House Of Wolves

''The Black Parade'' is the third studio album by American rock band My Chemical Romance, first released on October 23, 2006, through Reprise Records. A predominantly emo, alternative rock, pop-punk, hard rock, and punk rock concept album, it is centered on the story of a dying man with cancer known as "The Patient", as he nears the end of his life. The album was produced by the band alongside Rob Cavallo, and is the band's only studio album to feature Bob Bryar on drums before his departure in 2010.

Work began on the album in early 2006, with the band being influenced by the success and expectations set by their previous studio album, ''Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge'' (2004). Aiming to outdo that album in as much as they could, Gerard Way came up with the idea to make it a concept album. Recording for the album took place from April to August 2006, with most of the album being written and recorded while the band secluded themselves within the Paramour Mansion. Due to their seclusion from the outside world during the album's production, the band members—particularly bassist Mikey Way, faced several mental health issues that would eventually hinder the production of the album and influence the creation of several songs.

''The Black Parade'' received generally favorable reviews from critics. The album was a commercial success, debuting at number two on both the ''Billboard'' 200 and the UK Albums Chart. It has been certified as 4× platinum in the United States, 3× platinum in the United Kingdom, as well as gold in both Argentina and Chile. It was also given the Platinum Europe Award by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. The album was supported by four singles: "Welcome to the Black Parade", which was the band's first number one single in the United Kingdom, "Famous Last Words", "I Don't Love You", and "Teenagers". In support of the album, My Chemical Romance embarked on the Black Parade World Tour from February 2007 to May 2008.

In the years since its release, ''The Black Parade'' has been revered by music journalists as one of, if not the most important album to the history of the emo music genre. It left a profound impact on the sound of emo music, with it largely ending the dominance of emo-pop and influencing the sound of future rappers, numerous metalcore bands, contemporary pop artists, as well as film soundtracks. The album also left a significant impact on alternative culture and fashion as a whole, and propelled My Chemical Romance to become a global phenomenon, with the album being considered the band's defining work. The record was reissued as ''The Black Parade/Living with Ghosts'' in 2016, in celebration of the tenth anniversary of the album's release. In 2020, ''Rolling Stone'' ranked the album number 361 in its updated list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time".

Background and production

My Chemical Romance released their second studio album, ''Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge'', in 2004. The album was very successful and helped the band become one of the most popular emo acts of the time. After returning home from that album's promotional tour in late 2005,' the band became worried about whether or not their success was a "flash-in-the-pan" moment that would solely amount to nothing more than ''Revenge''. They also faced a lot of scrutiny, with many wishing the band to fail and fade into obscurity.' The band also believed that their stardom greatly raised the expectations of their future work, with frontman Gerard Way concerned that the band's image would be permanently attached to that album and its themes that were fueled by the band's mental health.'

When looking on where to begin with their next album, the band started by reviewing and finalizing a series of demos they wrote in a makeshift studio while touring in 2005, which were part of a side project that the band simply referred to as "''Revenge'' part two". These demos would go on to become "Dead!", "Disenchanted", and "I Don't Love You". "Dead!", in particular, was based on the scrutiny and criticism the band faced while touring and written as a statement on defying the expectations of their critics.' The ideas behind what inspired the creation of "Dead!" would influence the band's ideas and concepts for their work when they went to the S.I.R. Studios in New York City to begin work on their third album in early 2006.' Shortly afterwards, the band would create early versions of songs that would become "The End.", which was originally known as "Intro", "Mama", and "Teenagers".'

While writing new material, the band aimed to replicate the emotional rush that went into ''Revenge'',' while also surpassing it in scale as much as possible.' They wanted to create an album that would be considered a "classic", something passed on from generation to generation.' While ''Revenge'' was largely an album composed of whatever each band member could individually come up with, they aimed to try and make their third album more coherent, with shared general themes and a storyline. Gerard Way would create a storyline centered around life and death,' which would later evolve into one centered around a man dying of cancer, whilst death presents itself to him in the form of his fondest childhood memory: his father taking him to see a marching band while he was a child.' From there, he created a plethora of characters that would exist within the album's world: Mother War, Fear and Regret, The Soldiers, and The Escape Artist.' The album would adopt this story, becoming a concept album.' The album's working title was ''The Rise and Fall of My Chemical Romance'',' although its name was later changed into ''The Black Parade.''

To begin properly working on ''The Black Parade'', My Chemical Romance traveled to Los Angeles in April 2006. They chose to record the majority of the album in the Paramour Mansion.' They also got in contact with Rob Cavallo, a producer known for his work on albums from other artists like Green Day, to help produce the album.' By the time that the band arrived at the Paramour, only about a third of the record had been written.' The mansion itself at the time of the album's production was noted by the musicians as being scary and uneasy to be in, with all of the band members believing that the nature of the mansion "bled" into the sound of the music itself and left a significant impact on them all.' Gerard Way, in particular, felt a necessity to "cut himself open" in order to write good music and completely engulfed him within the atmosphere of living in the Paramour. He also found that he would often struggle to sleep while living in the mansion due to "night terrors".' Bassist Mikey Way would also develop depression and alcoholism from the toll that living in the mansion left on him, particularly due to a lack of communication to the outside world.'

After straining themselves for a long period of time, the band took a short break to play at a nearby nightclub.' While this significantly helped out with the band's mental health, it strangely led to them hitting a creative roadblock and the albums writing process would be halted.' While Frank Iero managed to write one song during this brief period, "House of Wolves", it was apparent to all of the band members that they were struggling to get back on track.' Motivated by their own frustrations towards their lack of creativity at the time, Ray Toro would toy around with a song titled "The Saddest Music in the World". Gerard Way would help out Toro with the song, motivated by his fears about Mikey's mental health, and it would eventually become "Famous Last Words". After that song was created as a method of letting out his emotions, Gerard Way along with the rest of the band managed to start coming up with new music again.' Around the same time that "Famous Last Words" was created, Gerard would write "Sleep", which was based on the troubles he faced falling asleep at the time.'

Shortly afterwards, the band would revisit a song concept they had originally sketched out in their earliest recording sessions, "The Five of Us Are Dying".' It was the hardest song that the band tried to make for the record, having to rewrite it several times and never being satisfied with the result.' In the middle of the song's creation, Gerard would break up with his then-girlfriend of six years, causing further distress during its production.' It wasn't until Cavallo showed the band a short piano piece that he had written, which was then attached to the beginning of the song, that the band would realize what they wanted to do with the song. It would later evolve into the album's centerpiece, "Welcome to the Black Parade".' A lot of music was written for the album would end up being cut by its final release, including a scrapped unknown cover song that was never recorded. In 2016, Gerard Way stated that ''The Black Parade'' "could have been, and almost was, a double album". One such example of a cut song was "Kill All Your Friends", which Gerard Way would go on to regret not putting on the album. Recording for ''The Black Parade'' would end by August 2006. The band would assist Cavallo with the final production of the album, while Chris Lord-Alge would mix the album' and Doug McKean would serve as its engineer.'

Composition and lyrics

''The Black Parade'' has been considered an emo, alternative rock, pop-punk, hard rock, punk rock, progressive rock, and post-hardcore album. It also features several influences from 1970s classic rock, glam rock, pop music, soft rock, arena rock, metal, hard rock, and gothic rock. The album focuses on the aforementioned story of a man dying of cancer, known as "the Patient", as he nears the end of his life and goes on a journey to the afterlife. Throughout his journey, the "Patient" reflects on his life and the traumas that went along with it; death itself is primarily presented to the Patient in the form of his fondest childhood memory, a marching band that his father took him to see when he was young.'

Songs

The albums opens up with "The End", a track that uses a heartrate monitor and follows the Patient as nears his death. "The End." then leads into the albums first proper full song, "Dead!" as the heart rate monitor from former flat lines. Lyrically, "Dead!" also follows the Patient's impending death, but interprets his fate in a sarcastic, cheerful manner. The album then leads into "This Is How I Disappear" and "The Sharpest Lives", two songs that are fairly similar. The former showcases a different way of discussing death, calling for one to "drain all the blood and give the kids a show". Meanwhile, the latter is about the idea of living life without caring about the consequences of one's actions, as the Patient looks back on his messy youth. The album's centerpiece, "Welcome to the Black Parade", focuses on the Patient's childhood memory before his death. The song opens up a brief piano introduction that later transforms into a grand-scale song that incorporates several aspects of various rock music sub-genres. Following that song, "I Don't Love You" serves as the album's first power ballad, with its themes being self-explanatory.

"House of Wolves" covers the Patient as he experiences the afterlife, and seemingly ends up in hell. Meanwhile, "Cancer" is where the character comes to terms with the titular disease and the effects that it has left on his appearance and life. "Mama" is centered around the character of Mother War, who represents the Patients mother, while the Patient begs her for forgiveness for his actions throughout his life. The song features Liza Minnelli, who acts on the behalf of Mother War. Following afterwards, "Sleep" marks a slower point in the album as a second power ballad. "Teenagers" is unique from the rest of the album in the sense that it is not related to the story of the Patient at all, instead being based around Gerard Way's concerns about the youth being viewed by the government and society as "meat". After that song, the album returns to the story of the Patient with "Disenchanted", the album's final power ballad that follows the Patient as he finally nears his demise, and amounts life to nothing more than a "lifelong wait for a hospital stay" in the process. The album closes with "Famous Last Words", which instead of being a final track exclusively about death, is about making a promise to carry on and making the most of life while you're still alive.

Release and promotion

The band formally announced their third studio album on July 31, 2006, with the title of ''The Black Parade'' being revealed on August 25 alongside several details about the album, such as song titles and touring information. Six days later, the band performed at the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards pre-show in New York, and debuted "Welcome to the Black Parade" during their performance. The song was released for streaming two days later. On September 12, the album's artwork and the full track list was revealed. The music video for "Welcome to the Black Parade" was released on September 28. On October 21, the band was the musical guest on an episode of ''Saturday Night Live'', where they performed "Welcome to the Black Parade" and "Cancer".

''The Black Parade'' was made available for streaming on October 19, and was released through Reprise on October 23 in Europe, with the official release date as October 24. The band played a record release show at Vintage Vinyl in the parking lot to celebrate its release on October 23. In Japan, the album was released on an enhanced CD, and also contains the song "Heaven Help Us" and a music video for "Welcome to the Black Parade." The album was supported by four singles, including the aforementioned "Welcome to the Black Parade". The album's second single, "Famous Last Words", was released on January 22, 2007. It was followed by "I Don't Love You" and "Teenagers", which were released on April 2 and July 9 respectively. In 2009, a compilation of B-sides from the album's singles was released, titled ''The Black Parade: The B-Sides''.

In July 2016, the band announced a 10th anniversary reissue of the album, titled ''The Black Parade/Living with Ghosts''. It was released on September 23, and features ''The Black Parade'' alongside a second disc titled ''Living With Ghosts''. The second disc contains 11 demos and live tracks, many of which were for previously unreleased songs. It also contains an early version of "Welcome To The Black Parade", titled "The Five of Us Are Dying", which was released on streaming services two months before the reissue's release.

Tours

My Chemical Romance began the Black Parade World Tour on February 22, 2007, in Manchester, New Hampshire's Verizon Wireless Arena. Throughout the tour, the band would play ''The Black Parade'' in its entirety as the "Black Parade", an alter-ego band that the album was named after. The tour featured 133 performances worldwide. The band quit playing as the "Black Parade" on October 7, 2007, at the Palacio de los Deportes in Mexico City, Mexico, where the alter-ego was killed off. The tour ended on May 9, 2008. Their final show as the Black Parade, alongside another standalone show that the band performed later that month in New Jersey, were both recorded for '' The Black Parade Is Dead!'' , a live album and DVD released in June 2008.

During the tour, there were several cancellations and some members had to leave the tour for personal or medical reasons. Six shows were cancelled from April 29, 2007, to May 4, 2007, after the band and crew contracted food poisoning. The band Circa Survive had to replace Muse, whose members also suffered from the same food poisoning. On January 11, 2007, Frank Iero left the tour because of an unspecified illness. He was replaced by Drive By guitarist Todd Price. Mikey Way took time off to get married and spend time with his new wife, Alicia Simmons, and was replaced by guitar tech Matt Cortez from April 18, 2007, until October 4, 2007. Bob Bryar suffered injuries relating to his wrists during the tour which led to the cancellation of the show at the University of Maine on October 27, 2007. Bryar left the tour on November 9, 2007, and was replaced by a friend of the band, who wished to remain anonymous. Following the November 11, 2007, show in Newcastle upon Tyne, Frank Iero left the tour to return home after learning about a family member's illness. He was replaced by Matt Cortez.

In October 2024, the band performed ''The Black Parade'' in its entirety for the first time since 2007 at When We Were Young 2024. A month later, the band announced a second tour centered around the album, Long Live The Black Parade. The tour is set to begin at Seattle's T-Mobile Park on July 11, 2025, and conclude at the Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida on September 13.

Critical reception

''The Black Parade'' has received critical acclaim. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 79, based on 24 professional critic reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".

Dan Martin from ''NME'' compared the album to Green Day's ''American Idiot'', positing that "it's a piece of work that will challenge every preconception you ever had about the people who made it." Tim Karan of Alternative Press called ''The Black Parade'' "MCR's whole raison d'etre rolled up into one mega-decibel calling card". ''IGN''s Ed Thompson wrote, "''The Black Parade'' is a rock and roll gem that celebrates everything that was over the top about the 1970s rock scene." David Fricke of ''Rolling Stone'' praised the classic rock feel of the album. ''Entertainment Weekly'' stated that "On their third studio album, a musical H-bomb of an effort, the Jersey quintet combine the rock-opera pomp of Queen with the darker, dirtier tones of their screamo past: Call it a Bro-hemian Rhapsody. Even without its broad concept — a dying cancer patient seeks revenge and redemption — Parade stands as one of the most cohesive, engaging rock records of 2006." Robert Christgau gave the album a two-star honorable mention saying, "In prog, a good sense of humor means so much."

''The Observer'' gave the album a one star review, saying, "...it reeks of a band with ideas above its station." Theon Weber of ''Stylus'' praised the album's use of Queen influences, but went on to summarize the album as "...a goofy record of bubblegum punk, with Queen lapping at its edges and enough good tracks to justify the smattering of empty screamfests."

Accolades

''The Black Parade'' was ranked by several publications as among the best albums to release in 2006. Among those publications was ''Rolling Stone'', ''Kerrang!'', and ''Rock Sound''. Additionally, '' Wizard'' magazine praised the album in their "Best of 2006" issue, declaring it "an instant classic."My Chemical Romance, "The Black Parade", Wizard Magazine, January 2007. Retrieved on August 11, 2008.

Commercial performance

''The Black Parade'' debuted at number two in the United States on the ''Billboard'' 200 behind ''Hannah Montana'' (2006). It also debuted at number two on the UK Albums Chart, behind Robbie Williams' ''Rudebox'' (2006). In its first week, the album sold 240,000 copies in the US, far surpassing the 38,000 best-week sales of the band's previous album, ''Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge'' (2004). The band achieved its first number one single in the United Kingdom with "Welcome to the Black Parade".
The album debuted at number three on the Australian ARIA Albums Chart and was certified platinum after shipping more than 70,000 copies. It debuted atop the charts in New Zealand and was certified platinum there, with shipments of more than 15,000 and has since gone 3× Platinum by the RMNZ. In 2012, ''The Black Parade'' was certified Platinum by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) for one million sales in Europe, and was also certified four-times Platinum by the RIAA, selling over 1.1 million physical copies. It has been certified 3× Platinum in the UK, and has sold just over 900,000 units there to date. It received Gold certifications in both Argentina (by the CAPIF) and Chile (by the IFPI Chile). ''The Black Parade'' was given the Platinum Europe Award by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry for one million sales in Europe. The limited edition boxed set also earned My Chemical Romance a nomination for Best Boxed/Special Limited Edition at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards in 2008. As of January 2018 the album had sold over three million copies in the U.S. The album was also certified 3× Platinum in Canada by Music Canada. "Welcome to the Black Parade", a single from ''The Black Parade'' became My Chemical Romance's first and only top 10 single in the United States.

Legacy and impact

''The Black Parade'' has frequently been considered one of, if not the most important album to the emo music genre and sub-culture, as well as My Chemical Romance's defining work that made them a global phenomenon. Some have deemed it the emo or pop-punk equivalent to ''Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'' (1967), and others have labeled it as the greatest emo album ever made. The sound of emo music was permanently altered following the success of ''The Black Parade'', with the album being attributed to the end of emo-pop's mainstream popularity. The album also influenced several rappers that would gain prominence in the coming years, numerous metalcore bands and contemporary pop artists, as well as film soundtracks. ''Alternative Press'' stated that ''The Black Parade'' would "carry on forever as the most technically ambitious and thematically magnificent record in all of emo", and ''Kerrang!'' wrote that the album "defined a generation and changed the landscape of rock forever", and was the "ultimate emo album". Luke Morgan Britton of ''NME'' wrote that the album "exploded the boundaries of its genre". In 2017, Clint Hale of ''Houston Press'' described ''The Black Parade'' as a "rock opera done right" and a "truly great record", the latter of which he believed most bands were unable to create, and that the album was "impossible to forget".

''The Black Parade'' left a significant impact on alternative culture and fashion. Terry Bezer of ''Louder'' wrote that ''The Black Parade'' became a "way of life that changed the cultural landscape of the world", and that the themes demonstrated by the album were "embraced by an entire generation". Furthermore, the album's lead single, "Welcome to the Black Parade", has been considered an "emo anthem" as well as My Chemical Romance's best song. ''Kerrang!'' wrote that it was one of the "biggest, best and most important rock songs of the 21st century", and a "rallying cry for all who feel the world’s dealt them a cruel hand". In 2008, British tabloid newspaper ''The Daily Mail'' attacked My Chemical Romance over the popularity of ''The Black Parade'', accusing them of promoting suicide and describing emo culture as a "cult". In their story, the writers interpreted the idea of the "joining the black parade" as a genuine afterlife that emos seemingly believed in, and described emo culture as a whole as "characterised by depression, self-injury and suicide". They further highlighted the suicide of a young fan who started following the band shortly before her death. In response, more than 300 fans of the band protested outside of the newspaper's office in London, criticizing the newspaper for its inaccuracies, and accusing it of taking advantage of the death of a young girl to prove a point, as well as an older audience that they believed was naturally more hostile towards alternative cultures. The newspaper later edited the story and issued an apology.

While ''The Black Parade'' did not receive much retroactive praise for several years, it began receiving more acclaim in the 2020s. In 2020, ''The Black Parade'' was included by ''Rolling Stone'' on their "500 Greatest Albums of All Time" list at number 361. The same publication later ranked it in 2022 as one of the best concept albums ever made. In 2011, ''IGN'' named ''The Black Parade'' one of the best rock albums of the 2000s decade. That same year, ''Kerrang!'' included the album in its "666 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die!" list with a score of 5 "K"'s, calling it a "genre-defining album". In 2021, ''Kerrang!'' considered ''The Black Parade'' to be the greatest emo album ever made. It was included in ''Rock Sound''s 101 Modern Classics list at number nine, and, in April 2019, was named the best album released since the publication's launch in March 1999.

Track listing

Notes
# "Blood" appears as a hidden track after approximately 90 seconds of silence. It is not included on the Japanese release.

Personnel

My Chemical Romance

* Bob Bryar – drums, percussion, producer
* Frank Iero – guitars, backing vocals, producer
* Ray Toro – guitars, backing vocals, producer; bass guitar on "Cancer"
* Gerard Way – lead and backing vocals, producer
* Mikey Way – bass guitar (except on "Cancer"), producer

Additional musicians
* David Campbell – string and horn arrangements
* Rob Cavallo – acoustic piano
* Cheech Iero – additional percussion on "Welcome to the Black Parade"
* Linda Iero, Donald James & Donna Lee Way – additional vocals on "Mama"
* Liza Minnelli – guest vocals on "Mama" as "Mother War"
* Jamie Muhoberac – Hammond B3 organ, synthesizer, Wurlitzer electronic piano, acoustic piano on "Blood"

Technical

* Rob Cavallo – producer
* Doug McKean – engineer
* Chris Steffan – recording engineer
* Jimmy Hoyson – assistant engineer
* Jon Herroon – assistant engineer
* Chris Lord-Alge – mixing
* Keith Armstrong – assistant engineer
* Ted Jensen – mastering
* Lars Fox – additional Pro Tools
* Andrew "Hans" Busher – guitar technician
* Tyler Dragness – guitar technician
* Mike "Sack" Fasano – drum technician
* Cheryl Jenets – project coordinator
* Brain Schechter/Riot Squad – management
* Craig Aaronson – A&R
* Chris Anthony – photography
* Matt Taylor – additional photography on Limited Edition, art direction, design
* Gerard Way – additional photography on Limited Edition, art direction
* Ray Toro – additional photography on Limited Edition
* Ellen Wakayama – art direction
* James Jean – illustrations

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

;Standard edition

Limited edition

See also

* Concept albums

References

Sources

*

External links

''The Black Parade''
at YouTube (streamed copy where licensed)


My Chemical Romance official website

''The Black Parade'' official website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Black Parade, The
My Chemical Romance albums
2006 albums
Reprise Records albums
Albums produced by Rob Cavallo
Rock operas
Works about cancer
2000s concept albums
Hard rock albums by American artists
Progressive rock albums by American artists