Why Chemical Romance?
How one emo band looked like they were going to take over the world again... until the world ended
This year I was supposed to see one of the most important bands in my life. A band that I absolutely loved during the most important music years in your life. I loved them so much I took a cheap rubber wrist band and rubbed off the paint for whatever it said and wrote this band’s name over it instead. If you couldn’t guess from the title already, that band was My Chemical Romance. The either beloved or hated emo band that still seems to dominate what people think all emo music is like for almost two decades now.
Anyway I was supposed to see them perform on their tour this fall at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, MN. Which is roughly a 20,000 seat arena. Not only did they sell out that show, but they sold out their entire tour in similar size arenas in less than six hours. Now, I know what you may be thinking, “Andrew, of course they sold out their tour. They were a big band and this is their first tour in almost a decade.” But here’s the thing, they weren’t a popular band when they went on their hiatus. Interest in My Chemical Romance was not necessarily at an all-time low but on their last tour they couldn’t sell out a 1,500 ticket room and now they’re selling out 20,000 seated arenas?!
What happened? I remember the backlash after “The Black Parade.” My Chemical Romance became one of the most important emo bands of that era, but unfortunately for them they also received the most hate after the emo wave crashed. It became extremely uncool to like emo around 2008-2009, especially any emo band that had a strong presence at stores like Hot Topic (which probably really ties into the inherent sexism in rock music that anything that has too many teenage girl fans is deemed uncool but that’s an article for another day). The backlash was so bad that they completely changed their identity. Instead of emo they embraced the glam rock side of their music which Gerard Way was a big fan of. They traded the all black band outfits for bright colors instead. A comic book band come to life.
The album “Dangerous Day: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys” came out to little fanfare. It had some good reviews and even made it to number 8 on the billboard charts, but in the grand story of My Chemical Romance it’s the album that seems to be the least remembered (though looking at their setlist from their reunion show, the band certainly hasn’t forgotten it.) Then they broke up a couple years later to what felt like a whimper for one of the biggest blockbuster bands of the early 21st Century. Even I was thinking at the time “It’s probably for the best.”
So I want to know what happened from 2013 to 2019 that a band that was barely acknowledged breaking up is now selling out 20,000 seat arenas? Is it as simple as absence makes the heart grow fonder? I know that contributed but that can’t be the whole story. Lots of their contemporaries broke up from that time and I can’t think of any one of them that would have nearly this level of success coming back. I also couldn’t help but notice from videos of their reunion shows the crowd wasn’t filled with 30 somethings like me looking for a show to remind them of their teen years. There were teens at the shows, and a lot of them. Granted I don’t listen to a lot of current or classic rock radio, but they certainly weren’t playing My Chemical Romance when they were releasing albums and I would be shocked if they were playing them now. They weren’t exactly beloved by critical gatekeepers either. Pitchfork ignored them for the most part, and most critics seem to still have little interest in their work. I can’t count how many arguments I have had about their artistic merit. After the Black Parade they were viewed as too earnest which is the opposite of cool since the beginning of the term cool.
Am I saying I’ll crack the code of why My Chemical Romance became the final winners of mid 2000s emo scene? No, but I can offer some theories on what contributed.
Theory 1: It’s Been so Long
Probably the most obvious contributing factor, like I mentioned earlier, My Chemical Romance haven’t been around. You could argue there was only one album that had people saying “My Chemical Romance is still making music?” They got out at the perfect time so their legend status could grow. They didn’t end up doing the country fair tour like some of their contemporaries, they just walked away and let the fans come back to them. No more trying to chase the latest music trend. They let their body of work speak for itself which is not only artistically admirable it is kind of cool.
Theory 2: Emo is Back, Baby!
I’m not exactly sure what the catalyst for the renewed emo interest came from but “Emo nights” had been popping up in every major city in the country. For some it was a trip down memory lane to the music they listened to in junior high, for others it was their first chance to finally scream along to music with other people because they were too young to be a part of it the first time. It gave people a chance to realize how good their music actually is. Every emo night party I’ve been too always gets a huge pop when you hear the opening guitar riff of “I’m Not Okay (I Promise).” Now imagine getting to hear that live in a crowd of thousands.
Theory 3: Backlash Against the Backlash
A few years back (maybe 2013?) poptimism became a big part of the critical conversation. The idea that popular music that majority of people in the world enjoy has critical merit. (I believe the Kanye West/Taylor Swift VMAs situation is where it all began) If you can make music that so many people enjoy why wouldn’t it be artistically valuable? This also lead to a backlash against the indie snobs of the world and that was huge for My Chemical Romance. They aren’t as big as the Beyonces or Taylor Swifts of the world but their music struck the same passion in large amounts of people.
Theory 4: Lack of Cringe Lyrics
So I will be one of the first to admit that there is a lot of emo music lyrics that have just aged horribly. Just misogynistic garbage that would not and should not stand a chance in 2020. Society has grown past the need for whiney men who are mad at a girl for not liking them back and screaming about it. My Chemical Romance’s biggest songs were never like that. They sang songs about not fitting in, losing a loved one, fear of conforming, family, how scary teenagers are, and perseverance. Of all the bands in that era it makes perfect sense that they would be the most fondly remembered. If anything their music has become more poignant in 2020. My Chemical Romance still could speak to the next generation of passionate music fans. All the things they sang about are still relevant today, and sincerity is becoming an admirable quality in music. They were always them and in a world where everybody knows everything about anyone because of being online, My Chemical Romance’s authenticity strikes the right chords.
I think the biggest takeaway from the My Chemical Romance popularity resurgence speaks more to how difficult it is to predict which music will survive out of their era. Most critics in the mid-2000s would never have guessed this would have happened but they didn’t realize how important Blink-182 would be either. The generation that grew up with My Chemical Romance understood their importance and appeal and it looks like the generation after them does as well. Honestly, it makes me so happy that they were one of the bands that finally seemed to be getting the respect so many of us thought they deserved the first time around. Feels like a win for the underdog.
BONUS ALBUM RECOMMENDATION
Gerard Way’s “Hesitant Alien”
After the breakup of My Chemical Romance, unsurprisingly, Gerard Way released a terrific solo album that continued the glam rock journey it seemed the band would have been on had they not broken up. It has the energy of an MCR album but much more upbeat lyrics. It’s a nice showcase for Way’s pop song writing abilities, and so many of these tracks are incredibly catchy. It doesn’t look like we’re getting any new MCR albums with the reunion so this might be the closest thing if you haven’t checked out this album before. I think it will satisfy any former or current fans of the earnest nature of MCR.