My Chemical Romance is an alternative rock band founded in New Jersey. Their discography spans four studio albums, an EP and a compilation album comprised of five singles. They also happen to be my favourite band.

The first of their albums, I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love, had a much more raw, post-hardcore sound. The first songs for the album recorded was "Skylines and Turnstiles" (which was written about 9/11), "Bring More Knives" (later named Our Lady of Sorrows) and "Cubicles". The original recording only featured Gerard Way, Ray Toro and their drummer at the time and co-founder, Matt Pelissier. This demo has now been titled "The Attic Demos" as that's where it was recorded. Upon hearing this, Mikey Way decided to quit college and join the band.

The producer was Geoff Rickley, frontman of Thursday. The band were signed to Eyeball Records, where they met Frank Iero, who was currently in the band Pencey Prep. Frank soon became the band's rhythm guitarist and he was featured in only a few of Bullets's songs.

There were only two music videos made, for the second and third tracks of the album. "Honey This Mirror Isn't Big Enough For The Two Of Us" is heavily inspired, as in directly pulled from, the Japanese horror movie Audition, an adaptation of the novel by Ryu Murakami. Vampires Will Never Hurt You is a low-budget video which has the band in suits and ties and acting in an even more energetic and bizarre way than usual, most likely due to the fact that they were high from the paint fumes in the room.

Another notible fact about the album is that it sets the stage for their next album, byt having a song called "Demolition Lovers" who would go on to be the protagonists of Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge.

Whilst it's rough and objectively not their best work, Bullets is my favourite MCR album. It feels much more personal than their other works and I love the energy it has. My favourite tracks are "Vampires Will Never Hurt You" and "Cubicles".

Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge was the band's breakthrough aand their first concept album. It tells the story of a couple damned to hell, with one making a deal with devil in which if he kills a thousand evil men he can be reunited with his lover once again. The album is when the band's storytelling and theatrics began to show. The sound was the perfect inbetween of Bullets and their later album, The Black Parade. A true masterpiece of alternative music and now an emo classic, Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge has become the fan favourite for good reason.

The music videos were amazing. "Helena" featured the band playing at a funeral, for the corpse to get up, dance, and fall back into her coffin to be carried away. "The Ghost Of You", whilst not being as catchy as the other singles, is a song about loss like Helena but with a music video set during WW2, infamously having Mikey die. The true show-stopper was "I'm Not Okay (I Promise)", being the song which captured the hearts of many of the band's fans. Shot like a trailer for a teen movie, the band are a group of outcasts at school who eventually attempt to fight against the popular kids bullying them.

I do love this album dearely. My favourite tracks have to be "Give 'Em Hell Kid" and "It's Not A Fashion Statement, It's a Fucking Deathwish", although "Thank You For The Venom" is amazing.

The Black Parade is MCR's most commerically succesful album. The concept this time is that when you die, you are took away by the memory which you hold the dearest and most comforting. The protagonist is a cancer patient who, yes, when he was a young boy was took into the city to see a marching band. The Black Parade is MCR at their most theatrical heights. Whilst still present, the roughness of Bullets is no longer as noticeable.

Now, onto the music videos. "Welcome To The Black Parade" is the most iconic video from the album. Featuring the protagonist seeing the Black Parade riding through the streets and then being rewarded with a medal. The video, whilst not my favourite by them, is fitting for the song which later became the anthem for emo subculture. "I Don't Love You" is shot in black and white as the band performs the song whilst cutting to the breakup of a couple. Admittedly, this video used to creep me out because of the porcelain looking woman. "Teenagers" features the band playing in front of a hall of teenagers as cheerleaders in gas masks come out. It ends by giving an an endorsement for National Slave. "Famous Last Words" has the Black Parade's float burning as the band is surrounded by flames. The fire actually cause second and third degree burns for Bob Bryar and Gerard was left with a muscle tear. The final video, "Blood!", has the band sporting their outfits from Teenagers in a locker room.

Whilst I do love the album, I think it delivers some amazing songs but also some mediocre ones. "I Don't Love You" and "Teenagers" feel hollow to me. That being said, "This Is How I Disappear", "The Sharpest Lives", "House of Wolves" and "Mama" are brilliant. I do like The Black Parade, but it doesn't live up to their first two in my opinion.

The outlier of MCR's albums, but still great. A whole new aesthetic is taken, with a much more colourful look from the band. The story this time is about the Killjoys, a group of vigilantes working against an evil corporation called Better Living Industries, who are in control of the post-apocalyptic world. Danger Days is the band at their peak creativity and Gerard drawing the most from comics, to the point of him writing his own Killjoy comics to accompany the album.

"Na Na Na"'s video is fun itself, with some fun comic book influence and introducing you to each Killjoy. The Killjoys are riding through the desert, being hunted down. "Sing" follows up from that, with the Killjoys breaking into Battery City HQ to rescue a girl known as Missile Kid. Whilst the Killjoys manage to get her to safety, they are all shot down and presumably dead. The other videos are recordings of live performances.

As you could probably guess, Mad Gear and Missile Kid EP was released around this time period for the band and features some fun rock songs.

I adore Danger Days. The concept is awesome and I love how different it is to the rest of their discography. My favourite tracks are "Planetary GO!", "Bulletproof Heart", "S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W" and "The Kids From Yesterday".