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

My Chemical Romance cites their main influences as The Misfits, Morrissey/The Smiths, and Iron Maiden 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.

EMO

Criticism

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. Much of their music is 'horror film' based, and their photos and art rather bloody. Due to this, MCR are mainly criticized for their music and their appearance seeming emo, despite the horror genre being markedly different than emo music and therefore taking away from their influence in uninformed circles. Many critics say that My Chemical Romance and similar bands play generic, MTV-friendly music meant for mass consumption rather than artistic innovation. Another criticism of MCR is Gerard's friendship with Bert McCracken of The Used. While the bands are friends, detractors of MCR often accuse them of using their friendship with the Used to gain an international audience.

Discography

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
	October 24, 2006 (US) October 23, 2006 (UK)	The Black Parade	Reprise Records

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. In recent months, 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 (Shut Up and Play)". 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

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

External links

• Official website
• My Chemical Romance on MySpace
• Vacant3by4
• Revenge Media Network
• MCR Fan
• The Immortality Project

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