#and especially the way he influenced gerard and how much gerard and mcr mean to me now

[gothedrals]

been missing freddie mercury a lot lately

[marianas-trench-is-not-that-deep]

The Legacy of Marianas Trench

So I was listening to Danger Days by My Chemical Romance (for anyone who hasn't heard it, recommend it a hundred percent), and it really got me thinking about them for a second. I'm not sure how many of you guys are My Chemical Romance fans but the fact is, when the Danger Days album came out, it was not well received :( . A lot of the fans had clung to their heavier and gloomy music that was associated with their previous albums -- Black Parade, Three Cheers, and Bullets. Those three albums have all progressed in their own way with Black Parade being their magnum opus (in my humble opinion) but Danger Days went such a different direction. I feel like this little decision can be paralleled with Marianas Trench's career.

Danger Days (in my opinion) is such a magnificent album but so many people and fans alike dismissed it because of its drastic change of sound, a more brightly, sassy, and fun sound. The album itself I feel like it still represents MCR, with their experimental sounds and twist on alternative music and lyrics that criticize society, but so many people just couldn't get it into because of their "poppier" sound. Gerard Way has even stated in a few interviews regarding DD that the reason why he chose to change sound was because he thought it was time to start something different and stray away from all the angst. And sadly, as previously mentioned, it wasn't well received than their other albums, with fans even commenting and spreading that they should just go back to their "old sound".

This has been the case for a lot of the artists, especially rock artists I seem to notice. The artist would like to try something different from the sound they established and end up finding some kind of push back when they try to experiment with different sounds.

This is where Marianas Trench comes in. Marianas Trench has not have that problem. In fact, it's the opposite. Fans ANTICIPATE how different the next album will be compared to their other albums and draw parallels and find those little easter eggs. They can't wait to hear what kind of musical influence will be the main sound for the album and can't wait to hear the lyricism along with it. All five studio albums so different from each other but we KNOW it's Marianas Trench. It has this Marianas Trench signature sound that is weirdly enough, not a sound, but more of a passion (?) and creativity (?) that only Marianas Trench could have. And they are so successful in doing this because Josh recognized from the get-go that he doesn't want to be stuck in this box. One musical genre and be known for just one really good album and his fans to be stuck in that genre, compared to MCR and much like other bands who had accidentally trapped themselves in that way. Cause when one traps themselves in that box, then they will reach at a crossroads; do something safe that they know their fans will enjoy, or do something the artist would enjoy to do with the risk that fans will be disappointed. They are stuck with having to figure out how to do the same thing repackaged in a new wrapping.

But Marianas Trench knows that whether they experiment or not, their fans will always be so supportive of them. I for sure will love them. And I believe that some would actually be disappointed if they don't experiment and show us something different. And it gives them that liberty to evolve and grow in different sounds. In simpler terms, I guess I could say that they got the best of both worlds, being able to experiment with the safety net of their supportive fans.

However, I can't help but think, that may be the very reason that's holding them back. As one knows, Marianas Trench are KINGS in Canada but are almost barely known in any other places. And what I mean by that is that they are not as big as I think that they should be. But maybe it could be because of their non-commitment to one genre, they aren't able to have new or more listeners stick with them. For example, one fan loves their Fix Me album but can't listen to their other discographies because it's just not their cup of tea (which is absolutely okay). But at the same time, they have found their audience, fans will stick with them, and be able to actually enjoy what they are doing and that is enough. More than enough. Because they have the ability to do what they love professionally.

I know the topic is a little more multifaceted than what I explained here but I just can't help but draw some parallels. I will forever be grateful that Marianas Trench is able to strive in this generation with their ever changing sound and wish them all the fame and fortune that they deserve but it's also really great to seem them be grateful for the fame they have earned. They are truly just happy being able to do what they love and stay true to themselves without getting greedy. And i am so glad, we as a fanbase, gave them that kind of chance. So I would really like to thank you guys for supporting them as a fellow fan myself and thank the band for not stopping and continuing to grow.

[lesbyers]

I find it incredibly upsetting that after Gerard opened up and was honest about their mental health struggles involving social media and how it has had a large negative effect on his mental stability and wellbeing that people are still being so incredibly disrespectful of him and his boundaries. I understand and empathise with those who wish he he was online more and interacted with fans like they used to but I’m sorry he really does not owe us shit. End of fucking story. I’ve seen a lot of people saying that they “need” to speak up on current political and social issues and I’m sorry but in what fucking world does Gerard Way have any influence or involvement in politics???? He doesn’t “need” to do anything. Yes it would be great if Gerard was the type of public figure that was involved and outspoken about political issues but he isn’t and thats fine, he has no obligation to politics because that’s just not what he does. Gerard is a musician and comic writer not a fucking politician. I agree that everybody in the public eye has to be responsible with their platforms but I really don’t think that all celebrities need to be political figures as well as artists. Fame doesn’t mean that you automatically sign up to be a political symbol and it is unrealistic and unfair to both fans and artists to hold people to that standard. Gerard also said that they found fame to be traumatising in some aspects and I know a lot of people feel hurt by that or guilty in some way but I think what he meant wasn’t that the fanbase or MCR hurt him. Gerard particularly has spoken many times about how the band gave him a purpose and that it had saved his life more than once. They’ve also spoken before about how much the fanbase means to them and how much he cares and values the ability to help and inspire others with music and art. What I do think is that the insane levels of pressure and scrutiny that come with being a public figure have got to be incredibly overwhelming and painful at times, especially if you’re dealing with issues like mental illness and addiction and social media really amplifies that to an insane degree and I’m glad that they chose to step away from social media. I don’t think the interview was all doom and gloom either, quite the opposite actually, I think it’s really heartwarming to know that Gerard is in a space where he is excited and happy about touring again with the upcoming reunion shows. I also think that what they said about being inspired by the darkest points in your life and finding the balance in healing through art but not letting yourself get caught in a cycle of needing depression in order to create was really important. I feel that a lot of the good aspects of the stream were really overlooked and that a lot of what was said was misunderstood. It’s really depressing to see such hostility come from such a meaningful and positive thing.

[demolover]

ok. time for a heartfelt post i guess.

i have always thought the way we treat celebrities is weird. i’ve always thought that being in that position of always being watched, with everything you do picked apart, with so many people idolizing you and sometimes just as many who think you’re morally repugnant, would be awful, and i try really hard to walk the line between blindly idolizing people and over-criticizing them for things that are totally normal and human.

this, of course, is rather hypocritical, seeing as i have a whole social media account that is basically dedicated to 4 guys, and this is my overly long introduction to a birthday post for one of those guys. i’ve thought a lot in the past about how i let myself be influenced by and care a lot about people i will likely never meet. i’ve thought a lot about my beliefs on celebrity culture, and my parcipitation in it. i try really hard to limit my — for lack of a better word — idolizing of the people in the media i consume to those that are relevant to my interests beyond that media and someone i can actually take lessons from. gerard way has ultimately been for me a huge inspiration, and whether i like it or not, they’ve influenced my development into the person i am today a lot. i don’t really like it, and i don’t think i ever will. but i do think it has been good.

ok. intro over. this is as long as gerard’s instagram posts, and i haven’t even gotten to the main message.

so all this was to say, it feels really weird for me to be writing this kind of a message for someone who has no idea who i am or what he means to me. but i think it’s important for me to do so anyway, and recognize the huge part he has played in my life.

we talk a lot about how mcr saved our lives. i don’t think they saved mine — maybe they did. maybe i would be dead if it wasn’t for how they changed my beliefs — but they have made it so much better. mcr, and gerard’s lyrics for mcr specifically, changed my worldview and my belief system and i am so much of a better and happier person because of it. i know we’re all sad and emo here, but before i started really listening and paying attention and caring about the meanings behind gerard’s lyrics, i had a pretty bleak view of humanity and the world around us and my place in it. despite all of the death and destruction in mcr’s lyrics, i have always been drawn to the themes of hope and human connection that i’ve seen so much throughout mcr’s music... and as i started looking more and more into what i thought gerard was trying to say about those themes, i started to gain some hope in humanity and the connections we make with other humans. now, one of my biggest beliefs centers on those human connections, and how we assign meanings to things. and now i think it’s beautiful. before i started thinking on that stuff, i don’t think i could have ever called humanity beautiful.

in a less philosophical sense, gerard’s passion and pursuit of what he cared about has inspired me a lot to do more of the things i am actually passionate for. i got way more into art because of them, and art is still one of the things that brings me the most joy in my life. i’m especially grateful for it right now, as it’s really helped keep me out of depressive spiraling during this quarantine. they also inspired me to start trying to write more, and to get more into making music myself. they really showed me what my future could hold, and that i could find a future in the things i am passionate for. and i still hold that hope today.

and as a nonbinary person myself, gerard’s fluid gender presentation is amazing to see, and it’s mostly because it’s so clearly not just a joke... we’ve got plenty of nontraditional presentation gender-wise in pop culture, but before i got into mcr, almost all of what i’d seen was so obviously a joke. and this didn’t feel like a joke... and that was a big thing for me, who knew i didn’t really fit within the gender binary, but didn’t know if there was literally any way to express that in a way that wasn’t something to be made fun of. this is the part of this whole.... birthday statement that i least feel like i can really explain what i mean. which makes sense, because my relationship to gender is complicated, and as we all know from the constant discourse, gerard’s is too. though i can’t explain it in words or thoughts, gerard’s influence on my acceptance of my gender identity and queerness go way beyond fashion and presentation..... there is something in me that says when i see them.... something. i don’t fucking know. i would see myself, maybe, if that wasn’t cliche as hell. i would see who i could be, grow up to be, as someone outside the binary. not “be” as in have his life — we’ve already established that i think being a celebrity would be shitty. but to reach a point. where my gender and the way i present my gender is no longer something i hate and fight and wear layers and layers to hide, but just a part of me. and i see gerard now, happy, and i think this is a possibility.

i’ve always cared way too much about the future and my place in it and how i would make a difference. i also never thought i had much of a future. at least not one that mattered. i’m mentally ill and i have been for years. i’m not in the gender binary. i didn’t grow up seeing any mentally ill or nonbinary people who were old. i didn’t think that could be me. if i saw any future for me at all, it was a future where i was cis and “normal” and practically unrecognizable from myself.

that’s what i see in gerard, i guess. a hope, not just for the world, not just for the grand concept of what humanity is, but for me, personally.

he’s 43. i can’t imagine making it to 43. except maybe i can now.

happy birthday, gerard. thank you for everything.

[interestsofabookwormbitch]

Ramble

Me and my music journey

I guess I'm basically writing a little ramble about my music journey thus far. I don't know, ever since I've gotten into MCR I've been feeling a lot of things, and I really need to let it out, so decided Tumblr would be the perfect place. Of course, I will likely focus a lot on My Chemical Romance at the end, but before I even get there I'm going to have to write at least a little about my other two favs, Green Day and Adam Lambert. If you guys don't want to read it I totally understand, it's really just for me to let out my thoughts anyway.

So, I don't know if anyone here knows anything about me, but I'm a very obsessive person. When I get into something I hyper fixate on it so much it's probably unhealthy. Usually these obsessions last about a month I'd say, give or take a week, and then I feel my interest wane. I then have maybe another month of being strongly invested before completely moving on. It's by the end of the first month however that I can usually tell whether I actually enjoy this obsession or not (if not I leave then). The answer is almost always, yes, I do still enjoy it, although a lot of things do fall into obscurity, and I don't remember them much after the second month. There are also those things that I still feel really strongly for, like Harry Potter. I know these are the things that will last with me forever, and continue to influence my life, even if I don't love them as much as I initially did.

This hyper fixation also extends to music, although I'll admit to only recently figuring that out. Nearly a year ago exactly I decided I wanted to go through some bands and artists, so I made an alphabetized list to go through to add. Unfortunately I realized that my hyper fixation extended to music with the first artist on the list; Adam Lambert.

For about a month straight I only listened to his music. I watched countless videos of him and I'll even admit that he was the first actual person that I shipped with someone else(Adommy). I'm actually grateful for that, because as weird as some people might think it is-heck as weird as I thought it was-it helped me to realize that innocently shipping and partaking in fanfiction wasn't hurting anyone, and this made my experience in certain bands much more enjoyable.

Music wise I'll admit that Adam's style is sometimes not exactly tailored to my taste, but what he may lack in the musical sound he more than made up for in vocals. The main reason I loved him was the way that his voice makes me picture melted chocolate being slowly poured into a mould. It's so full and rich, and even now, after my obsessive stage has passed I can still say his voice is one of the most comforting sounds I know.

Obviously I still adore Adam Lambert to this day, and I even have all of his available music on my playlist; but my fixation faded, as it does with most things, and I by summer I realized I couldn't survive musically off of only Adam Lambert. So, I went back to my old playlist, just this time filled with more Adam than before.

The summer was quite an uneventful one for me, so I quickly grew bored, and I decided to go through another artists discography. This time I chose to go through Green Day. They were my favourite band as a kid (because of one song) so I thought they'd be a good choice.

Boy was that the right call. I loved them! Absolutely adored their music and personalities. And I still do. Their concerts look like a blast, and almost all of their songs are amazing. I'm not musically knowledgeable enough to pass critical judgement on their abilities, but I am able to pass judgement on their music, and it's incredible. It made me feel countless different emotions, and that's exactly what music is supposed to do. Out of all their albums I am expecially partial to American Idiot and Revolution Radio. The storyline in AI, and the political commentary in both were especially good in my opinion, leading me to agree the somewhat popular belief that Green Day is at their best when American politics are at their worst.

I will admit that as much as I loved everyone in the band, I didn't really click with them. I couldn't relate to the members, which upset me a little. It did not, however, diminish my love for them in the least, and I would die happy if I got to go to one of their concerts.

Again, just like with everything, I couldn't live just off of Green Day, so I reentered my full playlist again eventually, and this time it had a significantly larger amount of Green Day songs. On top of that I also created a playlist for my favourite artists, which at the time consisted only of two people. Still was a pretty large list though.

Finally, my music journey thus far in life has lead me to My Chemical Romance. I actually decided to give them a shot because of a Green Day fan I was talking to online. I don't ever have people earnestly suggest stuff to me, so when this person suggested My Chemical Romance so enthusiastically I just knew they had to be my next band. So they went on a new list, one they were the top of. Due to school and stress I hadn't been able to really give them a shot until a month and a half ago.

During spring break I was working on this novel I'm writing, and I wanted to listen to music. Well, I didn't have my phone, so my playlist wasn't an option. I wasn't feeling Adam Lambert at that time, and Green Day would not set the right mood for the story, so I settled on playing My Chemical Romance on the computer as I wrote.

By the time I finished writing that day I was in love. I had gone through their four studio albums twice, and had decided that I should name each chapter after their songs (probably not a good idea, but I fell in love). The next few nights and days I spent endless time listening to their music and watching videos. I downloaded Venganza! And the Black Parade Is Dead both, and I have Life On The Murder Scene saves to my phone. I became obsessed, like usual.

The thing is, it didn't quite feel like the normal obsession for me. Back then I didn't want to think too much on it, as I assumed it was just my hyper fixation kicking in. It's now been nearly two months, and I'm just now thinking about letting other music back in. I still think about them everyday, and I don't think I've gone more than half a day without scrolling through the Tumblr tag.

See, with My Chemical Romance I think I found a band that actually sings to my heart. It almost feels like they were writing these songs for me with how much I connect with them. Obviously not all of them in the same way, but if the lyrics don't fit me, the story they do fit is extremely amazing to me, and the music always knocks it out of the park. Something about Gerard's vocals always always makes me feel something, and he absolutely excels at conveying emotion with his voice.

And it doesn't stop at their music. Each band member is so precious to me. Just thinking about them makes my heart want to burst. Sometimes it's with joy, other times it's with sadness and other times it's just too many emotions. I've cried more over this band than almost anything else in my life. I've only been invested in them for such a short time, but I can honestly say I don't want to live a life without them in it. And I don't mean without the band, that ended in 2013, sadly, but also for their own mental wellbeing, ao its fine. What I mean is that I'm just so happy I live in a world where they existed.

They make me feel complete. It's as if they were a missing piece to me my whole life, and now that it's here, I'm more free to be me. And I am more me now. I hide less, and care less about opinions. They made me realize more than anyone else that I'm who I am and that's ok. That I can be a total geek and nerd and loner and fucking loser, and it's cool. Or more accurately, it's not cool, but who the fuck cares? It's me.

Honestly, for such a tiny m amount of time in my life I think My Chemical Romance has left the biggest impact. And it's not just my hyper fixation talking either. I really mean what I said, and I am eternally grateful for them.

Really I'm grateful for everyone I've mentioned in this post. As much as I love My Chemical Romance, they can't take all the praise. Both Green Day and Adam Lambert have also helped me realise so much, and I will love them forever along with countless other musicians who have helped to shape me. And honestly, this whole post does no justice for anything in it. Words cannot describe how important all this music has been to me in my life.

[thisaintascenereviews]

Album Review by Bradley Christensen My Chemical Romance – The Black Parade Record Label: Reprise Records Release Date: October 23 2006

The moment anyone calls a band / artist “overrated,” people might automatically assume that band / artist is bad. That’s not always the case, because good bands can be overrated, too. One of my favorite bands is The Beatles, but I wouldn’t argue with anyone that said they were overrated, but there’s an understandable reason for that. They’re one of the most influential, important, and unique acts in the history of music. People still talk about them a lot, as well as still being hyped up so much (even in the forty-six years after their unfortunate breakup), because no one sounded like them. Hell, The Beatles were a band that introduced the world to rock and roll, but that’s the thing. They’re not the only band that did that. The Beatles are one of the bigger ones, if not the biggest band that came out of the early to mid-60s, and it makes sense why they’re talking about all the time (even to this day). I won’t deny they’re an overrated band, especially if you’re not a fan, because you might not get why they’re so popular or acclaimed by fans and critics alike, but that doesn’t mean they’re inherently bad. It’s the same thing with “generic,” which is somehow a bad word that music fans thinks means something worse than it really is. Just as there are more lame generic bands than thee are great ones, there are much more lame overrated bands than there are good / great ones, because most people think of the word “overrated” as being some kind of bad word. The Beatles are an overrated band, like I said, but they’re great. I mean, I know that’s a hugely cliché thing to say, because they’re one of the biggest bands of all time, but you can’t help what you like / love, right? The point for all of this, though, was to cushion the blow of what I’m about to say. I wanted to use one of my favorite bands as an example to highlight this, but fans of another band won’t like what I’m going to say in a second.

My Chemical Romance, a defining emo / alt-rock band from the early to mid-00s, is another incredibly overrated band. Before all the fans of this band get their pitchforks and torches ready to swarm my home, MCR is a good band. Hell, the album that I’ll be talking about today, 2006’s The Black Parade, is their magnum opus. This was my introduction to the band, even though I’m not quite sure when I listened to the album (it might have been around when it came out, or a year later, I can’t recall exactly), and 12-year-old me loved this record. I can’t say that I have same level of nostalgia as I do with something like Fall Out Boy’s Infinity On High, nor is this LP one of my all time favorites, but it’s an album that I am very nostalgic towards, and I have a lot of emotional attachment to this LP. The last time I reviewed this album, which was a few years ago, I believe, I didn’t really like it all that much, and it didn’t hold up as well as I remembered, but I let one thing cloud my judgement there – the fanbase. Before I get into the album itself, My Chemical Romance shares a lot in common with The Beatles. Both bands are influential, important, and rather timeless, but not on the same scale. The Beatles are influential to music as a whole, but MCR is influential in terms of the emo / post-hardcore / alt-rock scene. They’re one of the biggest bands that got mainstream success, and similar to The Beatles, that’s why they’re talked about so much, but what does the fanbase of MCR have to do with all of this? Well, the fanbase of MCR is a rabid one. The fans of this band are very, very passionate about them, but that’s very much a double-edged sword. Their fans love them, and they’ll go to great lengths to support them, but the second that someone voices their distaste or dislike of them, their fans swarm them, essentially offended that someone doesn’t think MCR is the best band of all time.

That’s why I think they’ve overrated, folks – their fans think they’re the best band of all time, but that’s just not the truth. If you think so, that’s totally fine, because we all have the right to our opinions, but don’t get upset if someone thinks differently. Beatles fans are guilty of that, too, believe me, but I’m talking about MCR here. I’ve let the fanbase cloud my judgement, especially the first couple of times that I’ve tried to get into The Black Parade after I let the album sit for many years, but I decided to dust it off yet again, because I’ve been listening to other albums in this vein. It all started with picking up a signed copy of Aiden’s debut LP, Our Gang’s Dark Oath, and I decided to revisit a bunch of albums in this vein that I used to love back in the day, as well as pick up some albums that I never got around to from this scene. It’s been a fun ride, but how does The Black Parade hold up after all these years? Looking past their rabid and annoying fanbase that won’t shut up about how they broke up more than four years ago, The Black Parade is still a classic in the scene that it was released into. This isn’t one of my all time favorite albums, but it’s a damn great one, nonetheless. A lot of bands in this scene, especially in the early to mid-00s, sound very dated, bland, and cringy now, because they compiled every cliché that this type of music had. I won’t pretend that The Black Parade, as well as MCR themselves, isn’t a dated album, because they’re one of the forefathers of the modern emo sound / genre, but it’s one of those albums that’s dated in a good, fun, and interesting way. Vocalist Gerard Way is one hell of a vocalist, the lyrics are very well-written, and the sound is very over the top, theatrical, and entertaining.

Starting with Gerard Way, I can’t say he’s an amazing vocalist, but I was just watching a video from The Nostalgia Critic that begged the question of whether or not bad singers in movies should be dubbed with a better singer. He brought up a good point, though, when he talked about it’s fine to keep a bad singer’s voice in a movie when they have an entertaining performance that sucks you into the song. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s song in Moana is the song he used, since Johnson is not a good singer, but he’s got a good voice. Those two things are not exclusive, and that’s sort of how I feel about Way, but he’s still a good singer. He’s not the best singer, or anything like that, but he brings what he needs to on this record – he’s over the top, theatrical, and emotional. He does exactly what he needs to here, and I think that’s why so many people connect with him as a vocalist. Hell, I think that’s why people connect with him as a lyricist, too, because his lyrics are the same way. Some of the lyrics on this record are dated, cringy, and whiny, but there are some poignant, interesting, and poetic moments, too. Hell, I still connect with certain songs, even after the eleven years this album’s been out. A song like “I Don’t Love You Anymore” still connects with me, because I’ve been there a million times over, but the song “Teenagers” makes me laugh, just with how silly, over the top, and ironic its lyrics are (the song is about how teenagers frighten Way, but most of his fanbase are teenagers, so did he just insult most of his fanbase, or is the song meant to be tongue-in-cheek?). One major issue that I’ve always had with this album is that its concept doesn’t really do much for me. I don’t even know what it’s really about, because it’s very confusing, all over the place, and muddled, but the songs themselves are great, minus a couple that don’t do anything for me.

If My Chemical Romance got huge in the mainstream (most people were introduced to this scene, as well as the alternative / emo style, through MCR and bands like them), would this LP, or even their entire discography be as well revered? Would they have as big of a fanbase as they do? I don’t know, honestly. It would be strange to live in some biazzro world where MCR isn’t the powerhouse that they are, but I wonder if their success and longevity has to do with their success and fanbase, not necessarily because is that influential or amazing. For instance, I’ve been really into the band Aiden, especially their first three albums, and this band should have gotten a lot bigger than they did (considering they have a very similar sound to MCR), but why did they get shafted instead? It could be that they were a bit “heavier,” but The Black Parade is still a great album, no matter what. It’s just that MCR is very overrated to me. This LP is great, and I love it, but the scene builds this band up to be the most important, influential, and mindblowing band. At least I could understand that The Beatles helped to influence and shape rock and roll, as well as psychedelic music, but MCR didn’t do nearly as much. It doesn’t help that The Black Parade is also a bit dated, and it really sounds like a product of its time. In that respect, though, it’s a good thing, because this album defined the mid-00s emo / alt-rock movement. It’s an album that propelled this style of music into the mainstream, even if it was for a brief few years, but in the years since then, bands like Bring Me The Horizon, Of Mice & Men, and Sleeping With Sirens have been able to get high-charting albums. If you think about it, you can thank MCR for that, because The Black Parade is one of the first of these bands / albums to get that attention. If you ever feel like getting a little nostalgic, feelsy, or emo, definitely put on this LP.