Louder than God's Revolver and Twice as Shiney 4 Out Of 5 Stars
My Chemical Romance goes the Sgt Pepper's route on "Danger Days," where they record an album in the guise of another band. In MCR's case, it's The Fabulous Killjoys," set in some sort of future where these rockers are rebels trying to save the world from...well...something. Not that it matters, as Gerald Way paints a great big, noisy picture of a comic book world where Glam Rock rules, Queen is King and David Bowie is a major prophet.
Nowhere is that truer than "Danger Day's" initial single, "Na Na Na." Built entirely around the hook, it just plunges into amphetamine hyper-speed and doesn't let up. There's no way to avoid just how catchy the darn thing is; it's like Bowie's "Jean Genie" switched from 45 to 78 RPM. There's plenty of heroic chants ("Sing," "Planetary"), anthems for saving the girl ("The Only Hope for Me Is You," "The Kids From Yesterday") and soaring choruses all over the place. The story - as it is - gets tied together with vignettes by DJ Dr Deathray in pure comic-book fashion.
While the concept doesn't really gel, the music is still super. There isn't anything as Queenly regal as "The Black Parade's" title song, but then, nothing on that album compared to "Stone Cold Crazy" like "Na Na Na" does. Way still has a way with a phrase, and little couplets like "I've got a bullet-proof heart, you've got a hollow-point smile" pierce out from the music. Also, this album starts to poke into U2 territory with "Sing" and "The Kids From Yesterday"; that's never a bad place to look for inspiration. "Danger Days" shows that My Chemical Romance aren't afraid to tweak the formula that's made them stars.
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