My Chemical Romance (Part II)

Genre disputes and influences


The band has been described variously by the media as "emo"[10][11], "indie", "pop punk", "post-hardcore" and "punk revival"[12]. The band themselves have described their music as simply "rock" or "violent, dangerous pop", as well as rejecting the term "emo"[13] to describe their style. But another source quotes Gerard stating they are "What else you got emo".[1]

My Chemical Romance cite their main influences as Queen, Thursday, Iron Maiden, The Misfits, and Morrissey/The Smiths. Their first single from "The Black Parade" is clearly a homage to "Goodbye Silk City" by NJ's Suit of Lights.[14] Geoff Rickly, the lead singer of Thursday, has also compared them to Ink & Dagger.[1] Growing up, they were also very influenced by horror films and comic books, and therefore their music, lyrics, and image all have overt elements of fantasy, storytelling, horror, and theatricality.



Criticism

Fanbase


My Chemical Romance was initially lauded as a band with a strong "grassroots" or "cult" following. It was among the first bands to achieve prominence by offering free downloads through PureVolume[15] and the "social networking" site MySpace, where MCR gathered its first 100,000 fans.[16] The band has clearly grown well beyond those initial numbers, expanding their fan base beyond the typical fans of their musical style and direction [17], partially helped by the more mainstream sound of their 2004 album, Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge. MCR are sometimes maligned by the "grassroots" fans for the expanded fan base, due to attracting fans they claim are "teeny boppers", after the release of Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge. Many critics say that My Chemical Romance and similar bands play generic, MTV-friendly music meant for mass consumption rather than artistic innovation. Due to the increased amount of new fans, some of the old fanbase considers the band a "sellout" and the new MCR fans "posers". The fans are particularly vocal on online forums. [18] [19]

Fan fiction about MCR has become common online on fansites, LiveJournal groups, fan fiction sites, and Quizilla. These stories are about the band members having some connection with the underworld or Hell, or dealing with various parts of life. However some if not most of these stories promote the band as "sex icons". These stories usually have the band having sexual relations, or relations in general, with either original characters, bandmates, or other bands (a common band mentioned in fan fiction would be The Used). However, some feel different, which led to a large feud among users of Iconator. The feud on Iconator was based on the fact that "the members of My Chemical Romance do not deserve to be treated like "sex icons", and do deserve to be treated like normal people, because that's what they are." [20]

Image

Much of My Chemical Romance's music is 'horror film' based, and their photos and art rather bloody. Due to this, MCR are often criticized for their appearance being emo.

The band Guttermouth was supposedly removed from the 2004 Warped Tour for insulting My Chemical Romance, stating that the band were more concerned about their clothing and making money, rather than the artistic merits of the music they make. This is denied by Guttermouth, who claim they left of their own accord and not due to a complaint by My Chemical Romance.

In October 2006, the British Indie Rock band Kasabian criticized My Chemical Romance, labelling them "clowns" and "emo kids" who "don't have anything positive to say" and "should get out more and try and have a good time instead."[21]

Bottled

My Chemical Romance played the main stage at the 2006 Reading and Leeds Festivals - this was the largest show they have ever played in the UK. They were not received warmly by the crowd at Reading, as the band was subjected to heavy concert bottling. Large sections of the audience threw bacon, tangerines, golf balls, and drink bottles filled with urine at the group as they played. This reportedly upset frontman Way, who then introduced a track saying, "This song is called Thanks For All The Bottles, Thanks For All The Piss, Thanks For All The Golf Balls, Thanks For All The Apples And Thanks For All The Sticky Shit." My Chemical Romance did, however, complete their set.[22]

Relationship with The Used

The Used is known to have both a personal and a professional relationship with My Chemical Romance. The lead singer Gerard Way and Bert McCracken were rumored to have been particularly close. My Chemical Romance and The Used have covered "Under Pressure" (originally by David Bowie and Queen) in concert on multiple occasions. Critics, however, have often criticized this relationship saying that My Chemical Romance used their relationship with The Used to gain a more international and wider audience.

In recent months, however, the two lead singers of both bands seem to have had a fallout due to disagreements over the addition of "Under Pressure" to In Love and Death. Most of this evidence comes from an interview with Bert and a recent song by My Chemical Romance entitled "Disenchanted". The dispute was settled, however, when Bert said in an article that he was "just messing around". The two bands' members are, to this day, good friends.[citation needed]

In the music video to My Chemical Romance's song "I'm Not Okay (I Promise)", it displays the line "If You've Ever Felt Used"

In The Used's song, "Take It Away", one line in the lyrics says "and I've lost all doubt in a chemical romance".

Tribute Acts

A number of tributes have been made to the work of My Chemical Romance. A one off project called "The Not Okay Kids" covered of a set of My Chemical Romance's songs from their first two albums. Another act that took on the task of creating a CD of tribute to the band was the Da Capo Chamber Players. They produced an album playing instrumental versions of a selection of tracks, again, from the bands first two albums.