An American rock band, often used as a prime example of the Emo genre. Their music is best described as a mixture of Post-hardcore, Pop Punk accessibility, Horror Punk influenced lyrics and stylings, and a heaping dose of over the top theatrics and album rock storytelling straight out of the 1970's (all of this presented with the look of a Goth Rock band). They formed in New Jersey around 2002 with their first song, "Skylines and Turnstiles." The band claims that the theme and style of their music was initially inspired by their feelings during the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.Bands they cite as key inspirations are Black Flag, The Misfits, Queen, Pink Floyd, Joy Division, The Cure, and Smashing Pumpkins.The band has a notoriously bad Broken Base and a very Unpleasable Fanbase, rampant with Fan Dumb and Hate Dumb. Enter at your own risk.They released their debut album "I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love" in 2002, combining elements of Hardcore Punk, Post-Hardcore, and Emo. Its lead single "Vampires will never Hurt You" became a hit on college radio.Their 2004 sophomore album "Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge" proved to be their breakthrough release, spurred on by the success of the singles "Helena" and "I'm Not Okay (I Promise)". It is now viewed as a key album of the early 2000s Emo scene with it's theatrical sound, gothic aesthetics, and powerful mix of post-hardcore aggression and strongly crafted songs.In 2006, drawing on their love of Pink Floyd's progressive rock and glam rock bands such as Queen and T.Rex, they combined these influences with their old post-hardcore sound to create what is considered their defining work, titled "The Black Parade". While most popular rock bands in 2006 were focused on being raw and garage influenced, The Black Parade was intentionally bombastic and excessive, reflecting the 70s rock bands that Gerard Way loved and the hip, indie establishment treated with disdain. Throw in its rock opera storyline of a dying cancer patient and you have a 1970s album brought to life in the twenty-first century. The album proved to be a critical and commercial success, with several review sites and magazines placing it as one of the best albums of the decade.Their latest album, 2010's Danger Days The True Lives Of The Fabulous Killjoys divided the fanbase with its lighter sound and design, but don't put too much stock in Fan Dumb. Other fans consider it an excellent album in its own right. Its sound is influenced by indie rock, dance-rock, pop punk, and Stooges era Garage rock. It also features a storyline, but this one is more frantic, enthusiastic, and exuberant than the morbid tragedy of the last.The band has officially broken up as of March 22, 2013. Later confirmed by Gerard, the band is going their separate ways.They left scores of teenagers (and some adults) sobbing in their wake. They will be greatly missed. As of the 23 of March, 2013, many of us are currently spending the hours listening to every song they've ever released and trying to figure out what to do with ourselves.Please don't confuse them with My Bloody Valentine, who are a British Shoegazing band who similarly have nothing to do with them.Members were:
Gerard Way, lead singer.
Ray Toro, lead guitar, backing vocals.
Frank Iero, rhythm guitar.
Mikey Way, bass.
For the last couple of years, there was no permanent drummer (originally Matt Pelissier, then Bob Bryar, then Michael Pedicone as a touring drummer until September 2nd, whose replacement was Jarrod Alexander for the duration of the band's run).
Albums:
I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love (2002)
Bishōnen: The entire band, depending on who you ask.
Blood-Splattered Wedding Dress: The cover of Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge and Life on the Murder Scene. It's a lot easier to tell that it's a wedding dress on the latter.
Deus Ex Nukina: Possibly part of the backstory of the post-apocalyptic world in Danger Days, though promotional material hinted at the 2012 doomsday prediction as a possible cause.
Dies Wide Open: Mikey in the music video for "The Ghost of You".
Digital Piracy Is Evil: This is the anti-piracy warning on the back of "I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love":
Unauthorized duplication is a violation of applicable laws and will result in Gerard coming to your house and sucking your blood.
Dye or Be Recognized at Comic Con. Apparently, the blonde hair at the 2010 SDCC was Gerard's "costume" so he could buy He-Man action figures in peace.
Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: Gerard, when he isn't busy dyeing his hair white or some ridiculous shade of pink.
Also Frank.
Don't forget Mikey.
Dying Alone: "Cubicles" mentions this in the chorus
Emo: Although the band would disagree, they do have a lot in common with classic/post-hardcore emo. While some people will claim otherwise, they aren't really emo-pop since they have too much of a Hardcore Punk influence to really be an emo pop band. In addition they were an important band in the early 2000's post-hardcore scene along with Thursday and AFI.
Unintentionally. Word Of God says a lot of that (such as the "Frerard" gimmick) is done to piss people off, which is why a lot of that stopped after they figured out people were into it.
Iconic Item: Feathered boas, striped ties, the leather jacket (that'll turn your stomach), the bat belt buckle from Life on the Murder Scene... Coffee and cigarettes might even count with this band.
Improvised Weapon: Towards the end of the "I'm Not Okay (I Promise)" video, the band is squaring off against the jocks. Their weapon of choice? Croquet mallets.
Nintendo Power Gloves and Zappers are the weapon of choice in 2019.
Example: Headfirst for Halos. A rather upbeat song until you listen to the lyrics. "I think I've blown my brains against the ceiling. And as the fragments of my skull begin to fall, fall on your tongue, like pixie dust..."
Mood Whiplash: More common in the live shows and the actual albums, although The Black Parade comes to mind as an offender. "House of Wolves" is followed by "Cancer" is followed by "Mama".
Only Sane Man: Bob was this before leaving compared to the rest of the guys along with Mikey. With his departure, it seems Mikey's taken this over a little.
Precision F-Strike: Played straight in the case of Three Cheers of Sweet Revenge, where "fuck" is only heard twice in the whole album. (It still got a Parental Warning sticker.)
Also happens in individual songs, like Save Yourself, I'll Hold Them Back, which has one loud F-bomb in the middle.
Prison Rape: "You Know What They Do to Guys Like Us In Prison", which seems to be a subversion of Double Standard Rape Male On Male. The laughter at the end is the singer going insane and threatening to burn down a hotel.
Ship Tease: Tended to be a staple of live shows. Became most prevalent during the 2007 Projekt Revolution tour.
Shout Out: A fair number of their songs contain references to other things.
"Vampire Money" is gosh darn full of it. The song was written in response to the band's choice to not write a song for the Twilight movies, David Bowie and Mark Bolan get a Name Drop and the opening is almost a perfect copy of "Ballroom Blitz" by Sweet.
"It's Not a Fashion Statement, It's a Death Wish" paraphrases one of Death's most famous quotes from Neil Gaiman's The Sandman:
"For what you did to me, for what I'll do to you, you get what everyone else gets—you get a lifetime!"*
The original quote is: "You lived what anybody gets, Bernie. You got a lifetime. No more, no less."
"Destroya" is possibly a reference to the Destoroyah monster in the Godzilla-franchise film Godzilla vs. Destroroya.
Take That: "Vampire Money" is a pretty snarky one directed at Twilight. Specifically, it takes the mickey at artists who contribute songs to the film franchise's soundtrack, written after they were asked to do a song for one of the films and refused.
What Measure Is a Mook?: Gerard killing a Draculoid in the 'SING!' video, having a 'wait a second I just killed that guy moment' (because he removed the Drac's mask) and this leads to Gerard getting killed - it's seen even better in The Directors Cut.
When He Smiles: Ray Toro, the lead guitarist with the 'fro, is not considered as good-looking as his bandmates, but with his full lips and million-dollar smile, everything seemsto light up. Ray of sunshine, indeed.
For further consideration, pause at 3:31. It's contagious.
Whole Plot Reference: Their Music Video for their song "Honey, This Mirror Isn't Big Enough for the Two of Us" recounts the plot of the movie Audition, interspersed with clips of them playing.
as of March 22, 2013. Later confirmed by Gerard
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