My Amazon Reviews: Gerard Way "Hesitant Alien"

Close Encounters of the Loud Kind
2 Out Of 5 Stars

In his first album since breaking up My Chemical Romance, front-man and comic book fanatic Gerard Way jettisons the rock opera confines of "The Black Parade" and "Danger Days" and floods "Hesitant Alien" with fuzzed out guitars, touches of glam rock and his considerable skill at big, meaty hooks. Problem is, things sound like maybe writing big songs with theater in mind might have been a bigger skill than he wanted to own up to. The songs on "Hesitant Alien" distort madly and bleed into each other with a sort of wall of noise monotony.

There are a couple of good songs here that cut through the mix. Both "No Shows" and "Action Cat" favor speed over noise, and comes close to Sweet in terms of Brit-Glam. "No Shows" has a pretty insistent hook. The only other song of note is the speed demon "Juarez," making Way sound like he had some old Pixies CD's mixed in with pop opera aspirations, but I get the feeling all across "Hesitant Alien" that Way is stretching himself too thin. The songs have plenty of sing-along moments when he stops screaming into a distortion pedal, and you keep waiting for that one big number to emerge, ala "Sing," "Helena" or "The Black Parade." Just never happens.

And I'll add one more thing: The album has a horrible mix. On some of the songs, things are so compressed that Way's voice is just another sound crammed in the mush. "Zero Zero" might even had been the big song that "Hesitant Alien" needed, but the production is so bricked out that there's no breathing room for any element of the song to stand out above the others. Same goes for better than half the album. Of all the CD's I've bought recently, the only album to come close to production this bad has been the flat-line of Imagine Dragons' debut. "Hesitant Alien" desperately needed some light between the cracks.

     

My Amazon Reviews: My Chemical Romance "Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys"

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.