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My Chemical Romance is an American band from New Jersey. Formed in 2001, the band consists of Gerard Way (lead vocals), Mikey Way (bass), Bob Bryar (drums), Frank Iero (rhythm guitar), and Ray Toro (lead guitar).

The band has been described variously by the media as "emo", "indie", "pop punk" and "post-hardcore". The band themselves have described their music as simply "rock" or "violent/unsafe pop", as well as rejecting the term "emo" to describe their style.

My Chemical Romance cites their main influences as Black Flag, Thursday, Iron Maiden, The Misfits, and Morrissey/The Smiths. Growing up, they were also very influenced by horror films and comic books, and therefore their music, lyrics, and image all have overt elements of fantasy, storytelling, horror, and theatricality. The band members hail from Belleville and Kearny, New Jersey, except drummer Bob Bryar, who is from Chicago, Illinois. Bassist Mikey Way coined the band's name from a book entitled Ecstasy: Three Tales of Chemical Romance, by Irvine Welsh.

Biography

Early career (2001–2002)

The band was formed by frontman Gerard Way and ex-drummer Matt Pelissier. The first song they wrote was Skylines and Turnstiles, which was written by Gerard about his feelings on September 11th. Shortly after, Ray Toro, and Mikey Way (Gerard's brother) joined the band. The band immediately started playing numerous local shows in basements in Montclair and New Brunswick, VFWs like Boonton Elks, and clubs such as the Loop Lounge in Passaic and the Bloomfield Ave. Cafe & Stage, in Montclair, New Jersey.

The band then recorded their first album, I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love, and released it in 2002 on Eyeball Records. When the album was made, they had only been a band for about three months. Frank Iero joined the band a few days before they started recording. Even though he joined before the recording sessions, he played on two songs on the album.

Major career (2003–2005)

In 2003, the band signed a deal with Reprise Records and began working on their second album after finishing a tour with Avenged Sevenfold. The album, entitled Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge, was released in 2004 and went platinum a year later. The album contained three singles: "I'm Not Okay (I Promise)", "Helena" and "The Ghost of You".

It was during this time that the band replaced their drummer, Matt Pelissier with Bob Bryar. They replaced Pelissier after My Chemical Romance went to Japan in August 2004. The true nature of Pelissier being replaced has never been stated by the band but it has been speculated it was due to an argument with band member Ray Toro or due to possible mess ups during live performances.

At the start of 2005, the band were direct support on the first ever Taste of Chaos tour, and were also the opening act for Green Day on their American Idiot tour. Later that year they co-headlined and finally headlined their own tour, for the first time ever with Alkaline Trio and Reggie and the Full Effect around the country.

My Chemical Romance and The Used collaborated on a cover of the David Bowie and Queen classic "Under Pressure" that was released as a benefit single on iTunes and other Internet outlets.

Criticism

Fanbase

My Chemical Romance initially was lauded as a band with a strong "grassroots" following. It was among the first bands to achieve national status by offering free downloads through PureVolume and the "social networking" site MySpace, where MCR gathered its first 100,000 fans. The band has clearly grown well beyond those initial numbers, but some critics indicate that the many new fans they've gained through heavy MTV play have a lower ability to connect to the band's music, while others suggest that the large fanbase they've gained since their 2004 album, Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge is due to a more mainstream approach. MCR are mainly criticized for having a large "Teeny bopper" fanbase, who joined their fanbase after the release of Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge. Many critics say that My Chemical Romance and similar bands play generic, MTV-friendly music meant for mass consumption rather than artistic innovation. Due to the increased amount of new fans, some of the old fanbase considers the band a "sellout" and the new MCR fans "posers". However MCR fans are sometimes considered loyal to the point of possible obsession. This can be compared with "Rabid InuYasha Fans" and "Trekkies", especially on online forums.

Fan fiction about MCR has become common online on fansites, LiveJournal groups, fan fiction sites, and Quizilla. These stories are about the band members having some connection with the underworld or Hell, or dealing with various parts of life. However some if not most of these stories promote the band as "sex icons". These stories usually have the band having sexual relations, or relations in general, with either original characters, bandmates, or other bands (a common band mentioned in fan fiction would be The Used). However, some feel different, which led to a large feud among users of Iconator. The feud on Iconator was based on the fact that "the members of My Chemical Romance do not deserve to be treated like "sex icons", and do deserve to be treated like normal people, because that's what they are."

Image

Much of My Chemical Romance's music is 'horror film' based, and their photos and art rather bloody. Due to this, MCR are often criticized for their music and their appearance being emo.

The band Guttermouth was supposedly kicked off the 2004 Warped Tour for verbally abusing My Chemical Romance, stating that My Chemical Romance cares more about money and their clothing than the music they make. However Guttermouth has stated they have left on their own and not due to a complaint by My Chemical Romance.

Bottled

My Chemical Romance played the main stage at the 2006 Reading and Leeds Festivals - this was the largest show they have ever played in the UK. They were not received warmly by the crowd at Reading, as the band was subjected to heavy concert bottling. Large sections of the audience threw bacon, tangerines, golfballs, and drink bottles filled with urine at the group as they played. This reportedly upset frontman Way, who then introduced a track saying, "This song is called Thanks For All The Bottles, Thanks For All The Piss, Thanks For All The Golf Balls, Thanks For All The Apples And Thanks For All The Sticky Shit." My Chemical Romance did, however, complete their set.

Discography

Albums

Album Cover	Date of Release	Title	Label	US Billboard Peak	US sales
File:MCRBroughtYouMyBullets.jpg	June 23, 2002	I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love	Eyeball Records
File:MCRThreeCheers.jpg	June 8, 2004	Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge	Reprise Records	#28	Platinum
File:Life on the murder scene.jpg	March 21, 2006	Life on the Murder Scene	Reprise Records	#30	Gold
	October 23, 2006 (UK) October 24, 2006 (US)	The Black Parade	Reprise Records

Singles

Relationship with The Used

The Used is known to have both a personal and a professional relationship with My Chemical Romance. The lead singer Gerard Way and Bert McCracken were rumored to have been particularly close. My Chemical Romance and The Used have covered "Under Pressure" (originally by David Bowie and Queen) in concert on multiple occasions. Critics, however, have often critized this relationship saying that My Chemical Romance used their relationship with The Used to gain a more international and wider audience.

In recent months, however, the two lead singers of both bands seem to have had a fallout due to disagreements over the addition of "Under Pressure" to In Love and Death. Most of this evidence comes from an interview with Bert and a recent song, so far unreleased, by My Chemical Romance entitled "Disenchanted". The dispute was settled, however, when Bert said in an article that he was "just messing around". The two bands' members are, to this day, good friends.

References

1. http://ubl.artistdirect.com/nad/music/artist/bio/0,,1721940,00.html?src=search&artist=My+Chemical+Romance ArtistDirect.com
2. Music fans reach for the stars - USA Today
3. Bands Embrace Social Networking - Wired Magazine
4. A Mixed Set to a Mixed Crowd- Punknews.org
5. My Chemical Slash, an MCR LiveJournal community.
6. Fandomination.net's My Chemical Romance Fiction Section
7. Quizilla - fan fiction
8. http://www.nme.com/news/readingleeds-festival/24116 NME.com - My Chemical Romance shelled by crowd, Way upset

1. "Teen Titans" — Rolling Stone (2005-07-14)
2. Rolling Stone Counter Reference
3. Billboard Chart Positions

External links

• My Chemical Romance Fansite
• Official website
• My Chemical Romance Biography, discography and songs
• Official MCRmy website
• Ask My Chemical Romance A Question at Rocklouder

• American musical groups
• My Chemical Romance
• New Jersey musical groups
• Post-hardcore groups