By: MELIA GODWIN

In the music world, American rock band My Chemical Romance, is one of the most influential groups of the 21st century. They were founded in Newark, New Jersey, following the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. Since then they have released some of the most well known emo albums, their biggest being “The Black Parade” and “Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge”. Among those albums, however, remains a hidden gem, one of their most unpopular albums.

 “Danger Days”, the album, is often referred to as one of the worst albums by MCR, second to their first, lower quality album “I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love”. However, I believe “Danger Days” should actually be regarded as one of their best works.

MCR’s Ray Toro (far left), Mikey Way (middle left), Gerard Way (middle right), and Frank Iero (far right), featured in an article by Los Angeles Times following the release of “Danger Days” (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

“Danger Days” was made by MCR to challenge their edgy sound in “The Black Parade”, which is one of, if not, the major contributing factors to the band’s emo reputation. “Danger Days” exhibits an upbeat, 70s/80s rock inspired sound. The album is actually a concept album, taking place in post-apocalyptic California in 2019. 

The members of the band play as characters in this concept known as The Killjoys. The society in the album’s lore, called Battery City, is dystopian, run by a company called Better Living that controls the population through headphones and military reinforcement. After teaming up with a girl, who supposedly holds the secret to ending Better Living, the Killjoys plan to finally rebel against the oppression. However, after the girl is kidnapped, they die before executing their rebellion while rescuing her. In a comic series by lead singer Gerard Way, called “True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys: California”, the story is continued and results in the abolition of the company at the girl’s hand.

MCR, dressed in their Killjoy uniforms for a photoshoot following the album’s release (Pamela Littky /pamelalittky.com)

Originally, “Danger Days” was meant to be an album called “Conventional Weapons”, however the album was scrapped and completely rewritten due to dissatisfaction with its final result. This decision created conflict between their drummer at the time, Bob Bryar, and the rest of the band. Eventually, Bryar’s anger resulted in his split with the band. Additionally, MCR experienced issues with reimagining the album, as the pop-y sound they ended up adopting was nothing like any of the other music they had released before. However, after finishing the song “Na Na Na”, the members experienced a burst of inspiration that allowed them to complete “Danger Days”. 

Left: The album cover MCR made for “Conventional Weapons” (Matt “Varnish” Taylor /Varnish Studio Inc.) Right: The album cover of “Danger Days”, featuring a photo of Palmdale, California taken by one of the band’s guitarists, Frank Iero. The art was added by photographer Neil Krug (Frank Iero and Neil Krug /MCR and neilkrug.com)

Despite the album’s popularity among release, many fans have expressed their dislike for it. One of the main reasons for this is, ironically, because of its genre. “Danger Days” differs incredibly from MCR as a whole; the songs sound different, the band’s appearance in the album looks different, and the overall vibe does not match with “The Black Parade” whatsoever. In addition, fans believe the album has many inconsistencies in its songs, some songs such as “Na Na Na” and “Bulletproof Heart” praised for being engaging compared to other tracks.

Fan conversations regarding their opinion on “Danger Days” 

Although many fans believe that “Danger Days” was a waste, I believe that it is genuinely one of MCR’s best albums. The idea of rebelling against a dystopian government is one that I’ve seen a lot in movies, but not very much in music. This, accompanied by the 70s rock inspiration and its contrast with “The Black Parade” is what makes the album so unique. Part of the album’s downfall also comes with the release of “The Black Parade”. “The Black Parade” was so incredibly successful, it set the fans’ expectations extremely high for MCR’s next album. Had “Danger Days” been released at a different time, it would’ve been much more successful, as it was nearly impossible to top “The Black Parade”. 

In addition, I feel that “Danger Days” was a way for the band to further connect with its community. Following MCR’s disbandment in 2013, lead singer Gerard Way pursued a career as a comic artist and created 2 series that used the “Danger Days” storyline; “True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys: California” and “True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys: National Anthem”. Comics played such a huge part in the rough childhoods of the band’s members, so these books act as a way for MCR to give their fans a piece of their upbringing. In the end, the album is completely different from what MCR is known for, however that doesn’t make it bad. Everything that it represents in terms of meaning is nothing short of brilliant, making it criminally underrated.