"My Chemical Romance is this generation's Nirvana"

"I really, really dislike Ultragrrl [edited title - mod]"

is this the most moronic statement EVER:

"I find it incredibly hard to imagine that the average 35 year old rock journo can relate to MCR. But you know, it's not for them to understand or relate to. It's for them to accept, and until they do, they will be absolutely irrelevant to anyone who matters."

LMAO

MCR = streaming pile of cliched crap

by the way I am 35 !

When I was teenager I was listening to Big Black, The Pixies, Husker Du and Masters of Puppets

MCR are GRATE.

I have spotted some smart youngsters on rateyourmusic.com but they are few and far between.

When I was teenager I was listening to Big Black, The Pixies, Husker Du and Masters of Puppets

don't see why this is superior to listening to MCR, really.

This strikes home because I am a 37 year old person who works in an indie record store on a college campus and writes for two outlets that cater primarily to college-aged human beings so I do feel that I have a clue about what kids that age dig. Mainly because I ask them and observe. This isn't rocket science; I can't believe I am the only one.

just because "the kids" on "the internet" quite like them, they don't necessarily have any artistic validity. mind you, i always thought nirvana were vastly and enormously over-rated too.

xp grimy OTM

xxp etc also OTM actually because this is obviously a popular movement, but y'know my parents knew who nirvana were! I doubt MCR have that sort of recognition.

Well, why are you offering your own musical youth as a beacon unto the sheep?

They're big on myspace, but they've shifted a lot of units too, so they're popular. I'm a poptimist, and I believe that they are popular with reason.

the whole illicit (t-shirt i tried to post upthread), emily strange . . . everyone has a black hoodie these days, don't they? remember that video for that p-m0ney & scr1be goth-hop track where they had the drummer from 8 ft s4tiva (popular metal band) & the guitarist from elem3nop (chart-topping punkpop band) playing!

OTM.

FWIW the little of it I've heard repulses me not cos its boring or played out or whatever but because it is so authentically, unfilteredly, painfully, selfishly adolescent.

"Teenage Dirtbag" is funny! I guess some of this stuff is funny too. But musically it's structured more round a punchline so the funny-ness is to the fore.

I would like to see more writing about MCR and FOB and PATD and whoeverthefuck, and less writing about whateverthefuck.

I looked at the original post and comments - the Nirvana thing is a red herring and actually weakens what she's saying at the same time as the reactions to the N-reference kind of demonstrate it.

From a British perspective, Nirvana were only seen as important (onj a wider scale as opposed to a 10-out-of-10 from ET in Melody Maker scale) after they'd been on The Word.

. . . maybe I shld go & have a listen before saying anything else.

MCR are huge, just like many of their fans. Who doesn't know this?

The whole emo thing seems like millions of micro acts, and a few commercial pastiches picking up the signifiers on top (MCR).

But that's the thing. Were Tad really any more dominating to the landscape than Something Corporate are now?

OTM, but that was pre-Nevermind. Compare: Reading '92.

Another question is what does "this generation's Nirvana" mean? As someone who felt pretty in touch with the zeitgeist in 1991, left the US a few months before Nirvana broke, and returned a couple of years later and felt completely lost, I find the claim pretty hard to swallow. Beyond whatever quality judgment you may make about Nirvana, they were the poster boys for a huge change in radio and popular tastes.

Following that (Sean is actually younger than ultragrrl, if I read everything correctly) the fact that he (and I for that matter) has never heard a note of MCR suggests that their "historical" role isn't really comparable to Nirvana.

I think it's just using the sacred Nirvana cow -- I guess she doesn't like them -- that makes this controversial. If we picked a slightly different generation for comparison I think we "MCR is this generation's Bon Jovi" and it would be equally true and feel a lot less argumentative.

well, they're paid by either money earned from advertisers who want 16-year-old kids to buy their warez OR by 16-year-old kids buying their magazines. they probably have some commercial considerations in mind beyond "about music that they like and see value in".

xpost
Well, yes, obviously, but the market is larger than just 16-year-olds. Also, presumably, those commercial considerations would actually drive more media coverage (which is not necessarly the same thing as music journalism) of MCR if they were really as popular as Britney et al.

(And maybe I'm just proving that I'm 35 here, but the "commercial considerations" that drive Pitchfork and Stylus, Sean Gramophone and Matthew Fluxblog, Chuck and Xgau, Robert Hilburn and Ann Powers, etc. are very different.)

Bon Jovi were the Nirvana of hair metal.

What did occur to me was that, uh, there is this assumption that MCR "mean" s.th. to "this" generation, but when Nirvana were active & Cobain alive, I don't recall them "meaning" anything like that to the equivalent generation back then, though obviously layers of "meaning" have been applied to Nirvana & Cobain in the intervening years. Perhaps.

I've heard MCR on the radio a bit, but I didn't think they were particularly, well, particularly anything, really. Then again, I'm 40 and I like Hawkwind.

HOLY SHIT THANK YOU BRAD!

Wow, wasn't expecting this. Cool song, goes back to the Three Cheers-era sound a bit. I loved pretty much everything I've heard from this band from Three Cheers on and I hope hope hope there is a new album coming

Surprisingly good

oh wow this is pretty fantastic! gerard’s vocals are weirdly buried in the mix though (not that I’m complaining, I kinda prefer it like this?)

it’s like a polished version of their Bullets era, right up to the 9/11 references

Very, very good indeed.

gerard’s vocals are weirdly buried in the mix though (not that I’m complaining, I kinda prefer it like this?)

Vocals were pretty low in Hesitant Alien, although that was a while ago now. Then he did that black metal thing a couple months ago.

i don't know why i resisted i brought you my bullets for so long. i've definitely listened to it more than a few times, but it's only now dawning on me what an emo classic it is

i think from three cheers-on they become more distinguished, more of their own thing that i can't get other versions of, but also: they started off with an awesome regular-ass emo album

more of their own thing

That's the thing about Bullets for me - it's really good, but it reminds me so much of bands that I was already a fan of, like Thrice and Thursday and Saves the Day.

New song doesn't do anything for me.

I never quite got the appeal of this band and it's crazy to me that they've become so huge, esp in 2022. I was much more of an AFI guy haha

I HATED Welcome To The Black Parade back in the day. Detested.

But then I met Gerard and he's a darling. He was interviewing Grant Morrison, who I was fortunate to have accompanied reading a prose poem on stage @ the Opera House (I improvised cello + laptop) and various MCR fans contacted me afterwards saying they loved it. Aww. [Sincere apologies for this humblebrag]
I also really liked Gerard's reboot of Doom Patrol, I must admit.

So I went into this with an open mind and yeah, it's a great song. Nice one.

That’s really cool, raven! WTTBP also kept me from checking them out for years though I always thought “Helena” and “I’m Not OK” were jams. Finally won me over just before the reunion.

anyway, even cranky mfs like Billy Corgan have nothing bad to say about Gerard - SP posted this on their tiktok yesterday lol

goin through the discog

this is the greatest band of all time

i reach that conclusion once i hit "the sharpest lives" on the black parade every time

looks like they performed Boy Division at their first gig on tour <3

I like that article, and I also like that it reiterates the claim that launched this thread 16 years ago.

(The Annie Zeleski article, I mean.)

love this new track - goddamn they still know how to do a big fuckoff chorus <3

I remember the buzz around their first album (I Brought You My Bullets) and just thinking kinda..."meh". The buildup for Three Cheers was kind of interesting as the major label signing was out of left field for me. Definitely some jams on that one. The Black Parade kinda took me by surprise (in a good way) with its almost classic rock theatrics. I was really interested in the proto-punk album they were supposed to put out, which I think came out later as Conventional Weapons. The Danger Days album did very little for me and they kinda just fizzled after that. Anyway that's been my journey with MCR and it's been wild to see how much nostalgia there is for them. Maybe I'll see them at When We Were Young or the Forum, but I ain't paying top dollar. lol

i started listening to some of frank iero's stuff recently and my impression was that the guy can't sing or write lyrics worth a damn, but he's a massive part of why MCR is so good - stylistically all over the place but really great at song structures, choruses, playing around with riffs and rhythms.

gerard gets a lot of credit obviously, but i think it's the combo of him and frank that really makes the band work

Brought You My Bullets didn't really hook me but I honestly feel the band hasn't placed a wrong foot since. like not just the albums, but the Conventional Weapons releases, Mad Gear and Missile Kid, Black Parade b-sides... I love it all. Hesitant Alien just as good, but some of Gerard's recent singles aren't quite at the same level

absolutely hilarious and great and very much in character: https://www.them.us/story/my-chemical-romance-merch-tramp-stamp-shirt

Awesome. That's very sweet.

Here's a fan video of the live debut of Foundations of Decay (the channel also has videos of many more songs from the concert). Some unfortunate audience singing basically drowning out Gerard.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkl8_vs6tl4

The thing about this song is that on my first listen, I was like, ok, this is good. Maybe not the best MCR song I've ever heard, but it's definitely a return to form. Only listened to it a handful of times on the day it came out because I haven't been on an MCR tangent lately. But then a few days later, the chorus popped back into my head out of nowhere, which I took as a good sign.

listening to conventional weapons today, still think they were right to shelve it, but there are so many incredible hooks on it ("boy division," "ambulance, "gun.") that i'm glad they put it out anyway. imo the bare bones garage rock approach gets ropier the further they get into ballad territory

even then i'm just getting picky, like i don't think "the world is ugly" has the impact it intends but i don't really hate any of this band's songs

ugh i cannot deny it, danger days is still my favorite

from "save yourself" on it is just a steady program of the best songs ever

“Ambulance” is soo good, it’s their Jimmy Eat World moment.

have you heard the earlier version of “the world is ugly” Brad? there are one or two performances on YouTube from 2008 or so. it doesn’t have the verses from CW, basically launches straight into the chorus and a different bridge and is all the better for it.

anyway it seems like they’re switching up the setlists on this tour and playing a ton of CW and other deep cuts - “Surrender the Night”, “Make Room!!!” and “Boy Division” on day 1, “Mastas of Ravenkroft” on day 2

i have mixed feelings about the tour version of "the world is ugly" as it is clearly an unfinished song but is also gorgeous and feels like it points toward a post-rockier path the band ultimately didn't take

'cause you only live forever in the lights you make
when we were young we used to say
that you only hear the music when your heart begins to break
now we are the kids from yesterday

;_;

<3

i've never listened to the danger days b-sides before!!! uhhhh these songs are all great!!!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zU_QjjjyCs

yo!!!! i love it when this band pretends to be the pixies

I haven’t heard the DD b-sides or other rarities either, will get there at some point.

Mostly just still in awe at how good “The Foundations of Decay” is esp as (as noted upthread) aside from Hesitant Alien, their respective solo output hasn’t been impressive. some kind of magical band chemistry.

oh roz you gotta hear "kill all your friends" if you haven't

oh that one I have!!

It's amusing how blatant they were with their hero worship too - Gerard's vocal runs at the end of "The Sharpest Lives" are a pitch perfect impression of Matt Bellamy/Muse, who I suspect he was listening to a lot while they were recording this. But not terrible! One of their best choruses. And then there's like "Kill All Your Friends" which is so clearly "Where is My Mind?" run through a Britpop filter lol.

― Roz, Tuesday, 16 June 2020 22:05 (one year ago) bookmarkflaglink

yo!!!! i love it when this band pretends to be the pixies

― flamenco drop (BradNelson), Wednesday, May 18, 2022 10:47 AM (twenty-two minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

I will listen to that tmr! am actually about to go bed - it’s late here in Asia

for an NJ band, they do have a lot of songs about California though lol

I always appreciated how in the Quietus interview for Danger Days they mentioned being huge Suede nerds, which I approve of greatly.

it just makes sense

Lol did not realize they are an East coast band. I also assumed they were from California, since like RHCP, they sing about it so much

imo the bare bones garage rock approach gets ropier the further they get into ballad territory

I'm not sure if you were also referring to "The Light Behind Your Eyes", but it's probably my favorite track from Conventional Weapons, even if it's a bit of a misfit with the other material. I also like "The World is Ugly" but they've done some better songs in that style on other albums

yo!!!! i love it when this band pretends to be the pixies

― flamenco drop (BradNelson), Wednesday, May 18, 2022 10:47 AM (twenty-two minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

ok i have heard this now - omg even gerard's singing style on this lmao! it IS great though

Ned, MCR are massive Anglophiles - they've covered Blur and Pulp in the past, some of their songs reference Smiths lyrics, so being into Suede is completely unsurprising

I mean Gerard's early hair was "I think I'm Robert Smith" so I should damn well hope they're Anglophiles!

one nice thing about getting into this band so late is discovering how quietly revolutionary they've always been

so easy for ppl to dismiss them as a band for preteen girls back in the day, but i can't imagine how incredible it must have been for a preteen girl who was into pop-punk/emo to have seen gerard way say this in 2005:

"If you ever see shitty ass rock dudes in shitty ass rock bands asking you to show them your tits for backstage passes, I want you to spit right in their fucking faces and yell FUCK YOU!"pic.twitter.com/wV1ddK2XGX

— grace (@vintageemisery) January 7, 2020

lots more examples like that in the twitter thread

gerard looking absolutely adorable performing “Mama” in a cheerleader’s outfit <3

THIS IS THE BEST MOMENT OF MY LIFE pic.twitter.com/0ulEMYGEMR

— nati | mcr in 3 days (@nataliawraggm) August 24, 2022

lol. God bless him. Wish I had tickets.

My daughter was at the show last night in Nashville. She's never been much of a concertgoer but would have run through a brick wall to get to this one, and I gather it totally delivered.

Lucky her! Definitely looked like it was a total blast

Touring The Black Parade in 2025.

But I'm wondering why they now look like they just signed to Captured Tracks:

https://media.pitchfork.com/photos/67339a724c93b602d071a657/2:1/w_1920,c_limit/My-Chemical-Romance.jpeg

oh man i really would love to see that tour hmmmm

their list of tour openers/guests is kinda o_O:

Violent Femmes
100 Gecs
Wallows
Garbage
Death Cab for Cutie and Thursday
Alice Cooper
Pixies
Devo
Idles
Evanescence

fans are speculating that it’s new music/a TBP sequel, not just a tour based on the note that came with their announcement:

It has been seventeen years since The Black Parade was sent to the MOAT. In that time, a great Dictator has risen to power, bringing about “THE CONCRETE AGE”; a glorious time of stability and abundance in the history of DRAAG. His Grand Immortal Dictator wishes to celebrate our rich and storied culture, fine foods, and musical entertainments by welcoming you to these great demonstrations of power and resolve. And lending voice and song for the first time in six thousand two hundred and forty six days, their work privilege ceremoniously reinstated, will be His Grand Immortal Dictator’s National Band... The Black Parade.

Long Live Draag

Also this reply frank iero left on a random fan’s comment on instagram:

frank iero 🫡 pic.twitter.com/vcTDrhv34D

— MCR Updates (@gwayupdates) November 12, 2024

love their overdramatic asses, no mainstream pop band is doing it like this anymore