My Chemical Romance
My Chemical Romance |
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My Chemical Romance is an American rock band that formed in 2001. The members as of today are Gerard Way, Ray Toro, Frank Iero, Mikey Way, and Bob Bryar, who replaced original drummer Matt Pelissier.
Biography
Early career (2001–2002)
The band was formed by frontman Gerard Way and ex-drummer Matt Pelissier around a week after the September 11, 2001 attacks. Gerard had witnessed the planes crashing into the World Trade Center. It influenced his life to the extent that he decided to start a band. Gerard wrote the song "Skylines and Turnstiles" to express his feelings about September 11th. Shortly thereafter, Ray Toro was called up and asked to join the band because at the time Gerard couldn't sing and play the guitar at the same time.[2]
The first recording sessions were done in Matt's attic, where the songs "Our Lady of Sorrows" (formerly called "Bring More Knives") and "Cubicles" were recorded. Mikey Way, the younger brother of Gerard, loved the demo so much that he decided to join the band.[2]
My Chemical Romance was signed with Eyeball Records and played in the same room as Pencey Prep and Thursday. It was there that the band met Frank Iero, the lead vocalist and guitarist for Pencey Prep. After Pencey Prep broke up in 2001/2002, Frank became a guitarist for My Chemical Romance, just days before the band's debut album was recorded.[2]
Three months after the formation of the band they recorded their debut album, I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love, subsequently released in 2002 on Eyeball Records. Despite only joining the band a few days before the album recording sessions began, Frank Iero played guitar on two of the tracks, one of them being "Early Sunsets Over Monroeville".
Mainstream breakthrough (2003–2006)
In 2003, the band signed a deal with Reprise Records. Following a tour with Avenged Sevenfold, the band began work on their second album, entitled Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge. Released in 2004, the album went platinum within a year. The band released three singles from the album: "I'm Not Okay (I Promise)", "Helena" and "The Ghost of You".
It was during this time that the band replaced their drummer, Matt Pelissier with Bob Bryar, after they went to Japan in July 2004. The true nature of Pelissier's departure was due to an argument with band member Ray Toro as a result of mistakes made by the drummer during live performances.
At the start of 2005, the band was directly supported on the first ever Taste of Chaos tour, and was also the opening act for Green Day on the American Idiot tour. During the summer, they headlined Warped Tour 2005 with Fall Out Boy. Later that year, My Chemical Romance co-headlined and headlined their own tour with Alkaline Trio and Reggie and the Full Effect around the US.
That same year, My Chemical Romance and The Used collaborated on a cover of the David Bowie and Queen classic, "Under Pressure" that was released as a benefit single on iTunes and other Internet outlets.
On March 21, 2006, a 2 DVD/1 CD set entitled Life on the Murder Scene was released. It includes one DVD chronicling the band's history, and a second DVD with music videos, the making of their videos, and a couple of live performances. An unauthorized biography DVD Things That Make You Go MMM! was also released on June 27, 2006. The DVD does not actually feature any My Chemical Romance music clips or performances, but contains interviews with those who knew the band before much of their fame.[3]
The band started recording their third studio album on April 10, 2006 with Rob Cavallo, producer of many of Green Day's albums.[4][5]
It was originally thought to be titled The Rise and Fall of My Chemical Romance, but in an interview with Kerrang! magazine, Gerard Way suggested this was just the album's working title, stating "It was never the title of the album, more a spoof, or joke."[6]
On August 3, 2006, the band finished shooting the videos for their first two singles from the album, "Welcome to the Black Parade" and "Famous Last Words", to be released on January 22, 2007.[7] The video was directed by Sam Bayer, director of Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and Green Day's American Idiot videos.[8]
During the shoot for "Famous Last Words", band members Gerard Way and Bob Bryar were injured. Way suffered torn ligaments in his ankle, and Bryar a burn to the leg which caused a severe staph infection that needed constant monitoring in hospital. Consequently, the band was forced to cancel a few tour dates. While these injuries were reported by several news agencies to have been the result of a car accident, a statement released by the band on their website and MySpace page has confirmed that these injuries occurred on the set of the video.[9]
The Black Parade (August 2006–present)
A biography titled Something Incredible This Way Comes was released, written by Paul Stenning (Published in 2006). It features their beginnings, right through to The Black Parade. On August 22, 2006, the band played a special one-off show at the 1800-capacity London Hammersmith Palais. The show sold out in 15 minutes prompting tickets being sold on eBay well over the tickets' face value. The name of the album they promoted was announced and 20 people dressed in black capes with their faces obscured paraded around Hammersmith, followed by a large group of fans and street team members with signs saying "The Black Parade". Later during the show the album title and the UK release date were confirmed. Prior to the band taking the stage it was announced that My Chemical Romance were unable to play, but they would be replaced by "The Black Parade". After initial crowd hostility it became clear the band were simply performing under a pseudonym in keeping with the theme of the album. When the set began, the backdrop art displayed the words "The Black Parade".
On September 2, 2006, My Chemical Romance posted "Welcome to the Black Parade" on their MySpace page and their PureVolume page.[9] "Welcome to the Black Parade" had its first radio airing on September 11, 2006. On September 26, 2006 the "Welcome to the Black Parade" music video was released in the UK, and on September 27 in the US.[6]
On October 12, 2006, My Chemical Romance made a rare in-store performance to 500 fans at Virgin Megastores on London's Oxford Street. In order to get wristbands for the event, many fans slept outside the shop the previous night. British band Towers of London caused trouble at the event when the Towers guitarist, Dirk Tourette, allegedly flicked a cigarette butt at Bob Bryar while he was performing.[10] "Welcome to the Black Parade" reached number one on October 15, 2006, on the UK Singles Chart, giving them their first number one.
The Black Parade was released on October 23, 2006 in the United Kingdom and on October 24 in the United States.
On October 21, 2006 My Chemical Romance made their first appearance on Saturday Night Live as the musical guests where they played "Welcome to the Black Parade" and "Cancer". My Chemical Romance performed "Famous Last Words" on top of the Pontiac Building on MTV's New Year's Special.
They played six dates from January 19 to February 4, 2007 in the world renowned Big Day Out festival in Australia and New Zealand. Gerard Way commented that the band would be returning to New Zealand at the 2007 Big Day Out in Auckland.[citation needed] The Black Parade World Tour started on February 22, 2007, with Rise Against, Thursday and Muse as support acts[11]. At the first concert of the tour in Manchester, New Hampshire, My Chemical Romance announced the addition of Reggie and the Full Effect frontman James Dewees, who will play keyboards/synth on the tour. On March 12, 2007, the band appeared on the The Tonight Show with Jay Leno as the host. They played their single, "Famous Last Words" at the ending of the show as flames were bursting behind them.
My Chemical Romance received many positive and negative accolades. In Kerrang! magazine, issue 1138, My Chemical Romance won the following categories in the 2006 poll: Best Band, Worst Band, Best Album (The Black Parade), Worst Album (The Black Parade), Best Track ("Welcome to the Black Parade"), Best Video ("Welcome to the Black Parade"), Best Live Show, Best Thing About 2006, Worst Thing About 2006, Hero of 2006 (Gerard Way), Villain of 2006 (Gerard Way), and Sexiest Male (Gerard Way). Also, in issue 1139, Kerrang! rated The Black Parade as the 4th Greatest Album of 2006. In Rolling Stone magazine's ranking of the top 50 albums of 2006, The Black Parade was voted the 20th best album of the year. My Chemical Romance won the award for "Best International Band" at the 2007 NME Awards. Gerard also won the "Hero of the Year" award.[12]
On April 2, My Chemical Romance released "I Don't Love You" as their third single from The Black Parade album. This single was a UK only release. To coincide with this release date, the band performed an exclusive gig for BBC Radio 1 at the KOKO venue in London[13]. Tickets were made exclusively available as competition prizes. The show was broadcast live on Radio 1 and was broadcast later on BBC 2.
In May, My Chemical Romance headlined the first day of New Jersey's annual rock festival, The Bamboozle.[14] The band has headlined the festival in past years. They are also confirmed to play at Oxegen '07 in Ireland in July.
My Chemical Romance will also be headlining Friday night of the Download Festival in 2007. Festival organisers were criticized by many fans of the festival who felt did the band failed to fit the rock/metal festival, and the official announcement[15] received thousands of negative responses to the choice.
My Chemical Romance will be one of the many bands that will be performing on day 1 of "The Virgin Festival" An annual concert held in Canada and the US. They will be opening on May 20th for the show.[citation needed]
My Chemical Romance will be a part of Linkin Park's Projekt Revolution tour this summer[1], along with, Placebo, Mindless Self Indulgence, Saosin, Taking Back Sunday, HIM, and of course, Linkin Park. According to a radio interview (WXDX - Pittsburgh) with Linkin Park's DJ Joe Hahn, the band plans to announce official dates on their Website in early May.
The band recently announced that the next single to be released will be "Teenagers", which was to be released on May 1st, 2007 according to FMQB. The date was then further pushed to May 15, 2007, FMQB has since stated the single is already out.[16] Also, several photos from the making of "Teenagers" music video have been leaked onto Buzznet.[17] On May 8, 2007, a short clip of the song was shown in Linkin Park's 3-minute Projekt Revolution trailer on YouTube (which is seen here). About 55 seconds into the trailer, it shows a 30 second portion of My Chemical Romance performing "Welcome to the Black Parade", "Famous Last Words", and "Teenagers" music videos. More recently on TRL, it was announced that the video would be airing on Tuesday, May 29th, 2007. This has since been pushed back to Thursday, May 31st, 2007.
On April 19 2007, it was announced that Mikey Way would temporarily leave My Chemical Romance's current tour to spend time with his new wife Alicia Simmons/Way. Mikey's temporary replacement is Matt Cortez, a tech, and friend of the band.[18]
During the third leg of The Black Parade World Tour with support act Muse, members of My Chemical Romance band and crew and members of Muse’s crew were struck by food poisoning, thus canceling six shows.[19]
On May 21st, 2007, Muse announced that My Chemical Romance will be the main support at Wembley Stadium on Sunday, June 17th, 2007. [20]
Musical style
The band's music has been described variously by the media as "alternative rock", "emo", "pop punk",[21] "post-hardcore"[21] and "punk revival".[21] The band themselves described their music as simply "rock" or "violent, dangerous pop" on their official website,[22] as well as rejecting the term "emo"[23] to describe their style. Another source quotes Gerard stating they are "What-else-ya-got-emo".[2]
My Chemical Romance cite their main influences as Queen, Thursday, Iron Maiden, The Misfits, Pink Floyd,[24] and Morrissey/The Smiths.[25] Geoff Rickly, the lead singer of Thursday, has also compared them to Ink & Dagger.[2] Growing up, they were also very influenced by horror films and comic books, and therefore their music, lyrics, and image all have overt elements of fantasy, storytelling, horror, and theatricality.
Criticism
My Chemical Romance was among the first bands to achieve prominence by offering free downloads through PureVolume[26] and the social networking site MySpace, where MCR gathered its first few thousand fans.[27] The band has clearly grown well beyond those initial numbers, expanding their fan base beyond the typical fans of their musical style and direction,[28] partially helped by the more mainstream sound of their 2004 album, Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge. MCR are sometimes maligned by the "grassroots" fans, for the expanded fan base, due to attracting fans they claim are "dirty great bummers", after the release of Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge. Due to the increased amount of new fans, some of the old fanbase considers the band a "sellout" and the new MCR fans "poseurs". The fans are particularly vocal on online forums.[29][30]
In October 2006, the British Indie Rock band Kasabian criticized My Chemical Romance, labelling them "clowns" and "emo kids" who "don't have anything positive to say" and "should get out more and try and have a good time instead."[31]
My Chemical Romance played the main stage at the 2006 Reading and Leeds Festival—this was the largest show they have ever played in the UK. According to issue 221 of Alternative Press, they followed thrash metal band Slayer and were not received warmly by the crowd at Reading, as the band was subjected to heavy bottling. Large sections of the audience threw bacon, tangerines, golf balls, and bottles filled with urine at the group as they played.[32]
Relationship with The Used
The Used is known to have both a personal and a professional relationship with My Chemical Romance. My Chemical Romance and The Used have covered "Under Pressure" (originally by David Bowie and Queen) in concert on multiple occasions. Bert McCracken also sings on the track "You Know What They Do To Guys Like Us In Prison," from My Chemical Romance's Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge. On My Chemical Romance's DVD, Life on the Murder Scene, the band's manager, Brian Schecter, states that he introduced the two bands to each other, as he had once been The Used's tour manager.
In recent months, however, the two lead singers of both bands seem to have had a dispute involving the addition of "Under Pressure" to The Used's In Love and Death.
In an interview with Blender, Gerard Way talks about the last time he and Bert McCracken crossed paths, during the San Diego stop of Warped Tour 2005. "It was really unfortunate," says Way. "We were about to take the stage and he was standing with a megaphone trying to get kids not to watch us. We just hit the feedback and drowned him out."[33]
MCRmy
The MCRmy (pronounced MC-army), or 'Rmy', is a publicity street team for the band My Chemical Romance, which helps in bringing friends to the shows, convincing friends to buy band merchandise, phoning local radio stations to request the band's songs, putting up posters, posting to band forums or related bulletin boards online, and maintaining zines or websites dedicated to the band. Members even went as far to organise parades in the streets before the release of The Black Parade.
Originally the street team went by the name "Unleash the Bats" or "UTB" as it was shortened to, which is a line from the inside cover of the first album, I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love. Sometime later the street team began calling themselves the "MCRmy" and referring to themselves as "Soldiers of the MCRmy".[34] The street team is run by Warner Bros.
The community of members work closely and take pride in the "family" community that they have created around the similar interest of one band. Due to the overwhelming support that members of the street team offer each other, the MCRmy medics was created in 2007 as a support system for those who need to talk to someone about their problems, but have no one else to turn too. The street team also offers Local Teams to which members can ask to be a part of. The teams are run by a Lieutenant who organises promotion in their area's with the aid of their team.
Band members
Current members
- Gerard Way - vocals (2001-present)
- Ray Toro - lead guitar, backing vocals (2001-present)
- Frank Iero - rhythm guitar, backing vocals (2002-present)
- Mikey Way - bass (on hiatus[35]) (2001-2007)
- Bob Bryar - drums (2004-present)
The Black Parade World Tour members
- Matt Cortez - replacement bassist (2007-present)
- James Dewees - keyboard (2007-present)
Former members
- Matt Pelissier - drums (2001-2004)
Discography
Studio albums
| Album Cover | Date of Release | Title | Label | U.S. Billboard Peak | U.S. sales |
| File:Ibroughtyoumybullets.jpg | July 23, 2002 | I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love | Eyeball Records | ||
| June 8, 2004 | Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge | Reprise Records | #28[36] | Double Platinum | |
| File:Life on the murder scene.jpg | March 21, 2006 | Life on the Murder Scene | Reprise Records | #30[36] | Gold |
|
October 23, 2006 (International) October 24, 2006 (U.S.) October 28, 2006 (Australia) |
The Black Parade | Reprise Records | #2[36] | Platinum |
References
- ^ http://www.vh1.com/artists/news/1540817/09132006/my_chemical_romance.jhtml
- ^ a b c d e Simon, Leslie (2004). "Art Imitates Life – My Chemical Romance" (html). Alternative Press Magazine. Alternative Press. Retrieved 2006-12-23.
- ^ "Things That Make You Go MMM Product info". cduniverse.com.
- ^ "Upcoming Albums". Pause & Play.
- ^ "My Chemical Romance". Punknews.org.
- ^ a b "The Black Parade". Theblackparade.com.
- ^ http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/discography/index.jsp?pid=489806&aid=812296
- ^ "My Chemical Romance". VideoStatic.
- ^ a b "My Chemical Romance News". Mychemicalromance.com. Cite error: The named reference "mychemicalromance" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
- ^ "My Chemical Romance News". nme.
- ^ http://www.alternativepress.com/news/archive/page_7.htm
- ^ NME Awards Winners of 2007
- ^ "Radio 1 presents... My Chemical Romance". BBC Radio 1.
- ^ "Linkin Park, My Chemical Romance, Surprise 'Idol' To Rock Bamboozle '07". MTV News.
- ^ http://forums.downloadfestival.co.uk/tm.aspx?m=1216933
- ^ "Available for Airplay". FMQB. 2007-04. Retrieved 2007-04-17.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ Buzznet: Leaked images of the making of "Teenagers"
- ^ "Gerard Way's brother leaves My Chemical Romance". NME.com. 2007-04-23. Retrieved 2007-04-23.
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ Ultimate Guitar My Chemical Romance & Muse food poisoning illness during The Black Parade World Tour
- ^ http://www.nme.com/news/muse/28471
- ^ a b c "My Chemical Romance". All Music Guide.
- ^ Official website's band biography, accessed September 15, 2006.
- ^ ""I don't think Emo ever fit us ... even in the beginning ... maybe geographically but at that time, when we would play VFW halls...we were always odd man out"". music.aol.com.
- ^ Rocksound
- ^ "My Chemical Romance Bio". ArtistDirect.com.
- ^ "Music fans reach for the stars". USA Today.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ "Bands Embrace Social Networking". Wired Magazine.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ "A Mixed Set to a Mixed Crowd". Punknews.org.
- ^ "My Chemical Romance". My Chemical Slash, an MCR LiveJournal community.
- ^ "My Chemical Romance Fiction Section". Fandomination.net.
- ^ "Kasabian slam My Chemical Romance". NME.com.
- ^ "My Chemical Romance shelled by crowd". NME.com.
- ^ Greenwald, Andy (2006). "My Chemical Romance: Kings of Pain". Blender. Dennis Digital, Inc. Retrieved 2006-12-23.
- ^ "My Chemical Romance - MCRmy - Official Street Team".
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ My Chemical Romance Bassist Leaves the Band
- ^ a b c "My Chemical Romance Artist Chart History" (JSP). Billboard. Retrieved 2007-01-30.
External links
- My Chemical Romance Official Website
- The Black Parade Official Website
- Template:MySpace
- My Chemical Romance at AllMusic
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