Search - My Chemical Romance :: The Black Parade Is Dead

Long Live The Black Parade!!!

Justin Gaines | Northern Virginia | 07/04/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"One of the first things I thought when I heard My Chemical Romance's epic album The Black Parade for the first time was that it would make a monster live performance. The Black Parade pretty much single-handedly restored my faith in modern rock music, so when I heard that there was going to be a live DVD release called The Black Parade is Dead, I knew I had to get it right away.



The first disc in this 2-disc collection is the DVD, which features a full performance of The Black Parade in front of a massive crowd in Mexico City. This performance was everything I had hoped for. The band was energetic, the crowd was absolutely wild for them, and frontman Gerard Way was as theatrical as he was intense. They completely captured the spirit of the album, and with their costumes, makeup, and props also conveyed the sheer spectacle of The Black Parade. I still don't know if these guys are emo (or exactly what emo is for that matter), but I know great arena rock when I hear (and see) it, and My Chemical Romance is practically channeling Queen when they rock this arena.



The second half of the DVD was a more intimate performance in New Jersey that found the band in their "street clothes", sans makeup, and with a setlist that went beyond just The Black Parade album. It was a nice addition, and is well worth watching, but I doubt I'll come back to it as often as I do the Mexico performance.



My only complaint is that it would have been nice to have the various videos from The Black Parade included as extras, but that's a minor gripe since they are available online.



Disc 2 in the collection is an audio CD of the Mexico City performance. It's another nice bonus, but I've never been much for live albums, and it really can't compare to the DVD version.



Casual fans can probably skip this one, but if you were as amazed by The Black Parade as I was, The Black Parade is Dead is an absolute must-have.

"

Good, if hardly essential

Ben Dugan | Flying Monkey Killer | 07/02/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I loved My Chemical Romance's 2006 album "The Black Parade". It was pretty much everything that I think a rock record should be: funny, smart, melodic and without filler.

Because of this, I found myself drawn to it's live counterpart, "The Black Parade Is Dead!", a CD/ DVD combo that chronicles that album live in it's entirety, as well as a DVD of live footage from the tour.

To be honest with you, this is hardly an essential product for anyone who isn't a die hard fan of the band and/ or record. The live document of the record is pretty much the album with crowd noise, with few exceptions (it is now to see the bonus track, "Blood" here, though also.)

The DVD is good, well edited and the sound is crisp and well mixed. The angles are good, and isn't half as confusing as most live products.

But this is really something for the die hard fans. If you are a fairweather fan, or someone who enjoys the songs on the radio, then this will seem fairly worthless to you. But if you are a fan of the group, or even just the album, this is a nice addition to your collection, one that you probably won't spin a lot, but something you will enjoy from time to time.

Three and a half stars."

Au revoir black parade

alightinsideme | Virginia , USA | 07/02/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This might of been the the "last performance of the black parade forever", as Gerard Way puts it, but you can re-live it, again and again, thanks to this cd/dvd package.



The dvd includes two concerts. One in mexico city and the other in Hoboken, New Jersey. The one in mexico has the bigger arena feel that i really enjoyed and the new jersey one is a more intimate club experience.



The show in mexico city is pretty cool. they play the entire black parade album, which was a pleasent surprise since i was expecting just a couple black parade songs mixed in with old favorites. but they actually did all of the songs from that album, and thats actually what i wanted.



Now for those of you who are like "...well...i kinda like the old stuff better...why aint they gonna play the old..." dont worry. the dvd contains two concerts, remember? and the hobokan new jersey one mixes in a good amount of older songs from the Three Cheers days. And they perform it minus the make up, so they look like normal guys on the street doing a show in a local club.



The quality of the dvd is pretty good. From picture to sound quality, all good. Though i wonder how awesome it would of looked on a blu-ray disc or blu ray player. But for regular dvd, its pretty sharp i think.



There isnt really any special features on this dvd, which would of made this even better. Like maybe a documentary of the whole behind the scenes of the concert and time they had in mexico, and showing the fans and things. That would of been real cool. But they dont have anything like that really. You just get a good concert.



And speaking of which, for the mexico show, they pretty much performed all these songs quite decently. Some of the songs, like "Welcome To The Black Parade", work better on the studio album than they do in a live setting, but songs like "Cancer" are real good live songs becouse they really do the song justice. Also "Disenchanted" was real good as well.



Not that the other songs werent good, but the ones i mentioned just stood out to me as the best, in my opinion.



This concert puts on a good show for everyone watching. Gerard Way looks awesome and has a slight (though not huge) flair of Freddie Mercury, definatly isnt as passionate as Mercury on stage, ive never seen anyone with the same emotional power as that guy, but Gerard Way dabbles in a slightly similar aura, but it only hints at it. Gerard Way is very much Gerard Way...and thats who he should be. Himself, cuz he has his own uniqueness about himself that could bloom into something great in the future.



Anyways...this package also comes with a vd which is just the audio from the mexico concert, plus the hidden BLOOD track.



Is this at all worth buying? Yes. I actually got a good deal on this at best buy and snagged it for 15 bucks. My Chemical Romance do put on a good show, thats theatrical with Tim Burton's NightMareBeforeChristmas aesthetic and a little dash of Queen, yet it all comes together as My Chemical Romance, who have developed a style all their own here.



Again i must say that Gerard Way puts on a commendable show. He has some real potential. I hope his future work and concerts are more over the top and theatrical."