Sep 8

Sep 8 My Chemical Romance - Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge

My Chemical Romance
Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge
Release Date: June 8th, 2004
Label: Reprise

Review by Jared Stossel

In 2003, vocalist Gerard Way posted a message to the My Chemical Romance website. It read more like an impassioned soliloquy, a declaration that the band that was currently making massive waves in its industry was about to get even larger. He goes on to literally state: “There is a change.” This kind of monologue was something that could always be expected from this band, a piece of writing that came directly from the heart, and one that was completely honest. My Chemical Romance may have a flair for the dramatic, but Way isn’t an actor; their performances are always real. The letter ends with a statement: “And by the way, we’ve signed to Reprise and we are fucking ready for the world to hear us scream”.

In the following year, My Chemical Romance would release Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge, a genuinely flawless rock album that catapulted them into not just “emo” rock stardom, but into the mainstream. Performances on MTV, Fuse, and stadium tours opening for Green Day followed (who were also touring in support of their grandiose concept album American Idiot at the same time, on the same record label). Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge is not merely an album, but a memorandum for fans of this style of music, a celebration of a core tenet of the MCR philosophy: fuck what the world thinks of you. Be your truly original self, and never, ever let them take you alive.

Revenge is a cathartic release of years of post-9/11 hysteria that swept America, battles with addiction, the loss of family members, and mental health struggles, disguised in a comic book-like package that loosely follows the conclusion of the band’s previous album, I Brought You Your Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love. The album’s “Demolition Lovers” are shot dead, and the man makes a deal with the devil before entering the afterlife: if he brings him the souls of 1,000 victims, he can be reunited with his lover.

Nary an Emo Nite goes by without hearing “Helena” or “I’m Not Okay (I Promise)”, two of the emo and post-hardcore genres most anthemic songs. They are the central pieces of Revenge, but the sophomore effort is so much more than these two songs. My Chemical Romance has more fire than ever before on the thirteen tracks that make up Revenge and they play as if someone is going to walk into the room and shut off the recording console, like it’s the last time they’re ever going to be allowed to make music. Everything is left on the table, and everything is at stake. “Give ‘Em Hell” opens with a razor-sharp bass riff provided by Mikey Way and pummels its way through a post-punk landscape as Gerard Way delivers lines through a megaphone-like vocal amplifier. “To The End” finds the band at one of their most melodic moments, channeling the brightness of the 80s brit-pop acts that inspired them with the thrash metal acts that made them want to pick up instruments in the first place. The guitar work from lead guitarist Ray Toro and rhythm guitarist Frank Iero is astounding, particularly on this track.

“You Know What They Do To Guys Like Us In Prison” constantly changes up tempo, moving from manic to at ease with every verse and chorus transition; the main character is slowly going insane. Bert McCracken, vocalist of The Usedcollaborates with the band on this song, a merging of two of the genre’s biggest names that hasn’t happened since. This track is a time capsule, a reminder that not only do they not make bands like this anymore, but a snapshot of a moment in time when these bands dominated the scene, hand in hand.

Revenge features a sweeping balled, “The Ghost of You”, with a music video released in the following months that depicted the band going to literal war in a tribute to Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan. Nothing about this band is simple; everything is cinematic in scope. The opening guitar riff on “The Ghost of You” is haunting enough, closing with a church organ piece that leads into the galloping “The Jetset Life Is Gonna Kill You”. Way sings in different languages, and there are hints of Auto-Tune on his vocals in the bridge as he croons over a gentle keyboard.

A quiet “Interlude” begins, featuring only a lightly-plucked guitar pattern as Way quietly sings on the transitional track. It feels more like a demo than anything, and yet it works perfectly. The inclusion of “Interlude” signals the beginning of the second half of Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge, which I honestly contend is one of the great B-sides on any rock album, period. “Thank You For The Venom” is a blistering, thrash metal-inspired guitar riff that finds MCR unleashing one of their best choruses yet. “Hang ‘Em High” takes things even further, exploding in bursts of energy between verses with Way at his most theatrical. The track ends with the band pushing the limits of their amplifiers, booming in cacophony as Way, guitarist Iero and guest vocalist Keith Morris (Circle Jerks, OFF!) let out decades of hardcore-punk rage.

“It’s Not A Fashion Statement, It’s A Fucking Deathwish” (the full title of the song) is my favorite song that band has ever produced. While The Black Parade is my favorite album of theirs overall, this is their best standalone song, in my opinion. It’s the perfect representation of the genre, and it incorporates everything I love about My Chemical Romanceinto one a single three-and-a-half-minute track. It should also be noted that Howard Benson’s production and mixing work is immaculate. I’m not sure if I could imagine any other producer working on Revenge and making it what it is today. It was the perfect circumstance and recipe for success.

The album slows down as a driving kick-snare beat signals the beginning of “Cemetery Drive”, with Way singing softly, the band behind him getting ready to venture into a soaring chorus with spotless, pristine harmonies. The harmonic element on “Cemetery Drive” works not just with the vocals, but with the instrumentation. Everything is firing on all cylinders by the time we get to “I Never Told You What I Do For A Living”. Iero and Toro scratch their guitar picks across the surface of the strings, drawing it out as long as they can until their compelled to jump back in. “Living” features another mishmash of time changes that are found throughout the band’s catalogue, constantly speeding up and then slowing down, never being in the same spot twice. The album ends in a cinematic fashion, feeling more like the concluding act of a film than the end of a CD you’d pick up at your local Hot Topic. “Never again, never again, they gave us two shots to the back of the head/And we’re all dead now.” Way stretches these last few words as the music fades out.

Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge is a masterpiece. It is the moment I think that My Chemical Romance truly began, when they were finally given the budget and the go-ahead from a highly devoted and dedicated fan base to embrace their inner selves, to prove that you can make songs that are this epic and sweeping in scale in a rock world that was progressively turning away from the theatricality of the metal acts of the 1980s. This is not a proof of concept; this is a battle plan, and the beginning of things to come.