Review Summary: Sure, it's not The Black Parade. But does that even matter?
Following up an album that casts your band into the spotlight isn’t easy by any means. When it’s a brilliant concept album based on a dying cancer patient like
The Black Parade, it becomes an especially intimidating task that would have flustered other acts. Substituting the sense of total darkness that defined their past with a sound that was more poppy and full of youthful energy has proved to be polarizing, given the less-than-adequate average. Despite some imperfections,
Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys still came out stronger than their counterparts at their peak, further continuing to prove My Chemical Romance to be the top dog in the 2000’s alternative scene.
The aforementioned darkness of
The Black Parade is nowhere to be found.
Danger Days is indisputably My Chemical Romance’s brightest release, and one need not look further than the artwork to figure that out. Songs like “Party Poison”, “Planetary (GO!)”, “The Only Hope For Me Is You”, “Vampire Money”, “Summertime”, and “The Kids From Yesterday” showcase their more vibrant side brilliantly. Singer Gerard Way’s first-person-narrative style of writing translates well to a more carefree attitude, such as in “Party Poison”, one of the most energetic party-rock anthems of this decade. Other tracks, such as “SING” and “The Only Hope for Me Is You”, contain allusions to the corporate nature of warfare and corruption from the elite class, such as “I still think of the guns they sell” in the latter, and “cleaned-up corporation progress / dying in the process” in the former.
The music behind the message was notably overhauled during its production; closer “Vampire Money” has a slight Chuck Berry vibe, for instance.
Danger Days tends to stick on the other side of the emotional spectrum compared to prior albums. Where
The Black Parade took a more melancholy approach to coincide with its bleak narrative, this album bleeds vitality and screams defiance; after all, the Killjoys’ whole mission is to rebel against the Better Living Industries. Although the “epic” elements of prior output have been scaled back, this is by no means a “back to basics” record as some reviews claimed, but instead yet another ambitious effort aided by its bombastic narrative. Electronics are used to accent the upbeat feel, such as in “Planetary (GO!)”, an ode to the briefness of life, “Summertime”, which was allegedly written about Gerard Way’s wife, “Bulletproof Heart”, and in lead single “Na Na Na (Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na)”.
Gerard Way’s vocals are cleaner and more polished than in the past. While some (including myself) may prefer the rougher style from
Three Cheers or even
I Brought You My Bullets, that wouldn’t translate as well to the energetic power-pop approach taken on this record. Don’t take that to mean Gerard doesn’t get rougher in instances, such as the bridge in “Save Yourself, I’ll Hold Them Back” where he lets out a few screams akin to that of “House of Wolves” off their predecessor, it simply means that the emotions expressed on the album would not be as convincing if he hadn’t adapted his vocals to make it work. The chorus of “S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W” and the majority of “Summertime” are notable songs where Way’s vocals are delivered in this brighter manner.
While
Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys is easily a step down from its predecessor, it could have been far worse. The change in style could have made the music dull and uninteresting, but ultimately it managed to prosper. Despite some annoying repetition, such the hook of “Na Na Na (Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na)” and the post-chorus of “DESTROYA”, they managed to craft yet another brilliant concept album after
The Black Parade. As unfortunate as it is that My Chemical Romance broke up shortly after this album’s touring cycle concluded, at least they left the listeners a near-perfect discography instead of going the route of other notable bands in the scene.
