blackstar40's Full Review: Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge [PA] by My Chemical...
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
For those that recall my original epinion on this album, I feel I had to reiterate the other day, especially after reading one aaryn's review of the disc, and I believe the quality of what I have to say has improved this time around.
Observe the habits of that insufferable television corporation MTV, and you’ll check off an increased time block set aside for the appropriately titled ‘new emo’ scene – because clearly, pop is dead in it’s treads, nu-metal is locked away for the last living souls of incurable internal rage, and no-one who watches the tube likes “punk” anymore anyway. Go figure. It’s really not such a cut above the usual trend, this emo running, as most of the setups on the ad-infested channel imitate some long-forgotten idol and serve the same clichés to the sizzling hot plate (punkrawka knows better than I do). My Chemical Romance are, unfortunately, in loop with that run of the works, yet they have the thankful sensibility to mix the all-black outfits and wailing ‘woe-is-me’s with a decent dosage of bravery (which may serve to validate blindsider's terror of classing music like a streamed class all the more). Make no mistake, MTV has been doling out a lot of hype for these guys, but more enthusiastic still are the legions of fans who worship these pioneers like no-one ever dared to talk about ‘songs to make you slit your wrist’ before, to put it at it’s most optimistic.
Much of the ‘f*ck you’ has been sapped from singalongs like ‘Helena’ thanks to it’s funereal clip being branded on TRL for a good month or two, but ride it’s corkscrew chorus harmonies and you may just tap into lead singer Gerard Way’s jealous spite. For spite is what you’ll need to survive Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge’s thirteen jolting selections, and nothing but raw, whipped-back spite – some three-quarters of the album doesn’t have a traceable melody, and there’s none of the raspy scream that define many ‘emo-core’ bands of the day, it’s just lines spat out the barrel of a loaded gun. And somehow, their euphemism and nihilism work.
The whole things unfolds as a gregarious role play with the lights dimmed and the guitars hell-bent. Take ‘It’s Not A Fashion Statement, It’s A Deathwish’ as an example, a claustrophobic session obsessed, as Way often is here, about vanity and antagonism, making use of moaned lines like ‘would you kill me in my sleep,’ so it’s not the most cheerful way to spend an hour, but it’ll jump into your brain if you let it. ‘I’m Not Ok (I Promise)’ is probably where newcomers should alight, as it sums up the mascara, the volatile pitch, decisively speedy riffs and the pulse of the rhythm within in a contagious three words: ‘I’m not Ohhhhh-KAY!’
The and also freely swap playing styles throughout a given track’s running time, though it’s a far cry form the soft-loud patdown you’ve come to expect. ‘You Know What They Do To Guys Like Us In Prison’ twists itself around your finger with innocent piano chords, then breaks out with a hard drive for the aggressive chorus. But don’t forget that these guys also love to wear heart on sleeve. Things get emotional with third single ‘The Ghost of You,’ a reflective suicide power ballad which showcases Way’s melodic talent at it’s very best:
’At the end of the world,
Or the last thing I see you,
I’m never coming home, Never coming home.’
The album’s expressive climax, however, is the penultimate track ‘Cemetery Drive,’ a heartfelt buildup of lost-love nostalgia that may inspire a tear if you’re feeling sensitive enough that day. In fact, Way is encouraging it: ‘If you want I’ll keep on crying’ he remarks in the second verse.
After a breathy interlude sung in a cross Thom Yorke / Robert Smith impersonation, the band decide it’s time to wreak havoc again. ‘Thank You for the Venom’ exerts it’s agitated rhythm so hard it’s a wonder the aggrieved Way wasn’t rushed to hospital during it’s recording. If there ever was a song that equated to ‘mosh.’ Unfortunately, finale ‘I Never Told You What I Do For A Living,’ while being a powerhouse closer with a screeching guitar entrance, rattles off some more morbid lines, recited in resigned monotone and relatively superfluous. ‘It ain’t for money and it sure as hell ain’t just for the fame / Its for the bodies I claim.’ Anyone else see the cornball goth exposing itself with that one?
Disregarding the last track, Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge is like a flame on the backburner of top 40 and rock stations alike. The cover art is crude but effective, and the candle is at it’s brightest when My Chemical Romance at least pretend to be focused musicians, instead of raving out ‘He’s always down by the pool, he doesn’t have many friends.’ Mind, the album is a great record on the right occasions, just for the difference in standards, and it’s hard not to like it’s deathly paced ferociousness, unless you’re opposed to ‘emos’ of the sort. The strongest tracks hold themselves even where their contemporaries (Thursday, The Used) fall to pieces. So, even if the group’s own flame starts to compromise itself a little toward the finish line, Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge is an album that ultimately keeps self-sufficiently alight start to finish, and that’s a feat to be proud of.
Track List [x indicates standout track]
1. Helena
2. Give Em Hell, Kid
3. To The End
4. You Know What They Do to Guys Like Us In Prison [x]
5. I'm Not Ok (I Promise) [x]
6. The Ghost of You
7. The Jetset Life Is Gonna Kill You
8. Interlude
9. Thank You for the Venom
10. Hang Em High
11. It's Not A Fashion Statement, It's A Deathwish [x]
12. Cemetery Drive [x]
13. I Never Told You What I Do for A Living
Similar Artists: Thursday, Cursive, Silverchair (because unless pduval69 is happy, Epinions is not happy)
Heavy: Super-charged
Swearing: Yes
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