Review Summary: This time, the sun really is ashamed to rise and be.
You probably gushed as G notes played in your head if you were fortunate enough to check your Facebook news feed on July 20th and see the profile picture update that was posted by the page of now disbanded New Jersey alt rockers My Chemical Romance. The picture displayed a cross with the letters "MCRX" scrawled across its sides and a thirty second video beckoned fans to wait until September 23rd for...something. What longtime fans hoped for was a reunion. What they got instead was a 10th anniversary reissue of the group's iconic 2006 album,
The Black Parade.
Just nine days later, a never before heard track entitled "The Five of Us Are Dying" was released, further hinting that perhaps new music was on the way. Fans were disappointed once again, this time by way of announcement that the reissue of
The Black Parade was simply going to be packaged with a full-length album's worth of previously unreleased demos being unearthed for the first time. The demo package is entitled
Living with Ghosts and the ghost of this iconic band does anything but live across these eleven new tracks. RockSound also released a Black Parade tribute album with the likes of (you guessed it) Twenty One Pilots headlining the star studded field of modern alternative acts (editor's note; the State Champs cover of "The Sharpest Lives" is better than the original).
By and large, the last two months in the world of My Chemical Romance have been as busy as you can possibly get for a broken up group with no plans of reuniting. "The Five of Us Are Dying" is by far, the best track on
Living with Ghosts and that's sad because it's the track that opens the album, so it's all downhill from here. One of only two tracks to be labeled a "rough mix" (the other nine are considered "live demos"), this track is the only track here that sounds remotely close to being finished. I give this album the benefit of the doubt by keeping in mind that every track here is raw, unfinished and rough around the edges. I'm not expecting anything relatively close to
The Black Parade, but this still manages to be completely underwhelming.
"The Five of Us Are Dying" sees a strong vocal performance from Gerard Way and it's as good he gets throughout this compilation. "Kill All Your Friends" is sloppy, even with the raw and unpolished production value. Way sounds almost slurred throughout the verses and the track is one you immediately want to skip. "Party at the End of the World" sees decent vocals from Way, passible drumming and even some catchy hooks, but it's not a very memorable track. "Mama" sees Way use what sounds like a southern drawl in the opening verse and it just screams no effort, even for a raw demo. How these rough cuts that didn't even get finished manage to still sound as if absolutely no effort was put forth is nothing short of baffling.
There are two versions presented of "House of Wolves"; the former sees Way take charge a bit more, the latter sees him fade into the background behind overly brass and loud instrumentals. The instrumentals on the second version overshadow him completely and it makes his vocals too inaudible for the listener. "Emily", the only rough mix here, is the second best track on this album, but it's nowhere near as strong as the album's opener. "Emily" has a catchy chorus" with a much more familiar vocal approach from Way, the likes of which was splattered all across
The Black Parade, which is one of the reasons why the album was so great. The instrumentals are still just passible though. "Disenchanted" and "All the Angels" both close the record on a very alt-leaning note, but are still average at best. Mercy is a moment too late to disengage the clutch before this runaway train meets its inevitable crash at rock bottom.
In short, the previously unreleased material here is disappointing and pedestrian, even for a demo album filled with raw and unfinished material. Couple that with an iconic album that's been well heard and has no changes to it and you've got what appears to be more than a cash grab and an album sales trap and moreover, it doesn't appear at all like it's paying homage to My Chemical Romance and their crowning achievement. Throw in a tribute album with piss-poor covers of that iconic album and you get a colossal spit in the face, directed at the fans who have long weather the post-break up era of this once great band. It's pretty straightforward, money talks in the desecration of My Chemical Romance's legacy.
