The Black Parade

An LP synonymous with the aughts – I may have been a goody two-shoes non-emo kid in middle school at the time, but even I felt the impact from this album. This is my first time listening in full, but about twice a year I turn on ‘Black Parade’ to jam out so I already knew the melodic gist and band. After a full run-through, I get the hype. The band has a very strong sense of melody, and nearly every guitar line/vocal blast is harmonized which makes everything feel rich and full. The songwriting is about what you would expect for an emo album of the time, but there are enough left hooks (the triumphant ‘Parade,’ the stomping ‘Teenagers,’ etc.) to make this LP distinctly unique to MCR and the sound they were establishing. Not every track breaks the emo-pop mold, but with Gerard Way’s cutting, distinctive vocals at the helm and some massive power chords behind him that’s about all the band needs to write a classic here.

I've heard of these but didn't know what sort of music. Brilliant!

Accessible concept rock album with shades of Queen in some lead guitar sounds and quirky Vaudeville/music hall tunes. Some good pop songs. Yes, I think it's worthy of inclusion.

Defining emo-era album. MCR nailed it on this one.

Pretty good. Not a big fan of “pop punk” but this is better than most. 3 stars.

I've heard this album once before and at the time I remember thinking it was way better than expected, and I should listen to it again. I never did, but hey. Listening again in 2024, it's.... fucking amazing. I really should listen to this album regularly. It sniffs its own farts and the AESTHETIC is silly, but I don't care when it's this catchy. 5/5.

I did not have an emo phase in middle school

What a load of crap is this? Or am I just getting too old for this shit? Over the top and stripped of all emotion. Just not for me.

Musical taste will always be a subjective thing. Someone's opinion or taste should be treated as nothing more than that. And for this particular record all I have to say is: it is pathetic. This just sounds fake to me. It has no soul. It is a gimmick. It lacks basically eveything that I look for in music. To those who can really enjoy this: more power to you. I'll pass.

Yesssss this definitely needs to be here! 5

Catapulted right back to my past! This album is just so amazing! It's memory will carry on ;-)

They were coming from the big success of 'Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge', and I seem to remember no one gave a damn about what they were going to release, as if their second album had been a little flash of genius that could not be repeated. But it did. And with the conceptual 'The Black Parade' they improved on everything from their predecessor: better songs, better production, absolutely cool image, epitomizing everything that a cool emo band should be, and bringing the genre to its best moment. This was their creative pinnacle, which they could not even approach in their two subsequent works, but how good it was, and what memories it brings back to all of us who lived it at the time! Very close to the 5*

This pulls roots from the glam of the New York Dolls and the bombasticism of Queen or Supertramp, and grafts is straight into the emo/pop punk sound their are known for to craft such an interesting concept album. I don't think every single moment stands out; some of it does start to blend together a bit by the end. But, this blend is good! The grandiose sounds against the morbid themes work when welded by the catchiness of the melodies, even if the songs themselves don't stand apart from each other super strongly. Ultimately, there is a good reason this has become an enduring modern classic.

I mean, this is almost as fundamental as Enema of the State and Weezer. I believe this was also a snub.

7/10. Not a big MCR lover, the lyrics just tend toward rather blunt edginess, but there's no denying the cultural significance of this album.

Hell yea

I think Pop Punk is really THE genre of Millennials. It's something that Millennials invented that no other generation really likes. I remember in the early 2000s that my parents (and my friends' parents) were completely baffled by it. It appears that Gen Z is following in step, appraising it as a weird quirk of their parents' (or older siblings') era. But I fucking love it and they're all wrong.

Surprised this isn't on the list already. I've heard the name before, but I'm a tail-end gen-xer, so this was a little past my time. Not what I was expecting at all. Way more ambitious than your average pop-punk band. Way more range and variety. Like Emo-Prog or something. Often reminded me of Pink Floyd throughout. Shit, I'd say this is a better pop-punk opera than "American Idiot" honestly. I feel like there's more layers and range here. The lyrics surprised me how often they caught me off guard and made me laugh. I'm actually quite impressed, although I must say the general sound is not one I'm a huge fan of. If I were younger this would almost certainly have become part of the fabric of my life, but there's something that holds me back from fully embracing this. A close second to Green Day in the pop-punk realm for me, which, again, is far from my preferred genre. But this is surprisingly listenable and even enjoyable for me. It could even grow on me over time with repeated listens but if I'm being honest I probably won't. Glad to have heard it though.

On paper it seems like this band would be a good match to my tastes but I just can't get into them. The musicianship is good, I don't doubt they're doing just what they're intending to do, but I'm not a fan of the lyrics or singing.

Welcome is nearly perfect, shyly buried in the slower tracks, notable rhotics spread all around. At nearly twenty, the artifice flakes; Some of it's bound to be admirable, though, any way through.