Il problema principale di gruppi come i My Chemical Romance, al pari di band simili, è quello di essere nelle mire di orde di ragazzine, che sono pronte a celebrare il primo gruppo che capita a tiro. Lo scimmiottamento di cui sopra provoca le antipatie e l'odio di molti nei confronti del gruppo. E qui non si può che essere d'accordo pienamente in quanto vedendo i/le fan che hanno e l'immagine il gruppo americano non meriterebbe il benché minimo interesse, ma siccome siamo qui per giudicare la musica proposta primariamente concentriamoci su questo aspetto lasciando da parte altre questioni in quanto sarebbe stupido giudicare solo dall'apparenza.
Recensire questo "Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge" oggi non è certo come farlo appena uscito cinque anni or sono, in quanto la band allora non aveva certo la visibilità e la fama (meritata o meno che sia) di adesso e qui ci riallacciamo al discorso precedente. Musicalmente parlando questo è il secondo cd del combo che segue il primo "I Brought Your Bullets, You Brought My Love" e precede il disco live "Life On The Murder Scene" e il discusso "The Black Parade" con cui hanno cambiato praticamente genere avvicinandosi al rock. Notare come tutti e tre i lavori siano uno molto diverso dall'altro, specialmente c'è un abisso tra i primi due e l'ultimo. Mentre il primo mischiava velocità con elementi dark-gotici e incursioni nell'emo-core (con un sound simile alla A.F.I.) con canzoni a volte marcate da un netto piglio intimista, questo snellisce la formula ma a differenza del predecessore è un album più carico e potente dal punto di vista della velocità di esecuzione. In termini pratici spariscono le canzoni più lunghe e a tratti oscure che caratterizzavano il primo, per lasciar spazio solamente all'hc di matrice emozionale.
Sia chiaro che il termine hardcore può avere mille sfaccettature, ma qui sta ad indicare soprattutto una sezione ritmica con tempi medio-alti, mentre il cantato si rifà a gruppi come Silverstein e Funeral For A Friend, con l'alternanza del cantato di Gerard Way in clean predominante allo screaming, elemento caratteristico del nuovo emocore. Sono forse proprio i Silverstein la band con cui si possono trovare i maggiori punti di contatto col gruppo di Way e soci, almeno per questo disco. Sebbene i MCR si distinguono per uno stile sicuramente più pacato nei toni e nei vocalizzi rispetto ai colleghi canadesi.
Le canzoni sono coinvolgenti e sanno coinvolgere l'ascoltatore, tra le più belle ci sono "I'm not okay (I promise)" e "Thank you for the venom" che sono anche i due singoli. Entrambe veloci e caratterizzate da ottimi soli di chitarra. Molto bella pure la ballata dalle tinte emo (ma qua siamo a un livello di espressività e genuinità nettamente superiore delle semplici ballads pop-rock del successore) "The ghost of you" molto malinconica e in cui pure qui è presente nel bridge un assolo alternato a urla. Canzone davvero eccezionale la migliore non solo dell'album, ma forse la più bella in assoluto del gruppo del New Delaware.
A canzoni tuttavia se vogliamo orecchiabili, sono affiancati pezzi con una matrice più aggressiva e che aumentano i ritmi. Tra questi si distinguono la sbrigativa "Give em' hell kid!" e la particolare "You know what they do to guys" che prende pian piano ritmo, dopo un intro soave, per concludersi con un avvincente screaming finale. Le influenze emo-core si fanno sentire invece in "Hang em' high" la canzone più violenta del lotto caratterizzata da un screaming a tratti accentuato e che ricorda i Silverstein. Pezzo in featuring with Bert McCraken from The Used. A questi pezzi sono tuttavia contrapposti altri notevolmente più melodici come l'opener "Helena", a mia avviso l'unico punto debole del platter, "To the end" e una rilassante ,almeno fino a un certo punto "Cemetery drive". L'unico pezzo che riesce a ricordare il debut album è "The jetset life is gonna kill you" con un intro di organo e atmosfere più decadenti e oscure.
Ma la vera perla del disco è da ricercare nel pezzo che fa da sipario al platter ovvero "I never told you what do for a living" che dimostra chi sono i veri My Chemical Romance. Un pezzo intriso di sofferenza e speranza, che alterna sapientemente velocità a arpeggi più lenti in scia ai ritornelli, e che si conclude in maniera splendida con una serie di urla laceranti e continue. Infine c'è una bonus track "Bury me in black" anch'essa spinta da una buona dose di cattiveria.
"Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge" ha un impatto emozionale molto forte che riesce a suscitare notevoli sensazioni e sentimenti riuscendo a scuotere come pochi altri. Album sicuramente dall'impatto un po' più ostico del successore ma che riesce a farsi ascoltare e convince pienamente l'intreccio tra le varie sonorità. Inoltre il combo con questo lavoro riesce a fare meglio di band simili come Funeral For A Friend, The Used e Aiden.
A conferire un valore aggiunto a tutto è la splendida voce di Gerard Way, una delle più belle del genere, che riesce perfettamente a giostrare tra i vari registri vocali e le varie sfumature. A questo si aggiunge la buona prova della coppia Iero-Toro alle chitarre che macinano riff a volontà e si superano negli assoli.
Questo full-lenght consacra a realtà il gruppo, che riesce a produrre uno dei migliori album in ambito emocore degli ultimi anni. Senza dubbio un gioiellino nel suo genere. In definitiva un ottimo album che consiglio di ascoltare per togliere qualche pregiudizio su questo gruppo e conoscerne le origini.
Elenco tracce testi e video
01 Helena (03:22)
Long ago
Just like the hearse you died to get in again
We are so far from you
Burning on just like a match you strike to incinerate
The lives of everyone you know
And what's the worst you take(worst you take)
From every heart you break (heart you break)
And like a blade you stain (blade you stain)
Well I've been holding on tonight
[Chorus]
What's the worst that I could say?
Things are better if I stay
So long and goodnight
So long not goodnight
Came a time
When every star fall brought you to tears again
We are the very hurt you sold
And what's the worst you take(worst you take)
From every heart you break (heart you break)
And like a blade you stain (blade you stain)
Well I've been holding on tonight
[Chorus]
What's the worst that I could say?
Things are better if I stay
So long and goodnight
So long not goodnight
And if you carry on this way
Things are better if I stay
So long and goodnight
So long not goodnight
Can you hear me?
Are you near me?
Can we pretend to leave and then
We'll meet again, when both our cars collide
[Chorus]
What's the worst that I can say?
Things are better if I stay
So long and goodnight
So long not goodnight
And if you carry on this way
Things are better if I stay
So long and goodnight
So long not goodnight
03 To the End (02:59)
He calls the mansion not a house but a tomb
He's always choking from the stench and the fume
The wedding party all collapsed in the room
So send my resignation to the bride and the groom
Let's go down
This elevator only goes up to ten.
He's not around, he's always looking at men
Down by the pool he doesn't have many friends
As they are
Face down and bloated, snap a shot with the lens
If you marry me
Would you bury me?
Would you carry me to the end?
Say goodbye to the vows you take
And say goodbye to the life you make
And say goodbye to the hearts you break
And all the cyanide you drank
She keeps a picture of the body she lends
Got nasty blisters from the money she spends
She's got a life of her own and it shows by the Benz she drives at 90 by the Barbies and Kens
If you ever say never too late
I'll forget all the diamonds you ate
Lost in coma and covered in cake
Increase the medication
Share the vows at the wake
(Kiss the bride)
If you marry me
Would you bury me?
Would you carry me to the end?
Say goodbye to the vows you take
And say goodbye to the life you make
And say goodbye to the hearts you break
And all the cyanide you drank
So say goodbye to the last parade
And walk away from the choice you've made
And say goodnight to the hearts you break
And all the cyanide you drank
Say goodbye to the vows you take
And say goodbye to the life you make
And say goodbye to the hearts you break
And all the cyanide you drank
Say goodbye to the last parade
And walk away from the choice you've made
And say goodnight to the hearts you break
And all the cyanide you drank
To the last parade
And the parties fade
And the choice you make
To the end
05 I'm Not Okay (I Promise) (03:06)
Words that only appear in the video clip
Ray Toro: You like D&D, Audrey Hepburn, Fangoria, Harry Houdini and croquet, you can't swim, you can't dance and you don't know karate. Face it, you're never going to make it.
Gerard Way: I don't want to make it. I just want...
End of words that only appear in the video clip
Well if you wanted honesty that's all you had to say
I never want to let you down or have you go
It's better off this way
For all the dirty looks
The photographs your boyfriend took
Remember when you broke your foot from jumping out the second floor
I'm not okay
I'm not okay
I'm not okay
You wear me out
What will it take to show you that it's not the life it seems
(I'm not okay)
I've told you time and time again, you sing the words but don't know
(I'm not okay)
What it means
To be a joke and look
Another line without a hook
I held you close as we both shook
For the last time--take a good hard look
I'm not okay
I'm not okay
I'm not okay
You wear me out
Forget about the dirty looks
The photographs your boyfriend took
You said you'd read me like a book
But the pages all are torn and frayed
I'm okay
I'm okay
I'm okay
Now I'm okay
Now
But you really need to listen to me
Because I'm telling you the truth
I mean this
I'm okay
Trust me
I'm not okay
I'm not okay
Well, I'm not okay
I'm not o-fucking-kay
I'm not okay
I'm not okay
(Okay)
06 The Ghost of You (03:23)
I never said I'd lie in wait forever
If I did we'd be together
I can't always just forget her
But she could try
At the end of the world or the last thing I see
You are never coming home
Never coming home
Could I?
Should I?
And all the things that you never ever told me
And all the smiles that are ever ever
Ever
Get the feeling
That you're never
All alone and I remember now
At the top of my lungs in my arms
She dies
She dies
At the end of the world or the last thing I see
You are never coming home
Never coming home
Could I?
Should I?
And all the things that you never ever told me
And all the smiles that are ever gonna haunt me
Never coming home
Never coming home
Could I?
Should I?
And all the wounds that are ever gonna scar me
For all the ghosts that are never gonna catch me
If I fall
If I fall down
At the end of the world or the last thing I see
You are never coming home
Never coming home
Never coming home
Never coming home
And all the things that you never ever told me
And all the smiles that are ever gonna haunt me
Never coming home
Never coming home
Could I?
Should I?
And all the wounds that are ever gonna scar me
For all the ghosts that are never gonna...
09 Thank You for the Venom (03:41)
Sister, I'm not much a poet but a criminal
And you never had a chance
Love it or leave it, you can't understand
A pretty face but you do so carry on
And on and on
I wouldn't front the scene if you paid me
I'm just the way that the doctor made me
On and on and on and on
Love is the red of the rose on your coffin door
What's life like bleeding on the floor?
The floor, the floor
You'll never make me leave
I wear this on my sleeve
Give me a reason to believe
So gimme all your poison
And gimme all your pills
And gimme all your hopeless hearts and make me ill
You're running after something that you'll never kill
If this is what you want
Then fire at will
Preach all you want but who's gonna save me?
I keep a gun on the book that you gave me
Hallelujah, lock and load
Black is the kiss, the touch of the serpent son
It ain't the mark or the scar that makes you run
And run and run and run
You'll never make me leave
I wear this on my sleeve
Give me your reason to believe
So gimme all your poison
And gimme all your pills
And gimme all your hopeless hearts and make me ill
You're running after something that you'll never kill
If this is what you want
Then fire at will
You'll never make me leave
I wear this on my sleeve
You wanna follow something
Give me a better cause to lead
Just give me what I need
Give me a reason to believe
So gimme all your poison
And gimme all your pills
And gimme all your hopeless hearts and make me ill
You're running after something that you'll never kill
If this is what you want
Then fire at will
So gimme all your poison
(Fire at will)
And gimme all your pills
And gimme all your hopeless hearts and make me ill
(Fire at will)
You're running after something that you'll never kill
(Fire at will)
If this is what you want
(Fire at will)
Then fire at will
10 Hang 'Em High (02:47)
Wait until it fades to black
Ride into the sunset
Would I lie to you?
Well I've got something to say
Grab your six-gun from your back
Throttle the ignition
Would I die for you?
Well here's your answer in spades
Shotgun sinners, wild-eyed jokers
Got you in my sights
Gun it while I'm holding on
After all is said and done
Climb out from the pine box
Well I'm asking you
Cause she's got nothing to say
The angels just cut out her tongue
Call her Black Mariah
Would I lie to you?
That girl's not right in the brain
Mass convulsions
Strike the choir
By the grace of God
Gun it while I'm holding on
But, don't stop
If I fall
And don't look back
Oh baby don't stop
Bury me and fade to black
She won't stop me, put it down
She won't stop me, put it down
She won't stop me, put it down
So get your gun and meet me by the door
She won't stop me, put it down
She won't stop me, put it down
She won't stop me, put it down
So get your gun and meet me by the door
She won't stop me, put it down
She won't stop me, put it down
She won't stop me, put it down
So get your gun and meet me by the door
She won't stop me, put it down
She won't stop me, put it down
She won't stop me, put it down
So baby
Don't stop
If I fall
And don't look back
Oh baby don't stop
Bury me and fade to black
Don't stop
If I fall
And don't look back
Oh baby don't stop
Bury me and fade to black
12 Cemetery Drive (03:06)
This night
Walk the dead
In a solitary style and crash the cemetery gates
In the dress your husband hates
Way down
Mark the grave
Where the searchlights find us drinking by the mausoleum door
And they found you on the bathroom floor
I miss you
I miss you so far
And the collision of your kiss that made it so hard
Back home
Off the run
Singing songs that make you slit your wrists
It isn't that much fun
Staring down a loaded gun
So I won't stop dying
Won't stop lying
If you want I'll keep on crying
Did you get what you deserve?
Is this what you always want me for?
I miss you
I miss you so far
And the collision of your kiss that made it so hard
Way down (x8)
I miss you
I miss you so far
And the collision of your kiss that made it so hard
And well I miss you
And well I miss you so far
And the collision of your kiss that made it so hard
That made it so hard
Way down (x9)
13 I Never Told You What I Do for a Living (03:50)
Stay out of the light
Or the photograph that I gave you
You could say a prayer if you need to
But just get in line and I'll grieve you
Can I meet you?
Alone
Another night and I'll see you
Oh, another night and I'll be you
Some other way to continue
To hide my face
Another knife in my hands
A stain that never comes off the sheets
Clean me off
I'm so dirty, babe
The kind of dirty where the water never cleans off the clothes
I keep a book of the names and those
Only go so far
'Til you bury them
So deep and down we go
Touched by angels though
I fall out of grace
I did it all so maybe
I'd live this every day
Another knife in my hands
A stain that never comes off the sheets
Clean me off
I'm so dirty, babe
It ain't the money and it sure as hell ain't just for the fame
It's for the bodies I claim and those
Only go so far
'Til you bury them
So deep and down we go
Down
And down we go
And down we go
And down we go
And we all fall down
I tried
I tried
And we'll all dance alone to the tune of your death
We'll love again
We'll laugh again
And it's better off this way
And never again
And never again
They gave us two shots to the back of the head
And we're all dead now
Well never again
And never again
They gave us two shots to the back of the head
And we're all dead now
I tried
One more night
One more night
Well I'm laughing, crying, laughing
I tried
Well I tried
Well I tried
'Cause I tried
But I lied
I, I tried
I tried
I tried
And we'll love again
We'll laugh again.
We'll cry again and we'll dance again
And it's better off this way
So much better off this way
I can't clean the blood off the sheets in my bed
Never again
And never again
They gave us two shots to the back of the head
And we're all dead now
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