Long way back to Romance

My Chemical Romance have been lambasted from all but their own quarter over the years. Decried as emo and unoriginal, seldom portrayed as anything but the ultimate teenage girl group, My Chemical Romance have never had it easy. When it is announced that My Chemical Romance is releasing a new album, Ultimate-Guitar often reacts with waves of indignation, even fury. In the event, we can expect a new album on the 22nd of November, 2010.


Fittingly, Danger Days: The True Lives Of The Fabulous Killjoys is being released on Reprise Records, the label founded by Frank Sinatra so that he could record music to his experimental liking. My Chemical Romance has broken their mould with this album, and it might not be the band’s enemies who reject this album but their long term fans.

It all started when My Chemical Romance refused the opportunity to record a song for the second instalment in the Twilight saga (I regret referring to the films as a saga). That act of defiance perhaps resulted in My Chemical Romance’s new album direction. Gone is the morbid artwork. Gone is the overwhelmingly whiny vocal delivery. Gone are the reasons you should hate the band. Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys is, on a personal level, an innovative album, which transcends boundaries that My Chemical Romance had set for themselves long ago. Instead, My Chemical Romance has delivered a strong album, redolent of Iggy And The Stooges, with a real rock ‘n’ roll attitude about it.

The three songs taken from the new album currently available on the band’s MySpace page are, Save Yourself, I’ll Hold Them Back, Sing, and Na Na Na. Each song has an overwhelmingly positive vibe to it, liberally doused in Iggy and the Stooges overtones. Save yourself, in particular is a wonderfully crafted track, and My Chemical Romance should be credited for doing what Green Day failed to do when they released an album’s worth of interesting material under the Foxboro Hot Tubs moniker. My Chemical Romance has gone for the jugular without feeling the need to rely upon their safety zone. By the sound of things, the song writing is there, and so is the inspiration.

Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys Preview—a concept album—is largely based upon Gerard Way’s Eisner Award-winning comic book, The Umbrella Academy. His passion for comic books looks to be translated into a musical language with the release of Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys, which is tentatively set for release on the 22nd of November, 2010.

Track Listing:

01. Look Alive, Sunshine
02. Na Na Na
03. Sing
04. Planetary (Go!)
05. The Only Hope For Me Is You
06. Jet-Star And The Kobra Kid/Traffic Report
07. Party Poison
08. Save Yourself, I'll Hold Them Back
09. The Scarecrow Blues
10. Anytime You Want
11. Destroyah
12. The Kids From Yesterday
13. Goodnite Dr Death
14. Vampire Money

The album was produced by Rob Cavallo.