My Chemical Romance - Causes Severe Addiction

I brought you my bullets, you brought me your love is certainly not the shortest title that one could choose for an album, but it reflects singer Gerard Way's tongue in cheek lyrics.

MCR is currently on the same record label that the emo-core band Thursday started on (Eyeball Records), they hail from New Jersey, and Geoff (from Thursday) produced the CD. That's where the comparisons end, however. The song title "Vampires Will Never Hurt You" may lead many people to believe that Romance is more of a goth band. A more accurate comparison for the type of music MCR plays would be punk. Subject matter for the album ranges from the depressing life of cubicles in the office world, vampires,
bullets and pixie dust, drowning, and cold buildings (city life). MCR have a range, and I was quite surprised - initially I assumed that all the songs would sound alike. There are some slower songs included in the album, but pretty much all of them on the other side of Top 40 slow.

If you'd like to know what other bands MCR sounds like - take it from the guys themselves - the Misfits and the Damned. But a more accurate description would include tsunami like drums (lots and lots of build up that explodes at the end), bass lines that tear into you like gunfire, guitars that sear and cut like nothing you've probably heard before. All hype aside, MCR takes punk rock to a new level, and locks in lyrics that are at the same time humorous and dark.

The album starts out with a classic feeling riff just guitar and (I think) some audible crackle just like you were playing an LP. After the intro, the album opens up with "Honey, This Mirror Isn't Big Enough For the Two Of Us"
and "Vampires Will Never Hurt You". Well orchestrated lyrics from "Vampires..." (below) mix well with aggressive sounds that seem to roar from the speakers...
And if the sun comes up will it tear the skin right off our bones
And then as razor sharp white teeth rip out our necks I saw you there
Someone call the doctor, someone get me to a church

One of my favorite songs on the album, "Headfirst for Halos", talks about drug use and suicide...
And now the red ones make me fly
And the blue ones help me fall
And I think I'll blow my brains against the ceiling
And as the fragments of my skull begin to fall
Fall on your tongue like pixie dust just think happy thoughts

Although the lyrics would lend one to believe that this is a very somber and deliberate song, it sounds more like a twisted and upbeat theme to a Peter Pan film.

"Cubicles", the second to last song on the album almost
breaks the working man's heart:
And the view outside is sterile
But I'm only two cubes down
I'll photocopy all the things that we could be
If you took the time to notice me
The song makes you feel the loneliness and the heartache involved with office work, bland colors, and uninspired coworkers.

All in all, the cover of "I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love" may raise a few eyebrows with your friends, it will curb your appetite for variety and fresh sounding songs. MCR's debut is a worth while album to order and make your own. Consequently, an album with twisted and disturbing thoughts that can make me smile is a rare find indeed.