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MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE The Black Parade (Reprise/Warner) |
 YES, there's a loose concept that runs through the record. Yes, Rob Cavallo was at the mixing console for the duration of the project. Yes, one-time Goth prince Gerard Way has skimped on the mascara this time around. But is The Black Parade, as claimed by certain quarters, really Warner's attempt at duplicating the critical and commercial success of Green Day's American Idiot? Or could it be that after two studio records that merely hinted at greatness, New Jersey's My Chemical Romance has finally arrived? Admittedly, The Black Parade is more a distillation of MCR's various influences than an original masterwork. Still, should it matter if the album was fabricated from different bits of classic LPs - among them David Bowie's Aladdin Sane and Diamond Dogs, Queen's Queen II and Sheer Heart Attack, KISS' Destroyer, Alice Cooper's Billion Dollar Babies and The Stooges' Raw Power -- or conceived in Gerard Way's warped head? And anyway, isn't all art these days derivative? However, if there is one thing that The Black Parade certainly is not, it's cliched. Of course when the lead cut is titled The End, one would hardly expect it to be. The plot/concept, which centres on the mysterious Patient (or his ghost!), may be convoluted but then it can hardly be inferior to a rock opera with a deaf, dumb and blind pinball wizard as the central character. At any rate, there's the epic grandeur of the music on offer. It's theatrical (the-vaudeville-tinged Mama which features Liza Minnelli and hidden track Blood), cinematic (Welcome to The Black Parade and Famous Last Words), heartrending (I Don't Love You, Cancer and Sleep), militant (Teenagers), hardcore (House of Wolves) and, make no mistake, extremely harrowing. Way may have opted for a blond mop top on this occasion but as someone who's danced with the Devil on countless occasions, he's not about to pretend that a little peroxide is enough to cleanse the soul. In fact, the lead singer is intent on proving that rocky horror is still the driving force of the MCR experience. Thus, while there may be scraps of optimism in the nooks and crannies of tracks like Famous Last Words, it's the overwhelming sense of desperation, tragedy and terror that makes The Black Parade a decadent, devilish delight. This is, without question, MCR's finest statement. It may even be the year's best record ! |
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