Music means different things for different people. For some, good music is defined by how easy it is to dance to. Maybe for others, it serves better as nice background noise. Primarily, the music industry seems to enjoy promoting formulaic tracks and airbrushed artists with average skills and, out of convenience, the average person accepts and listens. However, for some, music is a form of art and a matter of expressing something of authenticity and weight.
Following the attacks of September 11, art student Gerard Way began to reassess his priorities in life. With a transformed mindset, he realized it was time to put aside the things he was working on and start doing something that mattered. For him, that manifested as the need to start a band and create a means of communication. With the core group of singer Gerard Way, lead guitarist Ray Toro, rhythm guitarist Frank Iero, bassist Mikey Way, and varying drummers over the years, the band “My Chemical Romance” was created.
From the birth of the group, the intent to create and communicate authenticity never wavered. When asked what made them special or what purpose they served, they explained it was their goal to save lives by communicating a message. They wanted people like themselves to feel heard and understood.
With an underground following at first, they released their first record I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love. Brimming with energy and raw emotion, the frustration, guilt, and desperation ring through with aggressive vocals and heavy guitars. With the post-hardcore sound and rough language, it may not be everyone’s cup of tea but it communicates the emotions and message the best way possible. If you listen closely, the beginnings of a story are riddled throughout some of the tracks.
Their second record, Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge, wasn’t as harsh and allowed them to develop the story that began in the first record. It told of the Demolition Lovers being separated by death and the struggle to reunite. Adorned in black and red, the group’s performances were built on pure energy and a very active crowd. The group gained a much larger fan base that continued to grow.
When they released their third record, The Black Parade–their riskiest and most ambitious album–they were at the top of their career. Always having a knack for theatrics, they brought it to a whole new level. At the beginning of their shows it would be announced that My Chemical Romance couldn’t perform and instead, the new, unheard of group, The Black Parade, would play in their place. With singer Way wheeled onstage in a gurney, the dramatic stage show began. With the combination of all the members in black and white marching band costumes and the boundless vitality of everyone present, the Black Parade experience was memorable, to say the least.
After scrapping an album, they released Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys. With an aesthetic very different from their darker, black-clad history, they introduced a world of daring color and life. The story of Danger Days told of a post-apocalyptic California set in 2019, about a rebel group known as the “Killjoys”. Guitarist Ray Toro has described it as being more thematic than story-based. Guitarist Frank Iero said that the Killjoys and, in turn, the group were fighting against an idea rather than an entity. Singer Way elaborated saying it was a rebellion against themselves and modern rock culture that indicated the need to clean themselves up and conform to what was expected. With the same power and fire, the group featured new wave influences for the first time in their career.
Guitarist Frank Iero mentioned in an interview that he had an idea that the group would record two records, release one of them, and put the other away so when the band broke up, it would be the last My Chem record. This statement didn’t get too much attention so nobody considered the announcement of Conventional Weapons’ release in that context. The group released two songs every month for five months. True to Iero’s word and much to the surprise and shock of the fans, the group announced their disbandment on March 22, 2013, through a statement released on their website.
After their disbandment, the group released a greatest hits album titled May Death Never Stop You. The album featured an unreleased song called Fake Your Death. A few years later they came out with a reissue of their record The Black Parade combined with a release of eleven demos and live tracks which allowed the additional title of Living With Ghosts.
If you consider it, some of those names are interesting and could lead to suspicion. May Death Never Stop You? Fake Your Death? Living With Ghosts? Yeah, maybe a bit suspicious. Along with this, fans knew of the members’ admiration of the Smashing Pumpkins and also recalled singer Way’s declaration of My Chemical Romance following the career pattern of the Smashing Pumpkins. To be exact, that would mean being together for twelve years which stood true for both groups. The Smashing Pumpkins went on a six-year hiatus before reforming. Six years following My Chemical Romance’s disbandment lined up to be 2019, the same year their record Danger Days was set in. The theories (or facts?) were known casually by some fans but many didn’t believe it to be anything more than funny coincidences.
But on Halloween of 2019, My Chemical Romance announced the tickets to a reunion show would go on sale in twenty-four hours. The show would be held on December 20, 2019, in California, exactly like their Danger Days concept. Along with the announcement of the show, the phrase “Like Phantoms Forever…” was used in the caption. The meaning of the statement is unknown but some believe it to be the name of a new record.
Once the countdown was over and tickets were available, the show sold out in a matter of four minutes. I think it’s safe to say they have a committed fan base. The group announced dates in New Zealand, Australia, and Japan a few days later but they have yet to announce any other shows in America.
The reforming of My Chemical Romance has come as a shock for everybody, even those who held out and theorized. When the band broke up, singer Way said that he didn’t feel that My Chemical Romance was needed anymore and that they weren’t fighting for anything like they used to. The reunion seems to indicate that they’re ready once again, much to the excitement and relief of fans.
What’s always separated My Chemical Romance from the rest of the music industry was how fully they believed in what they were doing. It was never about fame, success, or attention. To them, it’s always been about connecting to people and making them feel heard and understood. It was about sharing a message that they believed in so truly that they couldn’t keep it to themselves. What the group represents is more than a sound or an image. It’s a feeling and, according to Way, it’s not a band. It’s an idea.
“It’s okay to love something a little much, as long as it’s real to you.”
Gerard Way
Little Bit of All That 