Review:

At first glance, leading frontman Gerard Way seems more like a vampire than a human. Dying his hair platinum blonde for the role of a lukemia patient who's on his deathbed, he seems more like the sex-pot pop-idol vampire than a true rock musician. And at first glance (and listen), the CD seems exactly that: a dive-bomb from the great energy of "Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge" and "You Brought Me Your Bullets, I Brought You My Love." It reads like a trashy, throw-away CD that was only put out because the fan-girls had started crashing down the gates.

I, as a true fan, had really started with MiChemRoma with their first CD "You Brought Me..." So, of course, I raced out as soon as I had the cash to buy their latest CD. I put it on to do homework to, expecting the same response I had when I listened to "Three Cheers" - the ability to focus on other things, with a few songs popping up at me as really cool and fun. (That's generally how my most loved CDs are first previewed.) Therefore, I was extremely disappointed when I realized that the CD had ended, and nothing had popped. Absolutely nothing. I hadn't even noticed a song break - or the end. It only hit me that it had ended when there was a half-hour silence.

Truly crushed, I raced to my CD player to put in the CD again, and listen for something - anything - to resurrect my faith in and my love for that which was MiChemRoma. Over and over I played the CD, and over and over, I zoned out - even when I was just simply listening to the lyrics, not doing anything remotely mentally active. Finally, my heavy heart came to the realization: MiChemaRoma had sold out. There was nothing to it. They no longer were the great kings of rock I had once idolized. They had totally sold out to the pushy fangirls.

Heartbroken, I threw my "Black Parade" CD to the bottom of my CD pile, stopped trying to draw Gerard and became bitter towards the whole band. I started focusing on other bands, like HIM and Semisonic.

A few months later (just recently), I was in my local Brooks, looking at the magazine rack. That's when the February edition of SPIN magazine caught my eye. There was Gerard, in his stupid platinum-blonde hair, staring directly into the camera. The legend the cover bore was something like "MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE: SAVING LIVES." Oh, yeah? I thought. Let's see about this. I bought the magazine against my better judgement, and raced home to read it.

At the end of the article, I was blown away. MiChemRoma actually meant to sound like that? That was the message of the CD? Abandoning my "MiChemRoma stinks" attitude, I picked up the CD (causing an avalanche of my other CDs as well), blew off the cobwebs, and placed it in the player.

My friends, it was an auditary treat. Only one song I could do without ("Welcome to the Black Parade", of course). The rest all were happy while being utterly depressing, made my want to do a butt-dance while bawling my eyes out. It was amazing!

"The Black Parade" is truly a CD of amazing proportions. As mentioned before, the message of the CD is of a dying lukemia patient, who's wishing that he could have done all sorts of things throughout his life, and is regretting the fact he always kept his head down and never got out there. And that's only the tip of the message: most of the songs tell you "Don't be afraid; turn around, and someone - anyone - will be there. And they will care about you, and help you." Sarcastic and biting but comforting, "Mama" drives home the truth: we're all going to die, stop questioning it, and just do the best you can right now to live and love. "Cancer" is a sad song that tells you to go for your dreams. "Famous Last Words" resounding chorus? "I am not afraid to keep on living; I am not afraid to walk this world alone - honey, if you stay, you'll be forgiven. I am not afraid to walk this world alone." And my all-time favorite? "Teenagers," talking about how, in this world where becoming just a barcode and a number is a frightening possibility, don't be afraid to be an individual, no matter how many people you scare. Because scaring them is the first step to making sure everyone isn't just a cookie cutter doll.

It sounds like The Queen's huge stadium sound mixed with the biting tones of the Dresden Dolls, all wrapped in the "sugary sweetness" of Queens of the Stone Age, and yet totally individual. Heard in a time when I most desperately needed those messages, I became a convert to MiChemRoma again. Maybe not cocking the truth to say they totally saved my life, but definitely saying they stopped me from doing something I would've regretted.

And, if you've already heard the CD and said, "Gawd, that's trash," listen to it again. Really listen. Think about the story line, and try to get a message from each song. MiChemRoma doesn't preach on purpose, but most of their songs have a good message. It's worth listening to, even if in the end you'd sell it or burn it off of a friend. Also, they just got a little "weirder" because they're trying to appeal to everyone - not just their newbie/fan-girl population.

So Gerard's look? Maybe (definitely) it needs to go. But the messages? I think that needs to stick around just a bit longer.