Beyond Nostalgia: A Retrospective on The Black Parade
Art by Melia Allen
Let’s get one thing out of the way: at some point between the ages of 12 and 13, I made an account on Tumblr. What followed was an adolescence that, for better or worse, I remember vividly — afternoon after afternoon was spent filling my queue with posts and answering asks. I constantly reblogged content created by my friends, who primarily posted aesthetic images of nature or, occasionally, their incredible art. However, my area of Tumblr was slightly different. I lived at the intersection of various music fandoms, which reached everything from indietronica to pop punk and emo. After reading my friend Ro Redfern’s excellent article about the resurgence of pop punk during the ongoing pandemic, I decided to revisit a few records from this portion of my adolescence. One particular album has stuck with me throughout all these years, partially because it never really left my rotation: The Black Parade, My Chemical Romance’s 2006 magnum opus. From where I’m standing, The Black Parade is not only a landmark concept album for pop punk, but also the definitive rock opera of this generation - it’s a remarkably vivid portrait of a fictional patient battling a terminal illness, delivering an hour of hard-hitting, sonically diverse, and ultimately gratifying emo and pop-punk.
Choosing just one appealing thing about The Black Parade is a near-impossible task, but if I had to start somewhere, I would happily select the somewhat opaque storyline. Such an attribute may sound antithetical to the notion of a concept album, but The Black Parade indeed benefits from holding its cards close to its chest; instead of dedicating each moment to the development of a full-fledged concept, My Chemical Romance provides a loose storyline which foregrounds a set of fourteen incredible and uncompromising tracks, rather than overshadowing them. Although these narrative fragments are few and far between, they are no less interesting - what they do reveal is a grim tale of a terminally ill protagonist, dubbed The Patient, who promptly kicks the bucket at the beginning of the record. Throughout the album’s runtime, the protagonist experiences a reckless descent into the afterlife, begs to be disowned by a past lover, reminisces on his illness and military services, and even details a peculiar fear of adolescents.
These bits of narrative exist for listeners eager to interpret, connect, and theorize - however, The Black Parade does not force itself to devote every moment to worldbuilding. Many moments only adopt The Patient’s perspective in passing, or entirely forgo doing so. For instance, the track “Teenagers” does not appear to have any connection to the narrative at hand, but this diversion does not erode the consistency and cohesiveness of the surrounding project. What results is a set of loosely arranged facts and perspectives which sometimes fit together neatly, and other times seem a bit fuzzy; fan interpretations of The Black Parade’s storyline have thus proliferated in the 15 years since its release. As a point of contrast, I think of Pink Floyd’s acclaimed 1979 release, The Wall. Without a doubt, The Wall is a monumental work of songwriting and performance — however, its commitment to narrative might be a bit too strong. Moments like “The Trial” and “Outside the Wall” are crucial to the concept yet, to my ears, contain little replay value and are entirely absent from my rotation. Meanwhile, spots on The Black Parade such as “Teenagers” or even “The Sharpest Lives” may seem slightly divorced from The Patient’s story; but regardless of their (lack of) narrative content, these songs are still fiery. Make no mistake: the story of The Black Parade is fascinating. However, it takes somewhat of a backseat in comparison to concept albums like The Wall, allowing the sonic content of the record to exist on terms beyond strictly that of the narrative.
At long last, this notion brings me to the music itself: the sonic palette and arrangements of The Black Parade are at once explosive and subdued, brooding yet triumphant. The sonic accompaniment to its scattered narrative is remarkably gratifying — opener “The End.” presents a wonderful homage to David Bowie’s similarly theatrical and tone-setting “Five Years,” while the following “Dead!” knocks the listener over the head with a fiery guitar solo, driving rhythm guitar, and a literal flatline marking the moment of The Patient’s demise. These two tracks immediately exhibit the range and expressiveness of frontman Gerard Way’s vocals, which continue to be predictable only in quality over the course of the record’s near-hour runtime — tracks like “The End.” see him effortlessly jumping between octaves and timbres in order to fit the intensity of the musical arrangements. And when The Black Parade wants to be heavy, it kicks these arrangements into high gear: look no further than the cabaret-meets-emo guitar breakdowns in “Mama,” or the noisy breakdown that concludes the funereal “Sleep.” Conversely, the album knows exactly when to pull back on its distorted fury and tug at your heartstrings — when the melancholy piano lines intertwine with the tragic lyrics of “Cancer,” or the nostalgic verses of “Disenchanted” meet the track’s wistful acoustic guitar melodies, My Chemical Romance’s songwriting prowess is undeniable. They are acutely aware of the power they hold to make the listener feel their arrangements, whether the song at hand is a ballad or full-on pop-punk rager.
Two key tracks illustrate The Black Parade’s power to simultaneously burn the house down and pick up its pieces. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention album centerpiece “Welcome to the Black Parade,” which deserves every ounce of acclaim it has earned among both fans and critics. It runs the gamut of the record’s sonic textures, beginning with a piano melody which is equal parts nostalgic and iconic before morphing into a triumphant march. Way’s incredible vocal performance is punctuated by overdriven guitars, fantastic group vocals, and a complex song structure which leaves the listener clueless as to what will come next. While I adore this song, I do wish some of its acclaim would be shared with album closer “Famous Last Words.” My favorite track on the record, this song is everything I love about The Black Parade: heartbreaking lyrics, punchy pop-punk guitars, and a group refrain which is bombastic, triumphant, and hard-hitting on every single listen. I certainly didn’t expect an album about illness and death to close with the mantra “I am not afraid to keep on living / I am not afraid to walk this world alone.” These final words bookend a tragic story with particularly defiant hope, forming a finale as ambiguous as the journey there. You can’t go wrong with any track on The Black Parade, but these two songs in particular give me everything I want, every single time.
Simply put, The Black Parade is magical. It presents the listener with a series of vignettes and allows them to dive in to whichever degree they like — even those who could go without following the album’s loose yet excellent concept still receive a diverse helping of glam-tinged pop punk and emo perfection. It may not be for everyone, especially those who prefer concept albums with set-in-stone stories. However, those open to interpreting and rearranging its pieces might get a little bit of extra enjoyment on top of the record’s immediately gratifying songs. I may not keep many other records from my Tumblr days in my current rotation but, every time I revisit The Black Parade, I’m reminded that my fondness for My Chemical Romance goes far beyond pure nostalgia.
Edited by Adam Light, editor of Reviews
Cover art by Melia Allen