The Black Parade [Edited] by My Chemical Romance

As a teenager, I always said I wondered what music would be like when I had teenagers. I grew up in the 1980s to The Cure, Depeche Mode, and other "alternative" bands. My son's now a teen and I'm experiencing today's music from a new frame of mind.

My Chemical Romance's "The Black Parade" is actually an incredible album. It's lyrics are catchy enough that I really enjoy it. The lead singer, Gerard Way, is able to drop and raise his pitch fluidly. On another note, I read once that Way was an accountant who tossed his job aside for something he loved--music. (NOTE: It was pointed out to me that Gerard was in fact an artist. I went back to the magazine I saw it in and it vaguely says "Way was a former accountant." Turns out they meant Gerard's brother. So I stand corrected.) If there was truth to this story, I have to say he's a man I admire. Risky move, but it really paid off.

In "The Black Parade" some of the words are rather depressing, the entire album is about death. Rumors are that Way has a theory about death being the best point in your life. While I'm not sure I agree, I do have to say his theory would make death much easier to handle from the standpoint that many fear that last moment. In essence, he creates a musical written by a dying man.

1. The End - As the heart monitor beeps slowly, the melodic song about a young man's reflection on his death bed begins. The bitterness is what I catch straight off. Whoever this fictional dying character is, he's not happy that the end is here.

2. Dead! - Now that the flatline has hit the tempo kicks up. It is at this point that I usually see rolling eyes from my son who can't believe mom will be-bop to Emo music, but it's catchy so I'm not going to fight the beat!

3. How I Disappear - In my day (sounds like an old person's statement), Iron Maiden was the music for headbanging. "How I Disappear" is one of those songs that seems perfect for headbanging. The heavy guitar and drum beats blend seamlessly with the song about a person who is now dead and realizes he's all alone.

4. The Sharpest Lives - Guitar and bass riffs hit quickly as Gerard Way kicks in with his vocals. It is with "The Sharpest Lives" that you start to pick up the character's discomfort with his death. He is starting to reflect back through the good and bad and from what you get this aspect is harder than his actual death. "Give me a shot to remember, so you can't take all the pain away from me. One kiss and I will remember..."

5. Welcome To The Black Parade - This was the big hit off the album. It opens very softly with piano medley. Way begins singing about the character's memories over going a parade with his father in his childhood. This "memory" is replayed over and over through the opening until the marching rhythm kicks in and the anger over being what his father called a "saviour" kicks in.

6. I Don't Love You - Another slower song with a strong guitar rhythm playing along with drums. It's kind of a sad song about falling out of love.

7. House Of Wolves - With this song, I really hear the punk influence the band must have had. It's got a wickedly fast tempo and while not one of my favorite tracks, there is the bass rhythm that surprisingly reminds me of the Stray Cats.

8. Cancer - Another slower song that portrays the realization that death from cancer is nearing--drying lips, hair is falling out, the need to call up family members to prepare them. And as the character is young, he lists his regret--not living to become married.

8. Mama - Liza Minelli makes an appearance on this track. The story is that Gerard Way's grandmother was a huge Minelli fan, so he asked and she agreed. It's a pretty emotional look at a mother's grief and a son's pain knowing he can't do a think to stop it.

9. Sleep - "Sleep" starts with the piano again. Muted vocals discuss the impending fear of death and the sensations going through the character's body. As he is dying, he fights the sensation to go to sleep.

10. Teenagers - I've never been quite sure how "Teenagers" fits into the scheme of things. The song is catchy not doubt, but there is truth to the lyrics. "Teenagers scare the living ---- out of me. They could care less as long as someone will bleed..." or "The boys and girls in the clique...What you've got under your shirt. We'll make them pay for the things that they did." I only wish kids could listen to this song and realize that high school shootings solve nothing. The rock beat in the middle with cowbell always lightens the mood, however.

11. Disenchanted - My favorite track on the album. Acoustic guitar opens it. With the second set of lines, the tempo picks up and drums and electric guitars enter the picture. The chorus is very melodic and sad.

12. Famous Last Words - Perhaps bittersweet, the album ends with the character seeing the light both mentally and physically and realizing it is time to move on and accept his death. The music is catchy and the lyrics are the perfect way to end the story. It's my second favorite track.

Bonus Song: Blood - It has to be just me, but every time I hear this song, I envision mosquitoes swarming for the kill. Perhaps it is because it was summer when I first listened to the album and around here summer equals swarms of mosquitoes so the line "Give them blood, blood gallons of the stuff" always springs to mind. It's a unique song, quite old-fashioned in nature, but catchy nonetheless.