Review Summary: Sci-Fi Sounds
It has been four years since My Chemical Romance released The Black Parade,”a sprawling concept album and a tribute to the great anthem rockers of the ’70’s. After four years of constant touring, frontman, Gerard Way admitted in an interview that the band was a bit tired of the theatrics and somber tone of the shows, and that they planned on doing a more stripped down, back-to-basics album. Enter Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys, an album no less ambitious than “The Black Parade,” and one that surpasses the conceptual scope of it’s predecessor, shedding much of the overwrought theatrics and gothic tones that turned many listeners off to the band’s 2006 venture. Though the term back-to-basics may conjure thoughts of a simpler album and a less extravagant execution, the actual product proves, in most ways, the exact opposite.
MCR are at their best when provided with a story and context in which to place their music. Danger Days proves their best, and most coherent story to date, thanks to the incredible imagination of Way. His recent entrance into the world of graphic novels with “The Umbrella Academy,” was met with near universal acclaim, proving his worth as a writer and storyteller. The story of Danger Days follows the band’s new alter-egos, the Killjoys, through a dystopian California in the year 2019 in an adventure full of laser blasters, masks, dastardly villains, daring rescues, and creatures known as Draculords.
The album is structured as a radio program, narrated by a character who introduces himself as “Dr. Death Defying.” It is a story that would fit perfectly as a Saturday morning cartoon from the ’80’s, and thats how it’s supposed to be. Danger Days serves as a vessel through which the members of the band offer tribute to their favorite pop-culture-relics from their childhood. It’s about time these guys were happy about something. The unadulterated joy can be felt throughout the album and is visually apparent in each of the music videos released so far. It is primarily due to this devotion to the album’s concept that Danger Days succeeds where the Black Parade failed.
While the concept may remain as grand as ever, Danger Days does return MCR to their roots as a punk rock band, introducing a more raucous sound while, at the same time, retaining their pedigree of catchy hooks. Single “na na na (na na na na na na na)” is so full of hooks that it will take weeks to get out of your head. Others, like “Destroya” and “Vampire Money” showcase the brutal punk absent from their sound since their first record, while the synth driven “Planetary (go)” and the riotous “ Party Poison,” perfectly embody the spirit of the Killjoys.
Though most of the songs on the album succeed there are several noticeable failings. Songs such as “Summertime” and “Sing,” though not failures outright, lack the unique touch found in most of MCR’s work. “Sing,” for example, could easily pass for a 30 seconds to mars song. Lyrically the album revels in it’s subject matter. “Bullet Proof Heart” opens with the line, ”I’ve got a bullet proof heart, you’ve got a hollow point smile,” while others make mention of laser beams and other sci-fi trappings. It’s not a deep album by any means, but it is a rowdy good time, especially when taken for what it is, indulgent fantasies of several men who never quite grew up.
