Anyone who was fortunate to see the hysterical spectacle that was My Chemical Romance’s set at Reading 2006 will have witnessed Gerard Way’s beyond embarrassing announcement that his fan base was not a cult – as suggested by the Daily Mail – but in fact “an army”.

A nervous tick and many bottles of wee later, MCR launch into ‘Welcome to the Black Parade’; this latest single is conformation of his not-a-cult army, his current position as ‘the saviour of the broken, the beaten and the damned’ and the fact that he isn’t quite all there.

Looking at the amount of fuss being made of MCR at the moment you might have thought they had done something stupendous, something innovative and ground breaking with miles of style. Well, don’t hold your breath. Not only is ‘Welcome to the Black Parade’ another indication that Gerard Way has a God complex, it also does nothing to nudge the band out of their punk-pop comfort zone.

‘…Black Parade’ is their answer to ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ but still ends up sounding like a Sum 41 cover; it’s been done before (repeatedly) and it’s dull. Next, please!
(2/5)