My Chemical Romance
I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love

THE REVIEW

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".