Rating:
Genre:
Rock
Release Date: 06/08/2004
My Chemical Romance's 2002 debut was a particularly strident entry in that shifty genre of bands tortuously slamming together elements of
emo,
hardcore, and even
metal. Rightly signed to a larger label (in this case,
Reprise Records),
MCR has returned in 2004 with
Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge. With the aid of production major-leaguer
Howard Benson, they've edited the slight rookie excesses of
I Brought You My Bullets You Brought Me Your Love, resulting in a rewarding, pretty damn relentless product. Ghosts wander through this
Sweet Revenge, and the blood-stained lovers of its cover are no joke. "Would I die for you? Well here's your answer in spades...Got you in my sights,"
Gerard Way wails in
"Hang 'Em High." There's also cinematic concepting here -- "The story of a man. A woman. And the corpses of a thousand evil men..." the liners intone.
"You Know What They Do to Guys Like Us in Prison" begins "In the middle of a gunfight/In the center of a restaurant." Musically the cut's claustrophobic, messy, and juiced with adrenaline, just like the Tokyo crime caper shootout it was probably inspired by. Picture antiheroes leaping sideways with twin pistols blaring -- in slow motion, you know -- and you're close. Put an old
At the Drive-In record on in the background, and suddenly you're shot in the arm and down to your last clip. Economic, treble-kicking production, consistently hyper, "Let's get to the next note NOW!" instrumentation, and great thematic songwriting --
Three Cheers teems with the influences
MCR shares with its peers, but recent efforts from fellow travelers
Thursday and
A.F.I. don't have this furious immediacy, this coarseness that's so appealing.
My Chemical Romance seems to have built-in restrictive bindings that prevent it from flying off the handle into quiet-loud screamo stereotyping or odd-bird stopovers into
choral parts or maudlin piano. Something like
"Ghost of You" might slow the pace, but it doesn't touch the railing guitars or inventively explosive drumming. Album highlights include the propulsive chain shots
"Give 'Em Hell Kid" and
"To the End," where layers of vocals increase urgency over modernist
post-punk, or the raucous
"Thank You for the Venom." There's no question of
Reprise's high hopes for
My Chemical Romance and
Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge. But its accessibility pays tribute to anger and bullet holes in black leather.
~Johnny Loftus, All Music Guide
Average Review:
Number of reviews: 2
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savedbymcr
from los angles,ca
read this to help you understand more
best c.d. i own, i have listened to this one at least one hundred times. it is amazing, this c.d. is like therapy. if i have a proplem i listen to this and it helps me. but please don't only listen to Helena, or I'm not okay (i promise) or the Ghost of You, listen to the whole thing.
Ashley
from PA
You Should Listen
When you hear the name My Chemical Romance, you think of another dark, depressing band.
But My Chemical Romance has helped many people and has brought new ways of writing and performing music to the public eye. Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge is an amazing cd. It helps calm me and clear my mind, and it make me feels like someone else understands me. This is a great cd, and you should give it a chance. The whole cd is amazing, and I probably wouldn't be here if it wasn't for this band
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