Albums Of The Year: No. 2

MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE - 'The Black Parade'

I know what you're thinking. 'My Chemical Romance? Aren't they that goth emo band that only 14 year olds with black nail polish and make-up are allowed to like?' Well, yes and no.

While it's true that MCR (as the cool nail polish kids call them) have not only been linked to, but also slightly accused of starting the emo movement, and have indeed built themselves an army of young fans who don't dress dissimilar to that cliche, it's always been a stretch to call them a strictly emo band. And now that stretch has snapped. They make rock music. Nothing more, nothing less. And it's fucking great.

Another thing that's always set MCR apart from the other bands in the 'emo' crowd is that you always got a sense of believing what they were saying. Whether it's John Lennon singing 'Imagine there's no heaven', or Matthew Good screaming 'Never turn your back on me', if you don't relate to what's being said, and believe it, then... well, then you're listening to Dido. And MCR are working-class boys from New Jersey, so it's a fair bet they've actually seen some of what they're singing about. Somehow it's hard to make the same claim for Panic At The Disco (whose last single - I kid you not - was about turning a doorknob).

So, 'The Black Parade'. A concept album, or rock opera, if you will, telling a story through it's songs. "They're ripping off Green Day" I hear you cry. Not so, gentle reader, as MCR's last 2 albums have been concept rock operas, just not so heavily advertised as so. Now it's clear they've had enough. Fuck, they even went as far as changing their band name to The Black Parade for early live shows. Clearly, they want nothing to do with this emo lark anymore.

And the album is stunning. An absolutely astonishing piece of work, which would be more at home next to the likes of Queen or Cabaret (and also reminds me of my old heroes The Wildhearts) than the emo pretenders clinging to their heels. In fact, it actually surpasses Green Day's 'American Idiot' opus by being so unashamedly theatrical that you simply can't ignore the emotion embedded within it. Forget making a movie of your album - one day, I tell you, 'The Black Parade' will be an amazing stage musical!

Telling the story of a young man who dies from cancer, meets his maker and makes his peace, the album story is told in flashback as his life passes before his eyes, and everything and everyone he's encountered. To say it's heartfelt is like saying 'Schindler's List' was "a bit grim". This album goes for the heart every time, and gets it. Before I get into the music, let me just say that this album deserves an award for the vocal arrangement alone. It is like nothing I've heard before, at least since the days of Queen. And it has music so good you'd almost expect it to come a 70's rock or 90's punk band (or when Elton John was good), but it's Gerard Way's lyrics and delivery that really lifts this into a shocking and uplifting experience.

Recounting the life of a fictional character through emotions, he doesn't leave a single one unturned:

From anger: You can watch me corrode like a beast in repose - 'The Sharpest Lives'

to confrontation: You should have raised a baby girl / I should have been a better son - 'Mama'

and grief: The hardest part of this is leaving you - 'Cancer'

through to a relative accepting the loss of a loved one: I am not afraid to keep on living / I am not afraid to walk this world alone - 'Famous Last Words'

This is an album that should affect anyone that has felt something. Which is everyone. You just need to get past the fact that this was made by My Chemical Romance. This is a grand, huge, important and sometimes camp rock album (it even has Liza Minelli in a cameo), and it almost feels impossible that this was made in 2006. But as a massive wake-up call to other bands to start being creative again... well, thank god it was.