better late than never

THE BLACK PARADE - REVIEW

MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE - "THE BLACK PARADE" 

I must admit... upon hearing the first single, "Welcome To The Black Parade" from My Chemical Romances' third studio release, "The Black Parade", I dismissed this record as an obvious and pathetic attempt to revive or duplicate the magic of one of the greatest rock bands of all time... Queen. From the swell of the arena worthy guitars to the multi layered rock-opera background vocals, it appeared to have it all... but still fell short of the original genius I felt they were trying to emulate.
Had I stopped there, I might have missed one of the best rock records of 2006.
From the opening track, TBP tells a story of great sorrow.  This is not a tale filled with the elegant beauty of a 'beginning and end'.  Singer and chief lyricist Gerard Way attempts, and more times than not, succeeds on a mission to bring the listener to an understanding - an understanding of life and death - and the struggles we face simply living.
For the most part, this album ebbs and falls with great precision.  From the fragility of the piano heavy "Cancer" to the angst of "I Don't Love You", each song is an intricate piece.  One problem that does develop along the way is the band's tendency for sound-a-like arrangements.  After spending more time with the record, the listener tends to lose track of the material due to their similar structure and familiar chord progressions (several songs begin with a sterile piano line that ascends into an anthem heavy hook).  Though not a huge distraction, at times this does leave the listener a bit confused.  It is an expected weakness given the concept behind the project.  Way was quoted as saying, "this is the story of a man who dies tragically before his time in a hospital."  
It is a rare find when a songwriter allows himself to touch such sorrow without the trappings of too much self exposure.  MCR proves with their third release that rock-n-roll is not dead... it's just a little darker than the current landscape.
IMMEDIATE DOWNLOADS: "Cancer", "This Is How I Disappear", "I Don't Love You", "Sleep" & "Famous Last Words"

split personality

josh cole is a one badass mofo...

create it

... the lights have come down (OR THEY SHOULD BE DOWN!!!)... the tree has found a new home in the nearest dumpster and we anxiously await the adventure that will be 2007. In the next month we will spend a great deal of time agonizing over how to change the most ridiculous things (as though the other 11 months of the year have the title "I CAN BE A LAZY ASS" attached to them)... from diets to fitness... no drinking to the patch. Things I like to refer to as January-isms. The, more than not, half ass attempt at better-ing ourselves for the sake of vanity. I mean come on... all the things we start and usually fail at have very little or no other relevance than vanity. CAPITAL V-A-N-I-T-Y.
Now don't send me a ton of bullshit comments about how "change is good" and "what's wrong with becoming a better person"... blah, blah, blah. Of course those statements are true but one must be a CONSTANT work in progress... not a seasonal one.
I believe that to achieve real CHANGE you have to know WHY YOU WANT IT. We can strive to look thinner, stop drinking, stop smoking, eat better, work out more and do all the other (usually) short lived resolutions... but if in the privacy of the soul we only want the surface... we are destined to fail.
It has to be about more.
I think our problem comes from a media induced stupor that has become all too accepted. It's about looking younger, being thinner, having more... more of what? Things that will fade? Empty relationships?
I ask you to think harder this year as you plan your self improvements. Do something to truly change your life and those around you. Stop looking to others to define your worth... create it.