• Voto:
Il terzo disco dei My Chemical Romance, probabilmente la band più famosa di internet (la carriera di questo gruppo è stata praticamente lanciata da un seguito di culto formatosi tramite newsgroup e peer to peer) è fondamentalmente un concept album sulla morte e in particolare sulla storia di un ragazzo che muore giovane... tutto molto emo ovviamente, ma l'impressione che ne ho ricavato durante l'ascolto è invece che questa band avesse l'obiettivo di realizzare un disco eclettico, cambiando atmosfera e stile tra una canzone e l'altra, proprio nella maniera di una rock opera in puro stile 70's.
Mi ha ricordato un pò l'approccio dei Clash di "London Calling", ossia quello di una punk band che fa punk senza suonare tipicamente punk: allo stesso modo, mi sembra di avere intuito che i MCR volessero fare emo senza suonare tipicamente emo... infatti i nomi tirati in ballo nelle interviste di presentazione (Beatles, Pink Floyd, Queen, Smashing Pumpkins, Smiths) sono ben diversi da quelli che ci si potrebbe aspettare per un gruppo la cui proposta è stata spesso eccessivamente "filtrata" dai canali dedicati ai teenagers.
Già il singolo "Welcome To The Black Parade" (praticamente una "Bohemian Rapsody" personale) mi aveva fatto redimere dal dubbio di avere inquadrato, con un po' di ottusità lo ammetto, i MCR come una sorta di boy band per ragazzine "alternative": invece un cazzo, questi sanno comporre e suonare alla grande, il frontman Gerard Way ha una personalità e un'abilità interpretativa da far pensare addirittura al primo Freddie Mercury e ci sono i presupposti per far sì che questa band possa diventare un fenomeno generazionale, risultato encomiabile in questi tempi "spersonalizzanti" .
La verità è che i My Chemical Romance hanno una grande chance con questo nuovo album: firmare con il loro nome il disco definitivo di tutta la generazione emo che sta crescendo in questi anni e rappresentare per tanti ragazzi quello che i dischi dei Beatles, o dei Sex Pistols hanno rappresentato per i giovani delle passate generazioni.
Non mi vergogno ad affermare che a me questa "svolta" piace e convince, si vede che "ci stanno provando" e io adoro questo tipo di coraggio.... mi piace, l'idea di un "Sgt. Pepper's" da consegnare al pubblico giovanile: voglio dire, sono i ragazzi di oggi, perchè demonizzarli?
Piacciono alle ragazzine, e allora? Anche Bowie nel '72 piaceva alle ragazzine, anzi il suo pubblico all'epoca era prevalentemente di quel target: tra l'altro mi conforta sapere di non essere il solo a pensarla così , dato che l'NME ha assegnato a quest'album un onorevolissimo 9/10 definendo i MCR "la più grande band del mondo" e il Rolling Stone (non è la bibbia, ma tant' è..) ha paragonato questo lavoro a dischi dal potenziale generazionale come "Nevermind" e "American Idiot".
In ogni caso, credo di avere capito che il tema di questo album sia la storia di un malato di cancro in fase terminale che rivive con la mente, anche attraverso allucinazioni, la sua vita, intersecando i suoi ricordi con una serie di visioni ambientate in una dimensione indefinita il cui tema ricorrente è appunto questa "Black Parade" che è una trasposizione inconscia di un ricordo legato alla sua infanzia.
L'ispirazione principale per questo concept è sicuramente il romanzo "Marabou Stork Nightmares" di Irvine Welsh (tra l'altro proprio il titolo di un altro romanzo di Welsh, "Three Tales Of Chemical Romance", ha ispirato lo stesso nome del gruppo), e lo stesso taglio di capelli, ora biondi e corti, di Way, pare che sia stato effettuato proprio per entrare nel tema della storia, alludendo alle sedute di chemio del protagonista... molto teatrale, forse pretenzioso, ma queste cose non le faceva forse anche Peter Gabriel 30 anni fa (e infatti veniva massacrato dalla critica)?
L'album è a metà dall'essere un concentrato di emo esplosivo (con delle performance vocali e interpretative di Way strabilianti) e un omaggio, con citazioni o rievocazioni, ai dischi che hanno segnato la storia del rock: così l'iniziale, drammatica "The End" richiama la "Five Years" di Bowie (non a caso il titolo provvisorio dell'album era "The Rise And Fall Of My Chemical Romance"), "Dead!" è una versione a chitarre sparate del britpop anni '90, "Mama" è un vaudeville dalle forti tinte glam (con tanto di surreale duetto con Liza Minelli!), "Teenagers" sembra uno dei numeri dei Roxy Music " spensierati" mentre, come in ogni disco di rock "classico" che si rispetti, non mancano alcune ballad di quelle destinate a essere imparate a memoria dai fan, come "Disenchanted", "I Don' t Love You" e SOPRATTUTTO "Cancer", una delle canzoni più toccanti che abbia mai ascoltato, con un testo in cui si analizza in modo nudo e crudo lo strazio di un malato terminale di cancro: il pezzo va dritto in faccia all' ascoltatore e onestamente non ricordo di avere mai sentito un brano che descriva un tema così difficile con tanta disarmante semplicità... non mi vergogno di dire che ho pianto ascoltandolo, e penso che sia impossibile restarne indifferenti.
Insomma, c'è proprio tutto: "The Black Parade" è un discone, e ha ben poco a che fare con l'immagine che, erroneamente, è stata affidata a questa band: sono sicuro che molti, se lo ascolteranno, potrebbero perdere tutti i pregiudizi di cui sono stato vittima anch'io.
Non voglio convincere nessuno, ma fregatevene degli schemi mentali di qualunque tipo e date una chance ai My Chemical Romance... non è certo se lasceranno il loro nome nell'immaginario del rock, ma ci stanno provando, e corrono davvero il "rischio" di riuscirci alla grande.
Elenco tracce testi e video
02 Dead! (03:15)
Yeah!
And if your heart stops beating
I'll be here wondering
Did you get what you deserve?
The ending of your life
And if you get to heaven
I'll be here waiting, baby
To give you what you deserve
The end and if your life won't wait
Then your heart can't take this
Dead!
Have you heard the news that you're dead?
No one ever had much nice to say
I think they never liked you anyway
Oh, take me from the hospital bed
Wouldn't it be grand to hear exactly what you planned
And wouldn't it be great if we weren't dead
Oh, Dead.
Tongue-tied and oh so squeamish
You never fell in love
Did you get what you deserve?
The ending of your life
And if you get to heaven
I'll be here waiting, baby
To give you what you deserve
The end and if your life won't wait
Then your heart can't take this
Dead!
Have you heard the news that you're dead?
No one ever had much nice to say
I think they never liked you anyway
Oh take me from the hospital bed
Wouldn't it be grand to take a pistol by the hand
And wouldn't it be great if we weren't
Dead
And in my honest observation
During this operation
Found a complication
In your heart
So long
'Cause now you've got
Maybe just two weeks to live
Is that the most the both of you can give?
1, 2
1, 2, 3, 4
La la la la la
La la la la la la
La la la la la la la
Well come on
La la la la la
La la la la looya
La la la la la la la
Oh muthafucker
If life ain't just a joke
Then why are we laughing?
If life ain't just a joke
Then why are we laughing?
If life ain't just a joke
Then why are we laughing?
If life ain't just a joke
Then why am I dead?
Dead!
03 This Is How I Disappear (03:59)
Go!
To un-explain
The unforgivable
Drain all the blood
And give the kids a show
By streetlight, this dark night
A seance down below
There's things that I have done
You never
Should ever know
And without you is how I disappear
and live my life alone forever now.
And without you is how I disappear
and live my life alone forever now.
Who walks among the famous living dead
Drowns all the boys and girls inside your bed
And if you could talk to me
Tell me if it's so
That all the good girls go to heaven
Well heaven knows
That without you is how I disappear
and live my life alone forever now.
And without you is how I disappear
and live my life alone forever now.
Can you hear me cry out to you,
words I thought I'd choke on
Figure out I'm really not so with you anymore
I'm just a ghost
So I can't hurt you anymore,
So I can't hurt you anymore!
And now, you wanna see how far down I can sink? Let me go! Fuck!
So you can
Well now so
You can
I'm so far away from you
Well now so
You can
And without you is how I disappear,
And without you is how I disappear
Forever
Forever now.
05 Welcome to the Black Parade (05:11)
When I was
A young boy
My father took me into the city
To see a marching band
He said
Son when you grow up
Would you be
The savior of the broken
The beaten, and the damn
He said
Will you defeat them
Your demons
And all the non-believers
The plans that they have made
Because one day
I'll leave you
A phantom
To lead you in the summer,
To join The Black Parade
When I was
A young boy
My father
Took me into the city
To see a marching band
He said
Son when you grow up
Would you be
The savior of the broken
The beaten and the damn
Sometimes I get the feeling she's watching over me
And other times I feel like I should go
Went through it all
The rise and fall
The bodies in the streets
And when you're gone we want you all to know
We'll carry on
We'll carry on
And though you're dead and gone, believe me
Your memory will carry on
We'll carry on
And in my heart I can't contain it
The anthem won't explain it
A world that sends you reeling from decimated dreams
Your misery and hate will kill us all
So paint it black and take it back
And let's shout out loud and clear
Defiant to the end we hear the call
To carry on
We'll carry on
And though you're dead and gone, believe me
Your memory will carry on
We'll carry on
And though you're broken and defeated
Your weary widow marches
On and on we carry through the fears
Over the disappointed faces of your peers
Oh, oh, oh
Take a look at me
'Cause I could not care at all
Do or die
You'll never make me
Because the world
Will never take my heart
Go and try
You'll never break me
You want it all
You want to play this part
I won't explain
Or say I'm sorry
I'm unashamed
I'm gonna show my scar
Give a cheer
Listen here
Because it's who we are
I'm just a man, I'm not a hero
Just a boy, who had to sing this song
I'm just a man
I'm not a hero
I don't care!
We'll carry on
We'll carry on
And though you're dead and gone, believe me
Your memory will carry on
We'll carry on
And though you're broken and defeated,
Your weary widow marches on
''Do or die
You'll never make me
Because the world will never take my heart
Go and try
You'll never break me
You want it all''
We'll carry on
''You want to play this part
Do or die''
We'll carry on
''You'll never make me
Because the world''
We'll carry on
''Will never take my heart
Go and try''
We'll carry on
''You'll never break me
You want it all''
We'll carry...
''You want to play this part''
...on.
06 I Don't Love You (03:58)
Well when you go
So never think I'll make you try to stay,
And maybe when you get back,
I'll be off,
To find another way
When after all this time that you still owe
You're still a good-for-nothing I don't know,
So take your gloves and get out,
Baby get out
While you can
When you go
And would you even turn to say,
I don't love you like I did yesterday
Sometimes I cry so hard from pleading
So sick and tired of all the needless beating,
But baby when they knock you down and out
Is where you oughta stay
And after all the blood that you still owe
Another time was just another blow
So fix your eyes and get up
Baby, get up
While you can
When you go
And would you even turn to say
I don't love you like I did yesterday
Well come on, come on
When you go
Would you have the guts to say
I don't love you like I loved you yesterday
I don't love you
Like I loved you
Yesterday
I don't love you
Like I loved you
Yesterday
07 House of Wolves (03:04)
I know a thing about contrition
Because I got enough to spare
And I'll be grantin' your permission
Cause you haven't got a prayer
Well I said, hey hey
I'm gonna come on sing the praise
Let the Sprint phone come on through you
We got innocence for days
Well, I think I'm gonna burn in hell
Everybody build the house right up
And say, what I wanna say
Tell me I'm an angel
Take this to my grave
Tell me I'm a bad man
Like a stray
Tell me I'm an angel
Take this to my grave
You play ring around the ambulance
Like you never had a care
So, get the choir boys around you
Well it's a compliment, I swear
And I said, ashes to ashes, we all fall down
I wanna hear you sing the praise
I said, ashes to ashes, we all fall down
We got innocence for days
Well I think I'm gonna burn in hell
Everybody build the house right up
And say what I wanna say
Tell me I'm an angel
Take this to my grave
Tell me I'm a bad man
Like a stray
Tell me I'm an angel
Take this to my grave
You better run like the devil
Cause they're never gonna leave you alone
You better hide up in the alley
Cause they're never gonna find you a home
And as the blood runs down the walls
You see me creepin' up these halls
I been a bad muthafucker
Tell your sister I'm another
Go, go, go
I said, say, what I wanna say
Tell me I'm an angel
Take this to my grave
Tell me I'm a bad man
Like a stray
Tell me I'm an angel
Take this to my grave
Tell me I'm a bad bad bad bad man. x4
08 Cancer (02:22)
Turn away
If you could get me a drink of water
'Cause my lips are chapped and faded
Call my Aunt Marie
Help her gather all my things
And bury me in all my favorite colors
My sisters and my brothers, still
I will not kiss you
'Cause the hardest part of this is leaving you
Now turn away
'Cause I'm awful just to see
'Cause all my hair's abandoned all my body
Oh, my agony
Know that I will never marry
Baby I'm just soggy from the chemo
Counting down the days to go
It just ain't living
And I just hope you know
That if you say
''If you say''
Goodbye today
''Goodbye today''
I'd ask you to be true
''I'd ask you to be true''
'Cause the hardest part of this
Is leaving you...
'Cause the hardest part of this
Is leaving you.
09 Mama (04:39)
Mama, we all go the hell.
Mama, we all go the hell.
I'm writing this letter and wishing you well,
Mama, we all go the hell.
Oh, well, now,
Mama, we're all gonna die.
Mama, we're all gonna die.
Stop asking me questions, I'd hate to see you cry,
Mama, we're all gonna die.
And when we go don't blame us, yeah.
We'll let the fires just bathe us, yeah.
You made us, oh, so famous.
We'll never let you go.
And when you go don't return to me my love.
Mama, we're all full of lies.
Mama, we're meant for the flies.
And right now they´re building a coffin your size,
Mama, we're all full of lies.
Well Mother, what the war did to my legs and to my tongue,
You should've raised a baby girl,
I should've been a better son.
If you could coddle the infection
They can amputate at once.
You should've been,
I could have been a better son.
And when we go don't blame us, yeah.
We'll let the fires just bathe us, yeah.
You made us, oh, so famous.
We'll never let you go.
She said: "You ain't no son of mine
For what you've done they're gonna find
A place for you
And just you mind your manners when you go.
And when you go, don't return to me, my love."
That's right.
Mama, we all go the hell.
Mama, we all go the hell.
It's really quite pleasant
Except for the smell,
Mama, we all go to hell.
2 - 3 - 4
Mama! Mama! Mama! Ohhh!
Mama! Mama! Mama! Ma...
[Liza Minelli:] And if you would call me your sweetheart,
I'd maybe then sing you a song
[Gerard Way:] But there's shit that I´ve done with this fuck of a gun,
You would cry out your eyes all along.
We're damned after all.
Through fortune and flame we fall.
And if you can stay then I´ll show you the way,
To return from the ashes you call.
We all carry on
When our brothers in arms are gone
So raise your glass high
For tomorrow we die,
return from the ashes you call.
10 Sleep (04:43)
Some say now suffer all the children and walk away a savior
Or a madman and polluted from gutter institutions
Don't you breathe for me, undeserving of your sympathy
Cos there ain't no way that I'm sorry for what I did
And through it all how could you cry
For me?
Cos I don't feel bad about it
So shut your eyes, kiss me goodbye
And sleep
Just sleep
The hardest part is letting go of your dreams
A drink for the horror that I'm in, for the good guys
And the bad guys, for the monsters that have been
Three cheers for tyranny, unapologetic apathy
Cos there ain't no way that I'm coming back again
And through it all how could you cry
For me?
Cos I don't feel bad about it
So shut your eyes, kiss me goodbye
And sleep
Just sleep
The hardest part is the awful things that I've seen
Just sleep [x6]
11 Teenagers (02:41)
[Low mic static]
They're gonna clean up your looks
With all the lies in the books
To make a citizen out of you
Because they sleep with a gun
And keep an eye on you, son
So they can watch all the things you do
Because the drugs never work
They gonna give you a smirk
'Cause they got methods of keeping you clean
They gonna rip off your heads
Your aspirations to shreds
Another cog in the murder machine
They said all
Teenagers scare
The living shit out of me
They could care less
As long as someone'll bleed
So darken your clothes
Or strike a violent pose
Maybe they'll leave you alone
But not me
The boys and girls in the click
The awful names that the stick
You're never gonna fit in much, kid
But if you're troubled and hurt
What you got under your shirt
Will make them pay for the things that they did
They said all
Teenagers scare the living shit out of me
They could care less
As long as someone'll bleed
So darken your clothes
Or strike a violent pose
Maybe they'll leave you alone
But not me
Ohhh yeah!
They said all
Teenagers scare the living shit out of me
They could care less
As long as someone'll bleed
So darken your clothes
Or strike a violent pose
Maybe they'll leave you alone
But not me
All together now!
Teenagers scare the living shit out of me
They could care less
As long as someone'll bleed
So darken your clothes
Or strike a violent pose
Maybe they'll leave you alone
But not me
Teenagers scare the living shit out of me
They could care less
As long as someone'll bleed
So darken your clothes
Or strike a violent pose
Maybe they'll leave you alone
But not me.
12 Disenchanted (04:55)
Well, I was there on the day
They sold the cause for the queen
and when the lights all went out
We watched our lives on the screen
I hate the ending myself
but it started with an alright scene.
It was the roar of the crowd
that gave me heartache to sing
It was a lie when they smiled
and said you won't feel a thing
and as we ran from the cops
We laughed so hard it would sting
Yeah! Ohhh!
If I'm so wrong
(So Wrong, So wrong)
How can you listen all night long?
(Night Long, Night Long)
And will it matter after I'm gone?
Because you never learned a goddamn thing
You're just a sad song, with nothing to say
About a life-long wait for a hospital stay
And if you think that I'm wrong
This never meant nothing to you
I spent my Highschool career
Spit on and shoved to agree
So I could watch all my heroes sell a car on TV
Bring out the old guillotine
We'll show 'em what we all mean.
Yeah! Ohhh!
If I'm so wrong
(So Wrong, So wrong)
How can you listen all night long?
(Night Long, Night Long)
And will it matter long after I'm gone?
Because you never learned a goddamn thing
You're just a sad song, with nothing to say
About a life-long wait for a hospital stay
And if you think that I'm wrong
This never meant nothing to you
So Go away
Just Go away
(run away)
But, where did you run to?
And where did you hide?
Go find another way
Price you pay
Woah! 6x
You're just a sad song, with nothing to say
About a life-long wait for a hospital stay
And if you think that I'm wrong
This never meant nothing to you
You're just a sad song, with nothing to say
About a life-long wait for a hospital stay
And if you think that I'm wrong
This never meant nothing to you
At all 4x
13 Famous Last Words (04:59)
Now I know
That I can't make you stay
But where's your heart?
But where's your heart?
But where's your...
And I know
There's nothing I can say
To change that part
To change that part
To change...
So many
Bright lights that cast a shadow
But can I speak?
Well is it hard understanding
I'm incomplete
A life that's so demanding
I get so weak
A love that's so demanding
I can't speak
I am not afraid to keep on living
I am not afraid to walk this world alone
Honey if you stay, You'll be forgiven
Nothing you can say can stop me going home
Can you see
My eyes are shining bright
Cause I'm out here
On the other side
Of a jet black hotel mirror
And I'm so weak
Is it hard understanding
I'm incomplete
A love that's so demanding
I get weak
I am not afraid to keep on living
I am not afraid to walk this world alone
Honey if you stay, You’ll be forgiven
Nothing you can say can stop me going home
These bright lights are
always blinding me
These bright lights are
always blinding me
I say…
I see you lying next to me
With words I thought I'd never speak
Awake and unafraid
Asleep or dead (asleep…)
'Cause I see you lying next to me (I see…)
With words I thought I’d never speak (I’d never speak…)
Awake and unafraid (and I see you lying next to me)
Asleep or dead (I see you lying…)
'Cause I see you lying next to me
With words I thought I'd never speak
Awake and unafraid
Asleep or dead
I am not afraid to keep on living
I am not afraid to walk this world alone (or dead…)
Honey if you stay, You’ll be forgiven
Nothing you can say can stop me going home (or dead…)
I am not afraid to keep on living
I am not afraid to walk this world alone (or dead…)
Honey if you stay, You’ll be forgiven
Nothing you can say can stop me going home
14 Blood (02:53)
Well they encourage your complete cooperation
Send you roses when they think you need to smile
I can't control myself because I don't know how
And they love me for it honestly I'll be here for a while
So give them blood, blood
Gallons of the stuff
Give them all that they can drink and it will never be enough
Give them blood, blood, blood
Grab a glass because there's going to be a flood.
A celebrated man amongst the gurneys
They can fix me proper with a bit of luck
The doctors and the nurses they adore me so
But it's really quite alarming cause I'm such an awful fuck (Why Thank You!)
I gave you blood, blood
Gallons of the stuff
I gave you all that you can drink and it has never been enough
I gave you blood, blood, blood
I'm the kind of human wreckage that you love!
Carico i commenti... con calma
Altre recensioni
Di Birbabirba
"Il pezzo più bello è 'Welcome to the Black Parade' davvero splendido e singolo azzeccatissimo."
"The Black Parade è un disco molto ben fatto punk-rock con diverse influenze musicali."
Di ascensions86
L'album sembra realmente una gigantesca parata in cui si esibiscono i membri della band, accompagnati dalle tenebre e dalla morte.
L'ascoltatore resta in bilico tra la depressione e la voglia di rivincita ispirata dalla grande energia dell'album.
Di lovelorn
"Welcome To The Black Parade è il miglior brano dell'album: un crescendo continuo, enfatico sin dall'intro a base di note pianistiche."
"Un album decisamente vario e ben suonato che si lascia ascoltare, con alcuni momenti piacevoli e un meritato applauso alla band."
Di flebo
Il sound infatti subisce una trasformazione: dal dark-punk paranoico al pop-rock.
The Black Parade è il classico esempio commercializzazione causata da MTV e i media di massa.
Di Fede89
"The Black Parade è un album difficile da capire e da decifrare."
"Per farla breve, si tratta di un album rock, con molte venature punk e qualche spunto più alternative rock, condito da qualche riff hard rock qua e là e ritornelli orecchiabili."
