Black Parade signals decline of popular rock group

October 30, 2006 —

Welcome to the Black Parade is the third full-length album from New Jersey's My Chemical Romance. Steadily rising in popularity since their first release I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love, the band has unfortunately produced an album that is a step down from previous work.

This isn't to say that Welcome to the Black Parade is a horrible album; it's just not a very good one. Unnecessary length, an occasional lack of flow and a tendency to use parts that sound borrowed from their catalogue contributes to breaking down what progress the group has made.

The My Chemical Romance of 2002 was a band filled with a desperate and charismatic energy, which strengthened their live show and carried over onto their studio work. Their following release, Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge, was a more accessible, yet well-crafted work that, at 40 minutes, didn't overstay its welcome.

Welcome to the Black Parade runs for over 50 minutes, which is not a problem in and of itself. However, the group fails to fill the time with quality material, making it a trying process to listen to the album in one sitting. There are certainly some excellent songs showcased, such as the first two tracks which flow together well and function admirably as the album openers, despite the chorus of the second track, "Dead!" sounding oddly similar to the corresponding track on Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge.

The similarity to previous works by the band detracted from the listening experience for me, as a listener familiar with the group's other albums. The introductory guitar riff on "This is How I Disappear" sounds so similar to the song "Vampires Will Never Hurt You" from their first album that I recognized it immediately; certainly, not a good quality in a new song.

There are also some songs that feel entirely unnecessary and break up the structure of the album, such as "Teenagers," a silly sounding composition that doesn't lend itself well to its placement within the mostly somber concluding third of the album.

Despite all this, there are areas in which the band has made progress. Vocalist Gerard Way seems to have an expanded range and more professional sounding timbre. The guitar work and drumming is also more versatile than on previous recordings, in an attempt to rely less on energy and more on the quality of compositions. The inclusion of piano to the sound palette has some potential as well.

Hopefully My Chemical Romance is able to move on from Welcome to the Black Parade and produce an album which is more suited to stand by the rest of their work. There's plenty of potential exhibited here, and perhaps with more focus the group could trump previous albums as well.

In the meantime, listeners would do well to direct their attention to previous albums for the time being, to experience their honesty and energy.