In the same vein of emocore music as Coheed and Cambria and Story of the Year, My Chemical Romance mixes killer production with a silky-smooth set of vocals and equally compelling guitars. Swirling guitars as well as the technical abilities of the band make a track like “Give ‘Em Hell, Kid” fulfilling in both the musical and catchy senses. Never one to rest on their laurels, My Chemical Romance is continually pushing the tempo and effort by their members to the breaking point, and by and large, they achieve excellence due to this policy. Not as content to stay within the narrow sound of a lot of emocore bands that have preceded them, My Chemical Romance takes equal parts from theatric rock as well as nu-metal, adding them to create a truly innovative sound.
“Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge” goes by quickly, with the skillful hands of My Chemical Romance spinning together the thirteen tracks without making them sound like one long, boring track. “Thank You For The Venom” is yet another hard-hitting track where all members of the band contribute equally, and the follow up track, “Hang ‘Em High” is on the verge of breaking into total chaos, before it is reined in by the band into a frantic pace. Throughout the disc, the drumming laid down by Matt is probably the most exciting facet of the band – where there could be a myriad of generic fills that would make the disc passable, Matt is always there with masterful lines to make something that is typically an afterthought the forefront of the disc.
But, before I give the MVP of the disc to Matt, the twin sonic assault of Ray and Frank have to be mentioned, as it is on their shoulders that the tone of the disc rest. Instead of just stealing entire guitar lines from previous band (see Avenged Sevenfold and their unoriginality concerning Helloween), My Chemical Romance can create lines that are similar to the Vandals only in the sense that they can go and string together notes that would not go together into a hard-hitting solo (see the aforementioned “Give ‘Em Hell Kid”). My Chemical Romance has been lighting up a number of compilations, and this disc just further shows their ability, as any band can cut one decent-sounding single; My Chemical Romance just has cut thirteen on this, “Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge”.
Top Tracks: Thank You For The Venom, Give ‘Em Hell, Kid
Rating: 7.7/10
My Chemical Romance – Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge / 2004 Reprise Records / 13 Tracks / http://www.mychemicalromance.com / http://www.repriserecords.com / Reviewed 07 June 2004