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#gerard way soundwave
smeagles · 1 year
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Brisbane 3.1.2015 | catherinerpi
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livejournallegacy · 8 months
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It's been eight bitter years since I've been seeing your face Gerard Way performing in Sydney - 28 Feb 2015 || 19 Mar 2023
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TF introject culture is your system being like a really weird crossover fic.... like what do you mean TFP optimus is dating bayverse ironhide and G1 soundwave is friends with gerard way....
then transfem TFP smokescreen and RB blades absolutely slaying
- 💎
.
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burningexeter · 3 months
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[SECOND HEADCANON/FAN THEORY]
One of the greatest animated shows of all time, Transformers Prime and its finale movie Predacons Rising, takes place in or rather shares the same universe as plenty of other media ranging from other TV shows, movies and even video games.
The theme here that would connect them all is that they focus on ensemble casts of characters not just living in a world where the odds are against, be they supernatural or not, but also having them go up against not just said odds but the highest stakes possible that affects them.
Top it off, the ensemble casts of characters are not the type of standard, generic, heroic superhero type of characters and instead are vastly different from each other with them being distinct and flawed type of people who would never think would be the "heroes" in these scenarios. They're way less Gerard Butler in 300, Liam Neeson in Taken or Robert Downey Jr. in later MCU movies and way more Genna Davis in The Long Kiss Goodnight, Paul Walker/Vin Diesel in The Fast and the Furious and Clive Owen in Sin City.
Another thing is that with the media here is that no matter how fantastical, grand in scale, epic and supernatural even as they all get, they ALWAYS remain either somewhat grounded OR grounded to some degree. Again for example, they're way less the crappy later Fast & Furious movies, the shitfest that is the DCEU and whatever the hell Ben 10: Omniverse was and way more the Jurassic Park Trilogy (even the third one with the 'Alan' raptor), Die Hard and Big Trouble In Little China.
Now let's get to it, shall we:
• Far Cry Primal
• Solomon Kane (2009)
• Wolfwalkers
• Pirates Of The Caribbean Trilogy
• Red Dead Redemption Duology
• The Wild Bunch
• The Mummy (1999) and The Mummy Returns
• Indiana Jones Quadrilogy
• Overlord (2018)
• Inglourious Basterds
• Kolchak: The Night Stalker
• Runaway Train
• Big Trouble In Little China
• The X Files (first nine seasons, 1998 film, Millennium and The Lone Gunmen)
• Heat (1995)
• From Dusk Till Dawn
• Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Angel
• The Incredibles
• LOST
• Heroes
• Cloverfield
• Krampus
• The Invisible Man (2020)
• Upgrade (2018)
and
• Alita: Battle Angel
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[ADDED BONUS]
Whatever happened to Airachnid?
After she had drain all of her Inseticons done to nothing but the robotic bone, Airachnid was able to find a hidden yet grungy ship within the moon she was stranded on by Soundwave. Resourceful enough to make it work and turn it into her own twisted and demented ship that's all hers, Airachnid escapes and flies back to Cybertron. Learning of the death of Optimus and the war now over, Airachnid realizes she still has unfinished business she needs to settle right here and right now. She kidnaps her nemesis Arcee, who is now secretly dealing with trauma of her past once again due to Optimus' passing, and offers her an opportunity.... due to their previous fights with Arcee always winning, she managed to do the one thing no other bot or being couldn't - she impressed her. Therefore, Airachnid controls her infection and offers to Arcee that they should team up and become hunters across the galaxy but this time hunt down the worst of the worst, the most dangerous criminals there is and the deadliest of species that do nothing but cause havoc. Sensing Arcee's new PTSD and emotions after the death of Optimus Prime, Airachnid is able to use that to her advantage and manipulates her into taking the deal.... which Arcee reluctantly does.
The two of them are now bounty hunters that take in criminals of all kind throughout space whether they'd be dead or alive and as we speak, Arcee and Airachnid are awaiting their marriage this week.
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confetticutey · 10 months
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thinking about when I saw Gerard way live in 2015 (solo music) at the very last soundwave and they told us a story about him throwing up in the tour van and then said "wanna see my socks?". I miss him bring him BACK
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levmada · 1 year
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ik you’re an mcr fan even tho u don’t talk about it all that much on here, but as a fellow levi and mcr stan i have to ask if you have any feelings/thoughts about tour officially being over because i’m in shambles
mannnnn i’ve been in love with mcr since i was 9 or 10 years old and not only is that where my love of music started but how i started to cope with my Living Situation as a kid and🧍🏻it’s rly difficult to put into words how much mcr means to me. /srs the course of my life would be different if i never started listening to them. i wouldn’t be the PERSON i am. they’re actually also… how i got into writing fanfic💀 i know alllll the lore. watched lotms more times than i can count. watched their concerts on youtube. learned every detail about frank iero and gerard way as possible. etc etc etc it’s kind of insane. i so much more than love them but ur right i don’t mention it enough on this blog lol
(bro i remember where i was on halloween 2019 when the reunion post went up on instagram. i lost my SHIT and don’t even get me started on their single. holy fuck)
this past tour would’ve been the first time i ever saw them in concert (i was too young to ever go before 2013 when they broke up rip… but on that topic in 2018 when it appeared that they were returning i remember vividly listening to their entire discography (((for not the first time… bc i did so every march 22nd aka the anniversary of when the band broke up……))) and dressing up as “””emo””” as possible for some reason only 16 year old me knows. the disappointment when i learned it was just the anniversary for the black parade and a… honestly mediocre remix? true betrayal tbh) - but then my concert was cancelled bc of stupid reasons wherein basically the organizers fucked up. at that point i’d been waiting like 3 years to see them (bc of covid), and i didn’t have the money even WITH a refund to buy another ticket or travel, so i just tapped out. it sucked.
BUT ANYWAY i’m not nearly as obsessed with them as i used to be, even though i will always love mcr and everything they stand for until i die. all that to say i haven’t been keeping up with the tour much, partly because mcr stan twitter is fucking unbearable. idk maybe the fandom just isn’t my scene anymore or there are too many young people in it, it’s hard to explain.
i’m really really really fuxking interested in what they do next though. a single being released implies an album in the future in which case i will explode, causing the heat death of the universe and i will become one with the soundwaves emanating from the music.
hope a ramble like that answers ur question🥰
OH: my number one favorite fun fact about myself is that i was born on the exact day their first album bullets was released. to this day my favorite album by them tbh
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girlandherfandom · 3 years
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his facial expressions and hand gestures are giving me life
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Music Feeds from Soundwave in Melbourne
February 23, 2015
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velvetdestroya · 4 years
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 Gerard Way backstage with Steel Panther at the Soundwave Festival at Melbourne showgrounds on Sunday the 22nd of February 2015 in Melbourne, Australia. Wonder what’s he’s telling them?
[photo credit; Martin Philbey/Redferns]
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raggscat32 · 3 years
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mcr really said 'here's some lines on a page' and put it on sale for several thousand dollars and yet here we all are wishing we could have it
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Gerard poses for portraits at the Soundwave Festival in Melbourne, Australia. pt.1
Photographer: Martin Philbey
Date: February 22, 2015
ℂ𝕝𝕚𝕔𝕜 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕚𝕞𝕒𝕘𝕖 𝕗𝕠𝕣 ℍ𝔻 𝕢𝕦𝕒𝕝𝕚𝕥𝕪
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sendmyresignation · 3 years
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what r ur favourite hesitant alien performances?? :D
ooh boy I have so many.... incomplete list because i’m still finding videos everyday <33
Reading Festival 08/22/2014 / Voodoo Music Festival 10/30/2015: these are the two big pro-shoots we’ve been gifted with so of course they’re on the list. i especially love the performance of No Shows (kissed an ah- nimals hands i got nothing...) and Juarez from the reading performance and the snakedriver cover and Don’t Try from voodoo. small mention to the little speech at the beginning of No Shows at Voodoo as well ❤️
No Shows, Soundwave Festival 02/22/2015: the infamous “Iggy moment” i think this one is self-explanatory hehe
I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone Cover, Webster Hall 10/23/2014: I mean, duh. gerard way riot-grrlisms. also its just a really fantastic cover
Get the Gang Together, Le Trabendo 01/18/2015 (bonus How It’s Going to Be), Southampton 01/21/2015  and Trocadero 10/17/2014: this is my favorite hes alien song already but its even better live- the first one, the woman in the crowd he chooses to play the tambourine has so much energy and the room is electric i would kill to be there (also. one of the best hugs i've ever seen another human being receive....) the second one is the performance with someone in the crowd in a lola costume... which is so fucking cool. also includes the quote “sharing is pain. my art is pain. my life is pain... just kidding” while Gerard stares off into the distance. In the third one gerard is really hamming it up on stage, like seriously getting into it. plus the girl they bring on stage is like. 16. and his immediate reaction is “shit” in that tone of like being reminded your old and then they proceed to ask her “what are you going to do with your life” which is just so startlingly funny to me. anyway. best live song. that scream.....
Drugstore Perfume, Sala Apolo 01/16/2015: boa performance! its already a very good show, with the added bonus of gerard wearing pink boas during this song 🥺
Irving Plaza 10/20/2014 just generally, specifically Television All the Time and Maya the Psychic: pink lighting!! also just seemed like a particularly good show, very good energy
Pinkish, Novosibirsk 09/15/2015 and Stereo Plaza 04/9/2015 (with Don’t Try): these are like. the only videos of this song i could find. the first one includes a very fun introduction with a “fucking ancient” rock and is probably the best filmed version of Pinkish live (i think about the destiny/dream lyric change every day. haunted). the second one is not the best quality but the performance is certainly worth it (when i muster the energy to make gifs.... its over for everyone and it starts here)
Ambulance/Piano Jam, Klub Palladium 01/2015, Cologne 1/25/2015, and O2 Academy Birmingham 01/2015: okay. these are my favorite iterations of this song. it seems to have changed a lot over the course of touring but the lyrics and performance style around late January seems to be where it was at. the first one is oddly shot, but i think its the best vocal performance of this one and the venue had cool lighting... gives me chills- the other two are also very good though!
Snakedriver, Armazem F Lisbon 01/14/2015 and date/place unknown: there aren’t a ton of good videos of this cover (other than the pro-shot ones) but these are the best, especially the second one which has like. 6 views are 3 of them are probably mine lol. i just very much love the cover, particularly the last little added section... lord i got space.....
Millions, Armazém F, Lisbon 01/14/2015: solely on here because Gerard takes a flag from the audience and comments “one of these days I’m gonna open one of these and it’s gonna say ’Eat Shit’ on it” and i think that’s funny
This little lotion interlude, Samara 09/2015: just a fun little song moment :)
Also just the many, many speeches about trans rights and mental illness get a very hearty honorable mention here
anyway, thank you so much for the ask!! i appreciate any and all opportunities to talk about hesitant alien 💞
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smeagles · 1 year
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masqueradeball · 3 years
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How about number 3? Like, tell us all about it if you want :)
Oh my gosh 🥺 thank you so much for giving me my first ask! 💖 I'm eternally grateful I get to spill all my pheels out.
3. What is my favorite Phantom tv/film adaptation?
My absolute favorite Phantom is the 1925 Lon Chaney silent film. He just embodies everything that I like about Gaston Leroux's Erik for me and he is both horrifying and pitiable. I dislike the ending but I can live with it given it's what test audiences wanted at the time. I truly love his Red Death costume. You can find it on Youtube and the Tubi app for free.
My first runner up would be Claude Raines in the 1943 because his Erique so soft and tragic in that film I cannot help but love him. This was one was my grandma's favorite 'classic monster' movies that she loved, so I have a special place in my heart for this one. I love his hair and appreciate that he was one fine silver fox before the revenge and jealousy issues set in. The opera parts are a little boring, but the costumes and the sassy diva rival to Christine are worth the watch. We get 2 handsome Raouls who end up going to dinner together at the end of the movie and a Christine who gets to bask in the limelight of her career while not choosing any suitor, which is the best possible outcome for her. Double play for the win in my book! You can watch it for free on the Peacock app.
My next runner up is a 3 way tie between Robert Englund, Gerard Butler, and Charles Dance.
I honestly enjoy all their performances because they each bring something unique to the role.
I cannot stress enough how violent the Robert Englund version is if you want to give it a go, but Erik Destler is insane, twisted, and fabulously murdertastic in this. I love the creepy, evil vibes the man gives off. Think of this film as a time travel AU of the original novel. I feel like he nailed Leroux Erik's darker, snarky personality that some people tend to forget he had and the gothic horror parts of the original novel are there. Bonus: they keep the Faust parallels like in the novel!
I'm gonna say it: I love the Charles Dance miniseries. I know it's not the best, but damn, he is so dry and sarcastic I cannot help but enjoy his performance. I want to pinch his cheeks and smother Cherik with the love his father never gave him everytime I see him. Again, this one focuses on the operas a lot, and for me it's a bit boring. But the backgrounds, settings, and props in this thing are fantastic and the costumes are wonderful too.
That leaves Gerard Butler in the 2004 movie. No he is not the world's greatest singing Phantom, but I don't care. I absolutely love his facial expressions and body language. The Phantom is an emotional, expressive dude and the Red Death costume scene is pretty good. I love how kind and sincere Emmy feels in this film and I appreciate she's not overracting and doesn't feel fake compared to some other Christines *coughSierracough* Being the film version of the ALW musical, this Phantom story focuses on the romance and Gerard excels at that. When he and Christine are singing Past the Point of no Return, I FEEL THEIR PASSION! And that's what counts more so than hitting the same notes we've all heard a million times before.
Now for the versions in the 'I will eternally like this' category 😊 :
The Phantom of the Paradise from 1974. This is also a very violent and dark film so fair warning if you haven't seen it. It's a bizarre rock musical, but if you're weird like me and enjoy Rock & Rule or the Rocky Horror Picture Show, this might be a film you'd like too. I don't want to spoil it too much but the Faust/devil parallels are here too, as is various pop culture references. His teeth and mask are terrifyingly cool, and so is the electronic voice box he uses. It makes sense Daft Punk was inspired by this film. Maybe G1 Soundwave was inspired by this film too, but that's a debate for another day 😉
Next is the animated 1988 film. This one features animation on par with other 80s tv cartoons of the time. I love that they kept the Persian and the torture chamber from the novel. The Phantom's death scene is pretty damn epic. Christine is kind of a flake, but animated Leroux Erik is hilariously insane and terribly charming, especially when he calls himself a Don Juan. It's worth watching just for his antics and his dialouge.
You might not expect a Goosebumps episode to do a Phantom story any justice, but here we are: 1995, The Phantom of the Auditorium is a spooky fun take on the story and honestly, I'd like to see the full play the kids at that school are putting on cause it looks better than some of the live Phantom stage scenes I've seen. Both young boys playing the Phantom are fantastic actors and the plot twist at the end is great.
I absolutely have to give a shout out to Wishbone's Pantin at the Opera. He is the best, cutest, most adorable Raoul de Chagney ever and I will fight you if you dare talk smack about this version. I'm not even a Raoul stan by any means but like, this dog is precious and I enjoy this episode so much.
Also in the animated category and cute dog category is Scooby Doo Stage Fright made back in 2013. This movie is one of my fave Scooby Doo films (yes I own almost all of them on dvd) and there are multiple Phantoms, a reality tv show contest, and Fred and Daphne finally kiss each other! Lots and lots of hidden Phantom references in the background and lots of voice acting talent for those of us who appreciate that.
Now for the versions I intensely dislike 😏
The 1962 Herbert Lom version. UGH where to start. The sets are so small and everything looks dirty and of the wrong time period. The color in the film looks washed out. The clothes look too modern somehow (maybe it's their hairstyles?) and it bothers me. It feels low budget in a bad way and it shows. This phantom is not likeable or pitiable even though his backstory is similar to the Claude Raines version. He has no romantic interest in Christine, so it feels off. This guy is such an old a$$ piece of sh*t, he literally slaps Christine as she's singing for him for no damn reason. His paper mache mask looks like a Kindergartener's botched art class project. His personality is like somebody locked up cranky grandpa in the basement and he's PMS-ing because y'all forgot to give him his daily prune juice. This squatter's lair lacks creepiness, and his bizarre sidekick is annoying and yet somehow more interesting than the Phantom. The pervert manager trying to bang Christine aggravated me and simultaneously made me want to vomit. Raoul is the only likeable character in the whole damn movie. The Joan of Arc opera scene makes up for some of the film, but it's still terrible.
Next on my meh list is the 1983 made for tv movie starring Micheal York and Jane Seymour. Now, this one has some likeable and applaudable scenes: the various murders and general creepiness of the Phantom, and the lair scene when she wakes up in his bed and the Phantom gets all up in her face is so intense and so Leroux I absolutely love it. The rest of the film is a jumbled hot mess at best, but Jane Seymour is 🔥 and she gets some damn good sex, so hell yeah to that!
And lastly, I do not like the Royal Albert Hall 25th anniversary recording. I should preface this by saying it is Sierra I don't like. I like Ramin, I love Hadley, everyone else is wonderful but I cannot stand Sierra. She tries too hard to make Christine a Disney Princess- and that doesn't fly with me. It comes off as insincere or mocking the source material at best, and at worst it makes Christine look like an airheaded ditz. Apparently Sierra played Ariel at one point which is hilarious because of all the Disney princesses, I dislike her the most. But that's a different rant for another day.
And finally, the one I hate most of all:
The 1998 Argento film. This is the worst Phantom adaptation I've ever seen. It is a whole lotta nope for me. Between the rats, the unecessary and pointless telepathy, the r*pe scene, and the unfunny weird vibe from the murder going on in this film it's a disaster from start to finish. Honestly, it's the rats and his hair that bother me from a visual standpoint alone and it's beyond disgusting the way this a$$🤡 treats Christine. I don't like any of the characters in here and for good reason. It's not worth watching and if you do, be ready to bleach your brain afterwards.
💖 Sorry if this was a long read! Thanks again for giving me an ask and I will cherish it forver!!!! 💖
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ancientstone · 4 years
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Imagine description: The Hargreeves siblings stand together, each with their own name tag with a brief description of what they are up to in the second season.
Reads:
Luther: Tom Hooper - After landing in the 1960s, the super-strong Luther lands a job with a mobster boss
Vanya: Ellen Page - Vanya is hiding out on a farm, But her powerful soundwave abilities won't lie dormant for long
Diego: David Castañeda - Diego's knife-throwing skills don't do him much good when he's locked up in an asylum
Klaus: Robert Sheehan - Klaus has abused his powers as a medium to start a cult - with dead brother Ben as unhappy sidekick
Allison: Emma Raver-Lampman - Will Allison use her powers to help the Civil Rights movement?
Ben: Justin H Min - Deceased Ben has been stuck with Klaus for years, and now he's keen to get his own (after)life
Number Five: Aidan Gallagher - A 58-year-old stuck in a teenager's body, he must track down his errant siblings
The main article reads as:
Raining on our parade
Not-quite-super heroes
The Umbrella Academy
While there won't be any superhero movies lighting up the multiplexes this summer, comic-book fans can still get their fix thanks to The Umbrella Academy. The first series of the offbeat drama because the third most popular show on Netflix in 2019 behind Stranger Things and The Witcher, and series two of the far-from-average cape crusader arrives on 31 July.
Based on the comic by My Chemical Romance musician Gerard Way and artist Gabriel Bá, the story follows a group of superpowered children trained to be heroes by a ruthless billionaire (Colm Feore). As adults, they’re traumatised and disaffected by their violent upbringing - and after failing to stop the apocalypse in 2019 and escaping through time, they start series two scattered throughout the early 1960s in Dallas, Texas.
“We’re now taking them into this whole new world where they’re going to be tested in different ways,” says British actor Tom Hopper, who plays super-strong ex-team leader Luther. “That’s what I love about each season - it puts us into a whole new world and presses the reset button again, rather than just carrying on where we left off.”
Alongside time-travelling assassins, talking goldfish and hyper-intelligent chimps, you can expect plenty of classic rock music, a JFK storyline, Civil Rights clashes, Russian spies, and even the rise of a psychedelic cult as we tick off the 1960s staples - and looking ahead, the cast are hoping for even weirder and wilder adventures in the years to come.
“Especially the way series two ends, I think there are so many avenues there,” says Hopper.
“The show is very, very popular, so we’re optimistic,” adds co-star Robert Sheehan (Misfits). “We’d love to keep the engines rolling.”
Article by Huw Fullerton
(End i.d.)
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“Conventional Weapons” and the Rocky Road to “Danger Days”
In 2009, My Chemical Romance was buzzing with activity. The band performed several shows and festivals (including Summer Sonic in Japan), Gerard and Mikey Way attended San Diego Comic Con, and The Umbrella Academy was named one of Amazon’s top comics of 2009. Ray Toro held a Whopper eating contest on the official MCR website (no joke), while a certain comic series written by Gerard Way and Shaun Simon was announced in August. And at a show at the Roxy in Los Angeles, MCR performed three new songs from their upcoming album.
But while their next album seemed easily slated for an early 2010 release, MCR was about to hit a series of hurdles that would leave them with a scrapped album, a lost drummer, and a totally new outlook on where their music was headed.
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On July 31st, 2009, MCR performed a set at the Roxy that included three new songs–“Kiss The Ring,” “The Drugs,” and “Death Before Disco.” Gerard was enthusiastic about the new tracks, even telling Rolling Stone that “Death Before Disco” was “the greatest song we’ve ever written.” Videos of the tracks soon appeared online, where fans eagerly devoured what they thought would be the follow-up to 2006’s The Black Parade.
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As the days and weeks went on, the media blitz kicked into high-gear. While Ray Toro posted short studio clips on MCR’s website, the band gave several interviews where they gushed about producer Brendan O'Brien, discussed their new stripped-down style, and claimed that this would be their best record yet. In an interview with MTV, Gerard described the still-untitled album as a “true love letter to rock and roll,” adding:
“There’s something about being an American rock-and-roll band that we’ve kind of grown into and we’re very proud of. And I think that’s what we’re celebrating with this record. There’s no agenda, there’s no mission; it’s just about rock and roll.”
Meanwhile, Gerard Way and close friend Shaun Simon had another surprise in store: a comic series called "Killjoys.” Dark Horse Comics announced the release at San Diego Comic Con. Jeremy Atkins, the Dark Horse Director of Public Relations, described “Killjoys” as “a psychedelic rock-and-roll road trip adventure geared toward both fans of The Umbrella Academy and My Chemical Romance.” But not much else was said about the comic, as MCR’s upcoming album had become Gerard’s top priority.
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As the album drew closer to completion, MCR gave fans more glimpses of what lay in store. They shared the titles of various tracks, including “Still Alive,” “Trans Am,” “Hail To The King,” “Save Yourself, I’ll Hold Them Back," “L.A. Heavy,” "The Only Hope For Me Is You,” and “Black Dragon Fighting Society.” They cited a variety of influences, including Queen, Judas Priest, Bruce Springsteen, The Killers, and Blade Runner. By all accounts, this was going to be MCR’s defining album.
In December, MCR previewed seven tracks for SPIN magazine. A month later, in January of 2010, the album–which was still untitled–was rumored to be released on March 30th. As they continued to rework the songs, they realized that the stripped-down sound wasn’t working. As NME reported in January:
Things turned around with a song called “Trans Am,” now renamed "Bullet Proof Heart,” the likely first single. And perversely, they did it by returning to fiction. Broadly, it’s about a boy in New Jersey, dressed in a Judas Priest T-shirt, called Johnny. And a girl called Jenny who might be his girlfriend, but who also (honk the pop fact sirens!) might also be the missing girl from “Jenny Was A Friend Of Mine” by The Killers.
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But in the same interview, Gerard restated that the album would give "the purest, best version of the band you could ever hope for.” And in early February, MCR finally started to wrap up production, telling Big Cheese that the album would probably be released in spring or summer.
“Killjoys” also looked promising–back in January, Scott Allie had reported in a blog post that Shaun Simon and Becky Cloonan were ready to get started. Once Gerard wrapped up the album and finished working on the Umbrella Academy movie screenplay, it seemed like he’d be ready to dive in.
But February was also when the band publicly stumbled for the first time.
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Before the Big Cheese interview, MCR had abruptly cancelled their appearance at the Soundwave festival in Australia. In a blog post on MCR’s website, Frank claimed that Gerard was having voice problems (he jokingly implied that it was due to coffee and cigarettes) and required treatment to make a full recovery.
Fans were disappointed, but most understood that it couldn’t be helped. But a month later, the fandom received another shock: MCR’s drummer Bob Bryar had departed the band. In another blog post, Frank told fans:
As of 4 weeks ago, My Chemical Romance and Bob Bryar parted ways. This was a painful decision for all of us to make and was not taken lightly. We wish him the best of luck in his future endeavors and expect you all to do the same. We also wanted to give you all a quick heads up on how the record is progressing. We have been writing some very powerful new songs so this week the four of us entered the studio once again, and what has been ending up on tape each night is some of the most exciting and honest work we have ever created.
The fandom was stunned. Clearly, MCR had been experiencing some behind-the-scenes turmoil, suggesting that the process wasn’t going as smoothly as fans had thought. While it wasn’t known at the time, they also parted ways with producer Brendan O'Brien, who had been hired specifically to channel their raw, back-to-basics sound. Where would MCR go from here? And when would fans hear the latest album–which was apparently undergoing rewrites once again?
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It wasn’t until late 2010 that fans would finally learn what had happened to this unreleased album.
This moment, says frontman Gerard Way, looking back on what went wrong, “was the hardest part”. Guitarist Ray Toro was “home dealing with some family things”, leaving Way, his bassist brother Mikey, and guitarist Frank Iero alone in the mixing studio. “The sinking feeling was really starting to become loud that it wasn’t right - that the record wasn’t finished, I couldn’t even put them in a track order … "Thinking about it now, it’s kind of upsetting, because I just felt so lost,” Gerard says.
This was discussed in an interview with Herald Sun, where they talked about the process of starting again after the departure of their drummer and producer. Speaking to Music Radar, Ray Toro talked about the struggles the band had with original producer Brendan O'Brien, admitting that it hadn’t gone as well as they once thought:
“He was really trying; he did the best he could with us. He knew things weren’t clicking, and he’d try to rally us. I remember he said, ‘Hey, on some songs, I’d love to hear you do what you did on The Black Parade.’ Because there wasn’t any of the harmonized guitar parts or the stacking that I usually do. He was trying to get us to make one record, and we wanted to make something totally different.
Musically, we wanted to go back to our basement. But just because we wanted to do something different didn’t make it easy. In many ways, we felt as though we were holding ourselves back creatively. We were going through the motions. Some of the songs were good, but we weren’t happy with all of them.”
Needing a break, Gerard took a vacation to the desert that surrounded Los Angeles. There, as he told Terminal 5, he realized “I had started the band after 9/11 when I hated art. Black Parade had been about hiding and punishment. I couldn’t tell the truth so I’d talk about cancer instead. I had to put on a mask to show people who I really was. But now it was time to own it. To be who I was before this band started. And I had something in my back pocket: this song, ‘Na Na Na.’”
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Reunited with producer Rob Cavallo, who had worked on The Black Parade, the band kicked things off with “Na Na Na.” Gerard and Shaun Simon’s comic “Killjoys,” once a separate side project that had nothing to do with the band, suddenly became the concept that they formed the album around. Fueled by fresh creative energy, the band wrote and re-wrote tracks, came up with concepts and characters like Dr. Death Defying, and shredded the limitations that had confined them. At one point, Gerard turned to his brother Mikey and said “Danger Days, here we come again!”
Not everything from the previous record was scrapped. “Trans Am” became “Bulletproof Heart”; “Death Before Disco” became “Party Poison.” A few new versions of old tracks appeared on the record, as well as the Mad Gear and Missile Kid EP that came later. But MCR’s fourth album had gone from a rock and roll record that deliberately avoided ambitious storylines, to a vividly realized concept album that invited fans into the world of post-apocalyptic California. In many ways, it was the opposite of what they had originally planned. And it seemed to be exactly what they had been looking for.
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During this time, Frank snapped in-studio photos that he sold on MCR’s official website, offering one-of-a-kind peeks into the recording process. In March, Mikey Way stated in a blog post that “One day you will wake up, and nothing will ever be the same again, but it’ll feel like an old friend.” He was talking about upcoming changes to the MCR website, but in a way that statement reflected the band’s process at the time–they had completely reinvented themselves, and yet there was still a certain familiarity in the old tracks they had revamped.
The band completed the album with fresh energy, offering sporadic updates in the coming months. Fans waited with some skepticism to see what MCR had in store. And finally, one day in early September, MCR’s website disappeared and was replaced with a mysterious transmitter. The Danger Days era had begun.
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But was the scrapped album hidden away, never to be heard again? Not quite.
In 2012, in a blog post on MCR’s website, Frank talked about the feelings of depression that he had faced after The Black Parade. He felt like MCR had done it all, leaving them with nothing left to accomplish. In November 2008, Gerard called him up to talk about the band. As new ideas took shape, they prepared to start recording the album that would eventually be scrapped after months of work.
Frank pointed out that while the band had limited themselves during the recording of this album, the songs weren’t inherently bad–in fact, some of them were among his favorites that the band had produced. As time passed, he developed a greater appreciation for the tracks. And when the band met up and listened to those songs, they decided to release a selection of tracks to the public–two tracks a month for the next five months, for a total of ten.
After all this time, the album finally had a title: Conventional Weapons. Tracks included “Kiss The Ring,” “The World Is Ugly,” “Surrender The Night,” and the fan-favorite “The Light Behind Your Eyes.” Listening to the tracks, it was clear that MCR had aimed for a rock album with a pure American sound–no ambitious concepts or storylines, just a set of killer tracks. Whether they succeeded is up to the listener to decide, but they provided some insight into what came before Danger Days.
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Due to its unconventional release, and the fact that the album was a series of random tracks and not a finished product, Conventional Weapons is not considered an “official” MCR album. But while Danger Days was the final album, Conventional Weapons was the final release before MCR broke up in 2013. Since the split, the release of CW has caused many fans to wonder–will My Chemical Romance’s fifth (and unreleased) album ever be shared in a similar fashion? Or will it be locked away forever, like the other CW tracks that were never released?
Only time will tell. But for now, Conventional Weapons serves as an intriguing part of MCR’s history–a time when the band set out to make one type of album, and ended up making the complete opposite.
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(Picture credits: 1 2 3. Other in-studio photos by Frank Iero.)
[Originally published 07.09.2017]
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ao3feed-frerard · 4 years
Text
Soundwaves
read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/3dOP6aB
by gerardsjuarez
Part of an AU challenge series: AU where Frank and Gerard are accidentally hired for the same DJ position at a radio station
Words: 926, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English
Series: Part 3 of Twitter AU Challenges
Fandoms: My Chemical Romance
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Categories: M/M
Characters: Frank Iero, Gerard Way, Brian Schechter
Relationships: Frank Iero/Gerard Way
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Radio, DJ!Gerard, DJ!Frank
read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/3dOP6aB
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