The Black Parade marches in.

After the release of their sophomore record, Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge, last year, My Chemical Romance found themselves at the forefront of the very popular emo and post-hardcore genres. Compared to their first release, I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love, Three Cheers was noticeably softer in sound, but the overall feel of the music wasnt much different. Ever since The Black Parade was announced, fans have been wondering if they were going to get another Three Cheers or an entirely different sounding album. With the actual release of The Black Parade, My Chemical Romances new record, its safe to say that this band is heading in a totally new direction. But, for a change, thats not necessarily a bad thing.

The Black Parade shares a few similarities with its predecessors. Most notably, The Black Parade is a concept album. The story involves a man with cancer, and his life from the moment he realizes hes going to die in the first track, ironically named The End, until his final moments in Famous Last Words. Luckily, although the topic itself is very dark and gloomy (we are talking about death here), the band manages to not take itself too seriously. Amongst the sometimes-painful-to-listen-to tracks such as Cancer and I Dont Love You, there are upbeat, energetic songs sprinkled throughout the album. Additionally, you could take about two songs, This Is How I Disappear and The Sharpest Lives, off this album, and they would fit perfectly on any other My Chemical Romance album. This is where the similarities end.

Let me go ahead and get one popular misconception out of the way. After listening to The Black Parade, one other band comes directly to mind: Queen. At some points in the first listen of the album, one could guess the music is coming from Queen with a new vocalist. Many critics are arguing that the new album is simply a Queen rip-off. However, the album is much more than that. My Chemical Romance manages to ascend from the rip-off category because there is a certain level of creativity in the album that makes you think, This is My Chemical Romance, although some of the songs like the Gogol Bordello-esque track, Mama, are nothing like any other material the band has ever created. However, while this similarity does not take away from the music itself, it is truly the only negative the album has, as this similarity to other artists is the only problem keeping the Black Parade from becoming a truly classic album.

When all the preconceptions and misconceptions are forgotten, the album is surprisingly good. Most of The Black Parade is single-worthy, with many of the songs having those sing-along vocals that MCR fans are used to, such as Dead! which has lyrics like And when your heart stops beating/Ill be here wondering/Did you get what you deserve? and an ending full of la la las. The albums first single Welcome to the Black Parade has another catchy chorus that sticks in the listeners mind, along with Bob Bryars solemn drums echoing in the background, for days after the initial listen. The album also has some group moments, such as the chorus in Teenagers, where Gerard and the boys explain how teenagers scare the living s#&* out of me. Throughout all of this, the guitars of Frank Iero and Ray Toro crunch and wail, although in a mainstream manner that will attract more people than the style used in their previous records. The bass in this album, provided by Gerards brother, Mikey Way, is very strong, although less prevalent than on previous albums.

My Chemical Romance has matured a lot from their earlier days. The vampires and zombies are gone from their lyrics and replaced with real life situations and feelings. Luckily, the cancer concept didnt turn the entire album into a collection of agony-centric ballads, but it made the lyrics much darker while keeping some of their signature upbeat, desperate melodies while injecting new genres into MCRs library. Overall, My Chemical Romances The Black Parade is a step in the new direction, and theyre staying on the right track.