain dark tradition. On the same intimate line is also "Vampires never will hurt you" which alternates slow and gloomy segments with whispered vocal parts to faster and screamed ones, but it remains in the shadows.
Worth noting is the enjoyable and fast-paced "This is the best day ever". The atmosphere in "Sunset over Monroeville" is particular, a calm piece that detaches from hardcore and is anchored to a slow rhythm marked by sweet arpeggios. Should we consider it a ballad? Well, it's hard, especially when compared to the real "digestible" ballads with the catchy refrains of "The Black Parade".
The other compositions follow the already told script like the classic "Our lady of sorrow" or the mid-tempo of "Cubicles".
It must be said that some songs are not bad at all, even if they do not manage to reach the same emotional peaks as those on "Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge". To be clear, they lack a powerful "Hang 'em high" or a sweet "The ghost of you".
Keep in mind that the album isn't one that is assimilated on the first listen, in fact the various tracks present rather intricate structures, especially if compared with the songs of the last studio album, and therefore require many listens. As for the aspect of assimilating the content, one could make a comparison with any album by the Underoath (not easy on the ear on first listen). Don't expect easy refrains here; sometimes the refrains are not even felt and at times are not found at all. Practically speaking, you won't find the sticky refrains of bands like Aiden and the forgettable The Used, and that's an advantage.
On the other hand, there are also several flaws traceable, (as already mentioned to the fact that almost no song is unforgettable) and to the sonic ingredients that MCR attempts to mix in the cauldron, which often and willingly do not blend well. Essentially, the band tries to shuffle the cards too much and too many genres simultaneously without knowing how to dose them perfectly.
I close with a comparison to one last band: Silverstein. Do you expect to find a new "Smile in your sleep" alternative to put in heavy rotation on your mp3 player? Don't have illusions; you won’t find the new "Discovering The Waterfront" but simply a debut album that won't go down in history, with its flaws but also with its fair spontaneity. Here perhaps those who only know the band from the latest MTV single will turn up their nose, but the band playing on this album seems completely different.
Finally, a note regarding the production which is adequate, it may not have unforgettable or overly curated sounds but it proves optimal for the genre and certainly the one that most suits their style, unlike the super pompous, mannered and triumphalistic hard-rock production (let’s say justice-like, as the noir knight would say to Antonio) of "The Black Parade" which largely distorted their original sound from the first two albums.
A debut work that captures the band as they were at the beginning of their career, with content still a bit raw, but which anticipates a promising future starting from the subsequent second album. Worth listening to if you want to know the band as they were at the beginning, still uncontaminated by the music business, even though My Chemical Romance’s qualitative peak remains the subsequent "Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge".
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
03 Vampires Will Never Hurt You (05:26)
And if they get me and the sun goes down into the ground
And if they get me take this spike to my heart and...
And if they get me and the sun goes down
And if they get me take this spike and...
You put the spike in my heart
And if the sun comes up will it tear the skin right off our bones
And then as razor sharp white teeth rip out our necks
I saw you there
Someone get me to the doctor
Someone get me to a church
Where they can pump this venom gaping hole
And you must keep your soul like a secret in your throat
And if they come and get me...
What if
You put the spike in my heart
And if they get me and the sun goes down
And if they get me take this spike and...
''Come on''
Can you take this spike
Will it fill our hearts with thoughts of endless night time sky
Can you take this spike
Will it wash away this jet black feeling
And now the nightclubs
Set the stage for this
They come in pairs
She said we'll shoot back holy water like cheap whiskey
You're always there
Someone get me to the doctor
And someone call the nurse
And someone buy me roses
And someone burned the church
We're hanging out with corpses
And driving in this hearse
And someone save my soul tonight
Please save my soul
Can you take this spike
Will it fill our hearts with thoughts of endless night time sky
Can you take this spike
Will it wash away the jet black now
''Look out
Come on''
And as these days watch over time
And as these days watch over time
And as these days watch over us tonight
And as these days watch over time
And as these days watch over time
And as these days watch over us tonight
I'll never let them
I'll never let them
I'll never let them hurt you
Not tonight
I'll never let them
I can't forget them
I'll never let them hurt you
I promise
Struck down
Before our prime
Before you got off the floor
Can you stake my heart
Can you stake my heart
Can you stake my heart
Can you stake my heart
Can you stake my heart
Can you stake my heart
Can you
Stake me
Before
The sun
Goes down...
04 Drowning Lessons (04:23)
Without a sound I took her down
And dressed in red and blue I squeezed
Imaginary wedding gown
That you can't wear in front of me
A kiss goodbye
Your twisted shell
As rice grains and roses fall at your feet
Say goodbye
The hundredth time
And then tomorrow we'll do it again
Tomorrow we'll do it again
I dragged her down
I put her out
And back there I left her where no one could see
And lifeless cold
Into this well
I stared as this moment was held for me
A kiss goodbye
Your twisted shell
As rice grains and roses fall at your feet
Say goodbye
The hundredth time
And then tomorrow we'll do it again
I never thought it'd be this way
Just me and you we're here alone
And if you stay
All I'm asking for is
A thousand bodies piled up
I never thought would be enough
To show you just what I've been thinking
And I'll keep on making more
Just to prove that I adore
Every inch of sanity
All I'm asking for is...
All I'm asking for is...
These hands stained red
From the times that I've killed you and then
We can wash down this engagement ring
With poison and kerosene
We'll laugh as we die
And we'll celebrate the end of things with cheap champagne
Without...
Without a sound.
Without...
Without a sound,
And I wish you away.
Without a sound,
And I wish you away.
Without a sound, without a sound,
And I wish you away.
Without a sound, without a sound,
And I wish you away.
Without a sound, without a sound,
And I wish you away.
05 Our Lady of Sorrows (02:05)
We could be perfect for one last night
And die like star crossed lovers when we fight
We could settle this affair
If you would shed your yellow
Take my hand and then
We'll solve the mystery of laceration gravity
This riddle of revenge
Please understand that it has to be this way and
Stand up fucking tall
Don't let them see your back
And take my fucking hand
And never be afraid again
We've only got one chance to put things at an end
And cross the patron saint of switchblade fights
You said we're not celebrities
We spark and fade
They die by threes
I'll make you understand
And you can trade me for an apparition
Stand up fucking tall
Don't let them see your back
And take my fucking hand
And never...
Trust
You said
Who put the words in your head?
Oh how wrong we were to think that immortality meant never dying
Stand...
Take my fucking hand...
Take my fucking...
Stand up fucking tall
Don't let them see your back
Take my fucking hand
And never be afraid again
Just because my hand's around your throat...
06 Headfirst for Halos (03:28)
Yeah!
Well let's go back to the middle of the day that starts it all
I can't begin to let you know just what I'm feeling
And now the red ones make me fly
And the blue ones help me fall
And I think I'll blow my brains against the ceiling
And as the fragments of my skull begin to fall
Fall on your tongue like pixie dust
Just think happy thoughts and we'll fly home
We'll fly home
You and I
We'll fly home
Come on
Well now I'm back in the middle of the day that starts it all
I can't begin to let you know just what I'm feeling
And now the red ones make me fly
And the blue ones help me fall
And I think I'll blow my brains against the ceiling now
We'll fly home
You and I
We'll fly home
Now honestly, that's what I said to her
What I said to her
Think happy thoughts
Think happy thoughts
Think happy thoughts
Think happy thoughts
Think happy thoughts
Think happy thoughts
Think happy thoughts
Think happy thoughts
Think ha... WHOO!
07 Skylines and Turnstiles (03:23)
You're not in this alone
Let me break this awkward silence
Let me go
Go on record
Be the first to say I'm sorry
Hear me out
And if you take me down
Would you lay me out
And if the world needs something better
Let's give them one more reason now
We walk in single file
We light our rails and punch our time
Ride escalators colder than a cell
This broken city sky
Like butane on my skin
And stolen from my eyes
Hello angel
Tell me
Where are you
Tell me where we go from here
This broken city sky
Like butane on my skin
Stolen from my eyes
Hello angel
Tell me
Where are you?
Tell me where we go from here
Tell me we go from...
And in this moment we can't close our lids
On burning eyes
Our memories blanket us with friends we know
Like fallout vapor
Steel corpses stretch out towards an ending sun
Scorched and black
It reaches in and tears your flesh apart
As ice cold hands
Rip into your heart
That's if you've still got one that's left
Inside that cave you call a chest
And after seeing what we saw
Can we still reclaim our innocence?
And if the world needs something better
Let's give them one more reason now
This broken city sky
Like butane on my skin
And stolen from my eyes
Hello angel
Tell me
Where are you?
Tell me where we go from here
This broken city sky
Like butane on my skin
Stolen from my eyes
Hello angel
Tell me
Where are you
Tell me where we go from here
Tell me where we go from here...
08 Early Sunsets Over Monroeville (05:05)
Late dawns and early sunsets,
Just like my favorite scenes,
Then holding hands and life was perfect,
Just like up on the screen.
And the whole time while always giving,
Counting your face among the living.
Up and down escalators,
Pennies and colder fountains,
Elevators and half price sales,
Trapped in by all these mountains.
Running away and hiding with you,
I never thought they'd get me here.
Not knowing you'd change from just one bite,
I fought them all off just to hold you close and tight.
(But does anyone notice?
But does anyone care?
And if I had the guts to put this to your head...
But would anything matter if you're already dead?
And should I be shocked now by the last thing you said?
Before I pull this trigger,
Your eyes vacant and stained...
But does anyone notice?
But does anyone care?
And if I had the guts to put this to your head...
And would anything matter if you're already dead?
And now should I be shocked by the last thing you said?
Before I pull this trigger,
Your eyes vacant and stained...
And in saying you loved me,
Made things harder at best,
And these words changing nothing
As your body remains,
And there's no room in this hell,
There's no room in the next,
And our memories defeat us,
And I'll end this direst.
But does anyone notice?
But does anyone care?
And if I had the guts to put this to your head...
But does anything matter if you're already dead?
And should I be shocked now by the last thing you said?
Before I pull this trigger,
Your eyes vacant and stained...
And in saying you loved me,
Made things harder at best,
And these words changing nothing
As your body remains,
And there's no room in this hell,
There's no room in the next,
But does anyone notice there's a corpse in this bed?)
10 Cubicles (03:51)
It's the tearing sound of love-notes
Casting out the gray stained windows
And the view outside is sterile
And I'm only two cubes down
I'll photocopy all the things that we could be
If you took the time to notice me
But you can't now, I don't blame you
And it's not your fault that no one ever does
But you don't work here anymore
It's just a vacant 3 by 4
And they might fill your place
A temporary stand-in for your face
This happens all the time
And I can't help but think I'll die alone
So I'll spend my time with strangers
A condition that is terminal
In this water-cooler romance
And its coming to a close
We could be in the park and dancing by a tree
Kicking over blades we see
Or a dark beach with a black view
As pin-pricks in the velvet catch our fall
But you don't work here anymore
It's just a vacant 3 by 4
And they might fill your place
A temporary stand-in for your face
It happens all the time
And I can't help but think I'll die alone
I know you don't work here anymore, I know you don't work here anymore
I know you don't work here anymore, I know you don't work here anymore
I know you don't work here anymore, I know you don't work here anymore
Sometimes I think I'll die alone, sometimes I think I'll die alone
Sometimes I think I'll die alone, live and breathe and die alone
Sometimes I think I'll die alone, sometimes I think I'll die alone
Sometimes I think I'll die alone, I'd think I'd love to die alone
I think I'd love to die alone
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Other reviews
By Tobby
The album is quite the opposite: yes, even punk/rock "with a dark twist" can be vital, raw, fun, and above all, genuine.
Being able to dive into a cliché that has yet to come to life is no small feat.
By gege89
"'I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love'... introduces us to the true My Chemical Romance; a genuine and spontaneous sound, adrenaline-filled and immediate to listen to."
"The guitars scratch, Ray Toro and Frank Iero especially never miss a beat and manage to create atmospheres dense with dark flavor."
