Two years ago today, the American rock band My Chemical Romance broke up.

Now, I'm sure, since a lot of you are in your late teens/early 20s, that you've at least heard of them before. I'm also more than willing to bet that a lot you have been exposed to them solely through some chick/guy in your class who was REALLY into them, and really...

well, really scene-y.

Now, I'm not gonna make any more presumptions on you guys, but in general, most people I've met can't stand My Chemical Romance generally because of their fanbase.

So today, on the second anniversary of their break-up, I'm going to tell you why that's bullshit, and why My Chemical Romance deserves better than their status as "hurr edgy emo music"

If you legitimately don't like their sound, I don't blame you. Their early stuff came from the post-hardcore/punk revival movement, and was rather abrasive. They did have a few radio friendly singles in 2004, but their first and second records were generally very angry and loud. They were praised in 2002 and 2003 back when they released their first record "I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love", because they weren't alternative radio regulars yet, and post-hardcore was actually a pretty thriving underground genre at the time. This record was full of a lot of amazing songs, but the main characteristic of the record was how raw and emotive it was. The guitars are half-metal, half-punk saw blades that cut into you, and Gerard Way's vocals sound like a raccoon being sodomized with a pen. (dude was dealing with a tooth abscess, so he has somewhat of an excuse)

But this works very well for Bullets. Bullets was a avery raw, angry record; the band had formed because Gerard Way had hit rock bottom in his comic book writing career prior to 9/11. He was depressed, drunk, and more than ready to give up on life entirely. He was present when the Twin Towers went down, and seeing that changed his perspective in life. Sure, he was still pissed off at the world and his life, but seeing something like that first hand made him realize that he could actually do something for the world.

So he got his shit together (kind of), and gathered his brother and a few friends together, and they started making music. Bullets was released about a year later, and received critic praise.

Then, 2004 happened, and so did "Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge". This is where the "emo" mistake happened.

Emo is a genre of music that started in the 80s. Emo is just sort for "emotional", and that's what emo is: softer, more "emotional" punk music. Generally has more melodic value than punk, and it is heavily entwined with the indie scene. Modest Mouse, an indie giant, is actually one of the most prominent 2nd-wave emo bands that still create music.

Emo has had four "waves": 1st wave happened in the 80s, and was an exceptionally underground movement. It sort of petered out by 1989 when grunge started gaining traction. After Kurt Cobain's suicide, grunge took the plunge, and three main conteders for the spotlight showed up: post-grunge, pop punk.power pop, and 2nd wave emo.

Nirvana and like-sounding bands had revitalized the interest in punk with more personal, emotion lyrics. While not as gritty as grunge, 2nd wave emo still carried that angst that the genre movement had brought to the mainstream. 2nd wave emo lasted well from 1994 to 1999, and influenced indie rock in exceptional ways: Modest Mouse, Mineral, American Football, and Death Cab For Cutie are all bands who were solid members of second wave emo that either became major indie rock contenders, or influenced the genre phenomenally.

In 2003, third wave emo, or "emo pop" showed up. This came along with the type of people that people generally call "emos". Like the goth movement, emo is a movement of people who were named after the music they typically listened to.

Except... a lot of the bands they listened to were NOT emo.

"Emo" kids listened to some emo, but general, pop punk and metalcore were the staples of the early 2000s emo scene. The actual emo bands were... super popular acts that tons of people listened to. Jimmy Eat World is the most popular 3rd Wave Emo act I can think of, and when people think about them and their music, they don;t typically associate emo kids with them.

And yet... they DO associate My Chemical Romance with emo kids, even though they're not emo. Not even slightly.

Emo is not a "hard" genre. Emo focuses on melody, and generally plays softer, if energetic, songs. They don't use tons of distortion, and the lyrical roster of emo is typically limited to romance songs, whether it be a lover scorned or wishing they loved (this is ESPECIALLY true of 3rd wave emo).

My Chemical Romance did not write a ton of romances.

Sure, there are a good fair few, but a lot of 3rd Wave Emo bands filled their entire discographies with songs about "tfw no gf". Hell, a lot of power pop and pop punk bands did that too. My Chemical Romance focused on the nastier side of human existence; death, violence, and the struggles of people with their vices and unhealthy outlooks.

And teenagers loved them. 2004 saw them put out three big singles that shot them to the top of charts: Helena, I'm Not Okay (I Promise), and The Ghost Of You. Death, social anxiety, and death again. Teenagers think about death, and emo kids obsessed over it. Emo kids started listening to My Chemical Romance, and they were labbled as "emo", which by 2005, had become a completely unsavory word. Emo kids were those weird, whiny kids who spent all day cutting themselves and thinking about suicide. Nobody wants to be like them!

My Chemical Romance saw this. They saw this back in 2002 when the "emo" scene was starting to gain traction. They typically get pegged by being all about death and about promoting horrible things, the worst of which being suicide. My Chemical Romance was seen as the music kids so depressed they wanted to kill themselves listened to before finally pulling the trigger.

Since their first record, My Chemical Romance has stood out against that sort of thing. They've got multiple "life sucks, but hold on" songs. If anything, they're anti-suicide. They've got songs that focus on the horror in humanity, but they've got ones that tell the listener that life isn't that bad. Hell, one of their most popular radio hits, Famous Last Words, is one of those songs.

Their fans picked up on this. I'm sure those of you who went to high school in the 2004-2009 range of years can recall at least one kid (most likely a girl) who claimed that My Chemical Romance saved their life. It became a big thing for fans, and a big thing for detractors. Clearly, this band was only meant for those who needed a few "Attractive" guys to tell them to buck up and not to kill themselves.

And I don't think this is an issue. People scorn MCR because it reminds them of their teen days. People do embarrassing shit as a teenager. I would know; I am one. I got into MCR about 3 years ago when I was 14, but prior to that, I thought they were one of those teenage heartthrob bands that only "emo girls" liked.

I can go on and on about how stereotyping a band because of the fans is stupid, but I have a feeling you guys already understand that pretty well. This IS an MLP website, after all. No, instead I will now focus on the merits of this particular band, and why from a musical standpoint, they deserve more props then they are ever given

I've gone over their first two albums already. Bullets was raw, post-hardcore music, and Three Cheers was a bit more polished, but still loud and angry. Their most successful album came after Three Cheers, in 2006, and showed a great deal of musical growth.

The Black Parade is a concept album. All MCR albums are, due to Gerard Way's background in comic book writing, but it is most obvious on this record. The Black Parade tells a story; it's of a veteran, dying of cancer, reflecting back on his life and coming to terms with his regrets and mistakes. Depressing stuff, but the album holds up amazingly on its own: the radio singles are like Queen on mescaline, the filler songs have 70's concept album throwback feels to them, and there are even some songs that call back to their earlier days. This album is ambitious, over the top, and hell, sometimes melodramatic. But it's a theater piece in musical form: it's pushing everything the band has to new limits, and it's amazing. It's got raw, roaring guitars, sometimes sung, sometimes shouted lyrics, and it's got emotion dripping on every baseline, every lyric, and every piano strike.

Four years later, MCR came back for their final album in 2010 with Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys. They ramped their theatrics up to 11. A whole new story, and a sound. Glam punk is a genre that's sort of faded in and out since the 70s. Glam rock goes from lauded to mocked (David Bowie and Kiss, respectively), and since then, glam has come back with different fusions in different genres with varying degrees of success. Generally, it's seen as a novelty—something to listen to but not to take seriously. And that's just what Danger Days is.

Danger Days tells the story of four vigilantes who live in a desert wasteland, wearing ridiculous 70's-esque outfits and fighting the big bad cooperation who rules the lives of those who try and ecke out existence in the wasteland. The "Killjoys", as the band plays them, take on the corporation in an effort to improve life for those who live there. The story doesn't end well—the killjoys are overwhelmed, and they don't manage to destroy the corporation, but they manage to take a huge chunk out of them and rally the wastelanders against them. It's inspiring, if a bit of a downer ending.

This is as close to pop punk as MCR got. There are a lot more pop hook and melodies in their songs here, but they're just as bombastic as ever, and there's still that raw and loud, if less angry, feeling to several of the songs there. This album sees the use of piano and synth more than their other releases, and the songs are generally softer. It's a fun record, with some feels, and has the most cohesive storyline of all (yes, even more than The Black Parade. there are a lot more filler songs in Danger Days, but that keeps the storyline on track).

My Chemical Romance can hold its own musically. If they're not your thing, that's fine! I dislike a lot of bands that I still recognize as talented and important to music. I feel that far too many people look back on MCR and remember the unbearable people who liked it when they were in high school; it might even be them who they feel were unbearable back then, and remembering the band makes them recall a part of their life that they'd like to leave behind.

A reminder: people's music tastes are generally sculpted in their teenage years and in their early 20s. All of those folks in their 40s who reminisce on The Smiths and Queen? Those were their go-to bands in the 80s when they were teenagers. And yet, because their older, and because they lasted their dues through the years, people claim that they are superior to modern music. Those bands lasted throughout the ages because yes, they're good enough to be remembered, but also because the teens of yesterday are the adults of today; nostalgia value demands that their music is superior to music now, and impressionable kids who don't think today's radio hits speak to them cling to what their parents found enjoyable.

Just remember: the merits of music are chosen by people's teenage tastes as they grow older.

beautiful analysis and well said!!

4195786 thank you! I've bene thinking about doing this for other bands that get a lot of crap in a similar way (fall out boy, panic! at the disco, owl city...)

sounds like a great idea!