>My Chemical Romance – Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys

>

The old schtick of emo’s fetish with death is becoming a tiring cliche and My Chemical Romance knows it. With their first three albums circling around that very theme, MCR is looking past the misery and starting to have some fun.

‘Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys‘ is the reboot of My Chemical Romance. Gone is the drab military garb of ‘The Black Parade,’ and in is colorful punkish outfits as the band embodies their new alter egos, the Killjoys. Their new look may stand out, but what is most prevelant is their sound.

With ‘The Black Parade’, MCR crafted a true 70’s rock album with a concept that rivals The Who’s ‘Tommy’ with solid guitar riffs and frontman Gerard Way proclaiming to be a modern day messiah. ‘Danger Days’, on the other hand, encompasses the sounds of the synthesizer filled 80’s- from punk to dancefloor pop to metal.

The album opens with our ‘narrator’ of the story, DJ Dr. Death Defying. Dr. Death interjects several times through the album updating us on the status of our heroes. These ‘transmissions’ are an attempt to add a depth and emmercement to ‘Danger Days’, but falls flat on it’s face. Other than that, MCR has made yet another entertaining album.

The album launches with ‘Na Na Na’, a driving rock gem with Gerard Way trying to out sing the guitars.  It’s a call for revolution, even though it taunts you every step of the way.  ‘Party Poison’ and ‘Vampire Money’ are two of My Chemical Romance’s punkiest outings. They set their sights on the LA party scene and a highly successful series of vampire movies (you know which ones). They are relentless as the guitars storm the clubs. “This ain’t a party/Get off the dance floor/You want the get down?/Here comes the gang war” Way snarls on the footstomper ‘Party Poison’ as he sets out to weed out the phonies.

‘Danger Days’ shows off a lighter side of MCR. The ballad, ‘S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W’ has a superstitious, liquid voiced Way telling his lover to “Hold your breath when a blackbird flies/Count to 17 close your eyes/I’ll keep you safe tonight.” It’s as sentimental My Chemical Romance gets. The glowing synth powered ‘Summertime’ promises the listener “You can runaway with me any time you want.”

The album is rounded off with a club ready dance track (Planetary (GO!)) and an ode to 80’s metal (Destroya), two of the standout tracks of ‘Danger Days’.

For the most part, ‘Danger Days’ delivers with exciting and energetic tracks that elevate the album from the mediocre.  Yet with all the great songs, it feels like a patchwork of different styles and sounds.  There isn’t a definite direction the band followed; they did what they felt like doing, which is admirable from a band.  But in ‘Danger Days’ case, it seems eclectic and scattered.

For those looking at ‘Danger Days’ for another narrative in the vein of ‘The Black Parade’, they will find an empty well.  There is no tying thread of concept of any of the songs and only in the DJ transmissions there is a microscopic hint of the story, and even then you still don’t know whats going on.  As a fan of ‘The Black Parade’, I expected a narrative just as good as their previous album.  That wasn’t the case with ‘Danger Days’, even though the story of the Killjoys is played out in their music videos, it doesn’t translate well into the content of the album.

‘Danger Days’ is a good album, full of synth dance jams and fist pumping punk rock goodness.  Their eclectic mixing of styles is a good new start for the band, but it leaves the album feeling uneven at some points.   Perhaps the album was giving fans just a taste of what My Chemical Romance could be. An 80’s punk MCR, a 90’s pop ballad MCR, a heavy metal MCR or even a dance floor MCR.  Who knows what they will become, but all we know is is that what ever they set out to be, they will be great at it.

7.0 out of 10
Key Tracks – “Planetary (GO!)”, “Na Na Na (Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na), “Vampire Money”