My Chemical Romance - Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge

I think it's high time I told you all about my favourite album in the universe. That album is by a band known as My Chemical Romance, hailing from New Jersey, and that album is called Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge.


Supposedly following the story of "a man, a woman, and the corpses of a thousand evil men", it's this never-ending attack of noise and anger and blood that actually makes my heart race when I listen to it. You really do not understand how much I love this album. It's excellent if you need something to fuel your anger, or something to just exorcise it out of you, because it has all the violence and fury that you want to take out of the world, but because of governments and all that stupid stuff, you can't.

(left to right): Frank Iero, Bob Bryar, Gerard Way, Mikey Way, Ray Toro

It kicks off with Helena (So Long And Goodnight), which is my favourite song ever, about Gerard and Mikey's dead grandmother, who helped Gerard realise his talent for singing. Then there's all these other songs in there, like Give 'Em Hell, Kid, and Hang 'Em High, that make me feel reckless like I'm hyping myself up for war.
To The End is one of my favourite songs on the album (watch me say that about every song). It's got this amazing chorus that I keep trying to sing the lead and backing vocals to simultaneously, because it's just so wlejfhwljfhljdhfdsljhfwlkjhfwljf. It's apparently based on the story A Rose For Emily, about a woman who falls in love with a gay man and then kills him and keeps his corpse in her bed (spoiler alert?). I just . . . love it . . . so much . . . ugh . . . plus it has the line, "lost in coma and covered in cake", which is just brilliant.

Then there's You Know What They Do To Guys Like Us In Prison - the song that does exactly what it says on the tin. Even without the line "My cellmate's a killer, they make me do push-ups in drag", it is, quite obviously, a song about prison anal. Gerard actually said that on stage at one point, I believe. It is a brilliant song, and one that spawned a thousand shakily-grounded Frerard theories (there is a very wide part of the MCR fanbase that ships Frank and Gerard, and are constantly generating theories as to why they're currently in committed heterosexual relationships - some well thought out, others forgetting that they're obviously going to have to look at each other at some point, what with them being in a band together).

Then, obviously, the big hitter, the monster track that everybody knows and is used to smash through every claim MCR make that they're not emo - I appreciate they don't like the term, but really, because of this song they've become inextricably linked to the scene - it's I'm Not Okay (I Promise).

This video's awesome. Filmed like an advert for a movie about every outcast kid ever, and with the amazing Frank moment in the middle - I remember the first time I watched this video, and it was that specific moment where I decided I loved the band - it's just SO BLEEDING AMAZING YOU DONT UNDERSTAND.

After that comes The Ghost of You, which is a pretty dark song, the kind of one you use as a cover for crying very loudly into your pillow. There's a video for it too, which has particular resonance with fans because of the Tragic Mikey Death Scene at the end. It is very sad, I must say. It also showcases the one time when somebody managed to tame the beast that is Ray Toro's amazing 'fro.

The album lets up slightly for a few moments, for This Jetset Life Is Gonna Kill You, and the interlude. The guitars in Jetset always remind me of A Forest by The Cure, partly because of the sort of spooky wobbly noise (surprising though it may seem, I dropped Music three years ago), or possibly because when I first downloaded the album (legally, I only download bands I like, and it's a mark of respect to them imho) I spent a lot of the time wandering about in a forest being very angry and depressed.

When that's over, after a second of silence, you get hit in the face by Thank You For The Venom, which is a song I am definitely going to have to learn on guitar, because that is such a  . . . a . . . I don't know any words appropriate to explain how much I love the riff in this song. I just yes. All the yes. It's got such a kick-ass chorus as well, just listen to it, it's so beautiful.

The last few songs, to me, have a lot more of an - and I know this is going to sound really obvious - ending kind of feeling. In terms of the man, woman, thousand corpses idea, these songs in my head are when they've reached the end of the road and they know the police are catching up to them, so all they can do is wait because there's no escape. In such a fashion you get It's Not A Fashion Statement, It's A Fucking Deathwish, which you can use for so many things (and, though I must also stress here that it is not always an indicator of impending suicide, self-harm could come under things you could use that song title for, because, seriously people, never ever hurt yourself to look cool or fit in - try not to do it at all, really).

The penultimate song is Cemetery Drive, which is, incidentally, my second favourite song in the world. I love how it's so gloomy, and it's so easy to imagine a story behind it as it plays out, and the guitars in this are so beautiful. It also has an entertaining oral sex reference not-exactly-hidden away in the lyrics.

The last song is I Never Told You What I Do For A Living. It's brilliant, I just . . . when I first got the album I never really appreciated it because I was all burnt out after I'm Not Okay, and I didn't have time for the later tracks. But over time I really got to listen to this one, and it's so wonderful. The lyrics and the music fit the title - to me it's like a confession. My internal story for the album is that a man gets hired to kill a woman, Helena, by Helena's partner at the time for some reason. Anyway, he can't do it, and they end up running away together. Over the course of the album, they keep having to kill and kill as Helena's ex sends more hitmen after them, and they fall in love and realise that they can never safely leave each other because of the crimes they've committed. This song is the end, the big finale where Helena finally finds out what her new partner does for a living, and everything finally catches up with them.

Look, I just really love this album in a way that I cannot express in mere words. You should just listen to it and everything My Chemical Romance has done because it's awesome.