My Chemical Romance: The Black Parade (2LP) [REPRISE]

Why you'll love it

The Black Parade went 4x platinum in the U.S., Canada and the U.K., debuted at No. 2 on both sides of the Atlantic, and that opening piano note of "Welcome to the Black Parade" is now practically a generational password. Liza Minnelli even sings on "Mama."

This edition

• 2LP set, 14 tracks including hidden track "Blood"
• Reprise pressing

About the album

Following up Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge, Gerard Way decided My Chemical Romance needed to go big. Really big. So the band holed up in a supposedly haunted mansion in Los Angeles with producer Rob Cavallo and made a full-blown concept album about "the Patient," a man looking back on his life as death comes to collect him in the form of a marching band. Easy, right?

It shouldn't work as well as it does. The Black Parade swings from glam rock and punk to Queen-sized theatrics and showtune swagger (yes, that's Liza Minnelli on "Mama") without ever losing the hooks. "Welcome to the Black Parade," "Famous Last Words," "Teenagers" and "I Don't Love You" became anthems for a generation of kids in eyeliner, and nearly 20 years later they're still singing every word.

Also at Kops: more My Chemical Romance on vinyl · browse Punk

Tracklist

Listen

On Reprise (cat# 1545468), a reissue of the 2006 album.