johnnynotsid

Living:

 

The Patient: Carman Kaifa

Lover: Dr Juliet Magdalene

Father: Peter Kaifa

Mama: June Kaifa

Visitor/Next of Kin: Aunt Marie

Teens:

Jocks

Britneys

Preps

Nerds

Metalheads

        {Young Carman Kaifas

Polimisfits {{Young Juliet Magdalene

        {Lennie Carlton

 

 

School Faculty:

Principal Wolf

Officer Sharp

Mr Ravanna

Ms Gorgan

 

Medicals:

Dr Juliet Magdalene (Dr Feelgood)

Dr Venon Woolfe (Dr Hopeless)

 

 

 

The Black Parade:

 

Mother War: All Conflict/Messenger/June Kaifa/Portal

Mother War’s Followers: The Wolves and The Mohawks

Regret: Dr Juliet Magdalene/Lennie Carlton/Carman, Peter, and June Kaifa/What Could Have Been

Fear: Carman and Peter Kaifa/All School Faculty/Life/Dr Juliet Magdalene/Dr Venon Woolfe/All Teens

The Deceiver: Loki the Vampire/Seducer

Loki’s Followers: Vampires

Guides (Main Parade Band)

Devesh the Singer (Grand Marshal)

Brody the Bassist (Brother of Devesh, consoler)

Ezekiel the Lead Guitarist (Wakeup Call, Mastermind)

Morpheus the Rhythm Guitarist (Death Healer)

Mariano the Drummer (Warrior, Strength)

Secondary Marching Band and the Guides’ Henchmen: The Adriels

Fellow Coma Patient, Parade Companion: Johnny Joe the rock star

The Knights: Security and Enforcement of the Black Parade

 

Original Concept:

A young man dying of cancer is visited by Death in the form of a Black Parade, a manifestation of his dearest childhood memory. He meets certain characters and contemplates his life as he slips between worlds of life and death and regrets not having done more with his life while being amazed at the many wonders his short life truly did hold. He finds hope even as he finally becomes ready to say good bye.

 

 

 

Overall Story:

 Carman Kaifa, a jaded, thirty-year-old stock-broker from New Jersey, is admitted into a hospital to be treated for cancer. He is nearly terminal. One of his doctors, Dr Woolfe, wants to just let him die to keep him from suffering further; his other doctor, a woman from his past, Dr Juliet Magdalene, wishes to use a new experimental treatment to try and save him. Before Carman can make a choice, he falls into a state of delirium, and becomes caught between Life and Death as his certified next of kin, his Aunt Marie, tries to decide what to do.

 

Death manifests itself in the form of the only good memory Carman has left of his estranged father, Peter; the day when Peter took him into the city to see a parade and asks his son to be the savior of the downtrodden. However, this turns out to be bittersweet, as Carman gave up hope and did nothing with his life, which he never appreciated. He regrets this, and begins to lose hope.

 

As he does, he meets those who fill the Black Parade that is death. He is transported between worlds randomly by a curious, confused, and aggressive entity called Mother War, that often likes to shape-shirt into the form of his Mother, June; as well as being the one who connects him to his past, present, and future. Along with Mother War are her armies, the Wolves and The Mohawks. Her daughters are twins, Fear and Regret. Fear is a vivacious, intimidating spirit that likes to playact as Carman, his father, and those who tormented and held him back through Life. She is the Captain of the Wolves. Regret is an angry, tough, cold spirit that takes the form of Carman’s mistreated mother, his spurned lover, his father, and his tragic high school friend, Lennie Carlton. She is the Captain of the Mohawks.

 

The antagonist against Carman is Loki, a witty, tricky vampire who likes to discourage, tempt, and confuse Carman, along with his pack of Vampires. However, working against Loki are the friends Carman finds in the Leaders of the Black Parade, the Band. The Main Band, Singer Devesh, Bassist Brody, Guitarists Ezekiel and Morpheus, and Drummer Mariano are his instruments of protection and keep him safe along with their army-band, the Adriels.

 

The entirety of the Black Parade is kept secure and moving by a force of dark knights, who have authority on all sides.

 

The entire parade, Carman learns, is his trial to see if after he looks at his life, if he wants to live or die. Mother War and her lackeys are to persuade him on both sides, Loki to try and get him to die, and the Band to persuade him to live.

 

But Carman is not the only one on trial, for also judging his life is Johnny Joe, a cynical, wise-cracking rock star Carman had looked up to as a teenager, whose career had wilted considerably. Carman sees glimpses of JJ’s life and vice versa, and together, they give each other avice/

 

Back on Earth, Carman drifts in and out. He tries to reconcile and apologize to Juliet, his high school sweetheart that he had always loved, but rejected after the Death of their best friend, Lennie. It is a struggle between them as the past seems to revisit him even more vividly than when conjured up by the powers of The Black Parade.

 

Caraman’s father had been a wealthy politician who had treated Carman and his mother June badly, a crazed perfectionist and angry control-freak. Finally, when Carman was fourteen, June took her son and left home. Carman resented her for this, and June had died when he was twenty-four, lonely and unloved. However, in high school, Carman is rejected by the cliques at his school, but finds friends in two rebellious, politically-minded teenagers with weird hair and clothing, Juliet and Lennie. Carman had always dreamed of being a revolutionary Independent politician, but had held back because he did not want to follow in his father’s footsteps. But Juliet had encouraged him and made him determined to realize his dream. They dated throughout high school. The school faculty heartily dislike Carman, Juliet, and Lennie for being too outspoken, radical and opinionated. However, they could not suppress Carman and Juliet, who outwitted them like Bugs Bunny did to Elmer Fudd. So they picked on Lennie, weaker than the other two. In their senior year, Lennie got in trouble and was verbally abused by four members of the faculty until he cracked. He stole a gun from the school’s police officer and ran through the school with it, threatening people. Finally Juliet jumped on him. The gun went off and Lennie was dead. Carman blamed Juliet for this, and gave up on everything she had ever told him. He studied finance instead of PoliSci, and became a member of the Urban Employed Twenty-somethings.

 

Now he has been reunited with Juliet, who encourages him to hold on. Somehow, he can only resist Mother War and Loki when she is there, but he still resents her somewhat.

 

Then it seems, Loki has a victory. JJ decides he is done and chooses Death, and Carman loses hope once more.

 

However, he does manage to get a message from his mother after a long rant to her soul through Mother War, and it rekindles slight hope in him. He realizes how he never should have been a wasted life, and starts to listen to Juliet. But his body is warn from the high amount of mental, physical, and spiritual stress inflicted by The Parade, The illness, and his flashbacks, and he starts to die.

 

It is then he sees the faces of so many people just like him, so many people destined for the same fate, then sees the face of Juliet. He decides to put through one last struggle for his soul by confessing everything to Juliet.

 

Whether he lives or dies is up to you.

Well, if they'd open their eyes, they'd notice some things.

Yesterday, they fought for several hours for no reason and eventually my dad shoved my mom and I had to break them up. Then I started crying and tearing my heart out, and no one seemed to care. My parents didn't even ask me how I was feeling. Then I had to sit them down and make them talk to each other and moderate the conversation like a fucking guidance counsellor. I had to listen to them fight, and then hear them review it because they can't control themselves. I had to be the adult at 15. After it all, no hugs or thank you's or sympathy for me, just for themselves. They never care what I think about anything and if I try to tell them, I'm being a brat.

Then they wonder how I can believe so much in someone of I've only met once. Well it's obvious I can't believe in them. Gerard speaks to and sympathizes with and teaches me more through a recording than they have done in the last two years. It's fucked but it's true.

They don't know what I'm going through with them, and they don't even care to find out. All they do is criticize, and if I do anything better, it's still "Well, do better." No "We're proud of you for improving."

On top of it all, they say I only care about myself, but that's not true. I had to moderate their conversation and did it without complaint out of love for them. Oh, and my sister has to get married TWO DAYS BEFORE MY SIXTEENTH BIRTHDAY thanks to the fucking military, yet I have said NOTHING. In fact, all I've done is gush about how happy and excited I am about her getting married to the man she loves. And you know what? I really don't care that much at all. I really am extremely happy for Sarah because her fiance is a great guy and she deserves to be happy. I just want her to be happy, so I don't care. How exactly is that self-centerred?

It's my parents who don't have the decency to take their fights to where I can't hear them, it's them who have to fight over nothing, then drag me into it to moderate them because they can't control themselves, it's my mother who screamed at me calling me an idiotic bitch outside in front of a little girl on her tricycle and didn't even apologize. It's my dad who keeps making everything about him. They never seem to care about me at all, no matter how hard I try to get them interested.

So what did I turn to? Yeah, MCR. So that's my answer to their question.

I could not submit this to the contest because I could not give a real, unique, good review in just 100 words. I'm not that good of a writer, and the record is too complex to just write a paragraph on it.

Okay, so we've got the following elements that have been mentioned a million times: Pnk Floyd, Sgt. Pepper, Ziggy Stardust, Queen, T.Rex, Green Day, Alice Cooper, The Doors.....................and so on and so forth. The weird thing is, there have been more major comparisons to this record than there are actual songs on The Black Parade, yet somehow, it fails to sound llike a cheap rip off. Um, wow, didn't know it was possible.

As far as composition goes, the album can't be stopped. Literally and figuratively, as Ray Toro and Frank Iero shell out one climatic, overpowering guitar riff after another. So much that after the final track, 'Famous Last Words,' your ears are ringing abit and you feel a bit dizzy. Well, what does not kill you will ultimately make you stronger. Which is actually what My Chemical Romance proves. You can actually feel yourself growing a bit while you listen to this record.

What MCR also manages to prove over the course of this record is not only can the things that don't kill you make you stronger, so can the things that actually do. Thus this is the story of The Patient; A young man dying of cancer and the main character of the record (I forgot to mention above that not only do people keep mentioning how TBP is reminiscent of so-and-so, it is also a concept album). In the course of the story, the dude dies young, and Death comes for him in the form of his strongest memory of when his Father took him to see a parade when he was young. The patient along with some friends travels along this Black Parade and looks back on his life discovering it actually wasn't so mundane as he had originally thought, despite it's premature end.

This is where the cliche goes out the window and the real message sets in. The record, despite it's theme of Death, is actually more than anything a celebration of life. The Patient sees so much in a life which had disappointed him and seemed empty, which I guess is pretty much what MyChem wants us to do as well. So much for emo. I mean, the reviewers keep saying how unemo it is, but never explaining it. But that's pretty much why. The message is, 'Your Life means a lot more than you think. So do what you can with it and enjoy it.' Only instead of saying this in the way of your school guidance counselor or a religious advisor, MyChem does it right, even if it is a little obscure. Nice job dudes. Of course, it's not too surprising considering the amazing connection MCR has with their fans. They can understand the way you think, they relate, and they've figured out how to help.

But enough about the concept, let's get back to the music.

Of course, TBP is considerably more experimental musically and instrumentally than their last record, which makes things a lot more fun. They take plenty of risks, especially considering the types of criticism they have gotten since they broke out as a band. They've been called fags, wimps, and weirdos. So how do they respond? By putting out a half-rock, half Broadway style sound and putting up their middle fingers. They reject the 'emo' label. But instead of just whining and saying they're not in interviews ala Brendon Urie, they actually prove it. Crazy-ass fantastic musicianship and excellent singing are also among the many virtues of The Black Parade. I can say with confidence that Gerard Way's voice has dramatically improved.

However, the record is not perfect. One thing that stands out is the rather crude lyrics. While good for the most part, they just don't seem as good as expected compared to the words in their sophomore release, Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge. While 'Cancer' is a definite gem both lyrically and musically, some of the songs as far as words go just don't compare to 'Preach all you want/but who's gonna save me?/I keep the gun and the book you gave me' as Way crowed in 'Thank Your for the Venom' in 'Revenge.' While The Black Parade far outstrips 'Revenge,' there are some areas in the poetry that seem to be less awing. However, there are some fantastic lines from there, and the words are written and sung exactly as is appropriate for the new record. Gerard Way obviously has decided to pay homage to Joey Ramone's brilliant take on the art of repitition, both poppy and pointed.

A few more flaws are far less aparant or relevant. The transitions between the verse and chorus rythms on 'Mama' are a bit sketchy, the chorus is a bit too heavy guitar wise, which is unnecessary. It has a rather negative effect, as it makes it seem too much by 'Famous Last Words.' Some of the songs seem to have a little too much thrown into them. And I don't care much for the way Gerard Way echoes the opening lines to 'Welcome to The Black Parade,' the first single off this record.

However, for all it's limitations, they are all pretty irrelevant for two reason. One, there is too much absolute brilliance on this record that you hardly notice; and Two, the imperfections give MCR a future, there is still room for improvement so we still get to be wowed by them on their next record.

Me, I absolutely adore how on 'Teenagers' there are incorporations of bluesy riffs and just a hint of old-school country. The dynamics are fantastic and makes it unique. Every song stands out, in fact. The poppy rythm and energy in Dead! is nothing short of delightful, and the tough love and agression heard in 'The Sharpest Lives' is downright seductive without meaning to be so. It's also got a great tempo. Every track keeps you guessing. 'Cancer' is stripped down ina way never heard before ina MyChem songs, but it fits and works so well. One very surprising and extremely fantastic thing about most of these songs is the fact that you can really dance to them, not something you usually here from rock bands today. It's also very gratifying to fans like myself, because it proves that this band is unique and fun.

'Sleep' is almost as gripping as 'Cancer.' The distorted voice heard throughout the song is not only intriguing but touching. 'The End' is a great opener, able to pay homage to Pink Floyd while being entirely unique. A picture that comes to mind when it comes to this record is MCR sitting down with all the great artists that influenced this record and going, "We're going to try and pay credit to you by letting your best efforts give birth to something new and exciting. We want you to be a part of something big. It's our way of saying thank you, and our effort to keep your work alive."

The production is fantastic, but then again, Rob Cavallo couldn't fuck up anything, let alone a band like MCR. Really, the man is incapable of doing bad. Why do you think 'Rent' was watchable?

Has MCR reinvented themselves? Yes. And they do it in a way that is subtle. They do it so that on first glance you don't see it too well, but they want us to think, they challenge us. I'm up for it.

My Chemical Romance has decided that they are going to improve with every record, and they're being stubborn about it. It is my belief that 'The Black Parade' has earned them the titles of The Brat Princes of Rock and Roll.

Out of 10, I give The Black Parade a 9.25

Okay, so I came back with another installment, but this is in no way a reprimand. Instead, for all you girls (and statistically, guys) who still feel unhappy about such-in-such having a sig, I have things to say, but they are meant in comfort.

Listen, most of us feel jealous of Alicia Simmons or Deci, or whichever girl is dating our current band-crush. And that's actually ok. Listen, they're dating a good looking guy in a band with talent, brains, a little fame and bright-looking future. They are in love, and they are loved in return. And the guy is not a horndog who actually is interested in her. Sounds like a pretty awesome deal. These chicks are lucky as fuck. I'm not saying they probably don't deserve that, I'm not. They probably do. It's okay to want that too, or feel a little "Damn, I wish it was me!" As long as you don't channel that into something stupid or nasty, it's fine. Your emotions are there for a reason, and it's your own head, it's not like you can really control everything that pops into it. Like I said in the last installment, just don't be barbarians.

Now, since we've established that you're not a stupid nasty teenybopper for being a little jealous of so-and-so's girlfriend, let's move on. How about onto how to handle your envy? Time to look on the bright side.

Anyways, you know what I think are great about these kinds of relationships? They're more evidence against the 'rock n' roll' stereotype. Think about it. Everyone always assumes that rock stars are these crazy diseased drug addicts who are just out to screw every chick they can get their hands on. Everyone is so shocked that Bono or Jon Bon Jovi or Billie Joe Armstrong happen to be respectable guys who can hold on to a relationship and not be adulterous. But not all musicians are like the Rolling Stones in the relationship department(no offense to the Stones, they just are not the greatest example of marriage success, but I know they are supposed to be terrific parents). I mean between Beckett and his girl, Mikey Way and Alicia Simmons, Patrick Stump and his girl, and Dave Grohl and his wife (what's her name again? anyone?) all having these stable, responsible relationships, it looks like that stereotype may be smashed in a few years. Which is great for us young female fans because that means our parents may trust us at concerts more.

Think about it. You parents hear you prattle on about Gerard telling girls not to degrade themselves by flashing horny dudes with cameras, about how Bert McCracken just settled down, about how sweet and shy Ryan Ross is and how he's mostly interested in having a girl who can carry on a conversation, then they think 'woah, okay, so these guys my daughter is listening won't impregnate her behind an amplifier.' So then, when you ask to go to a MyChem or TAI... show, they think 'okay so-and-so in that band is one of those straight-edge or married guys, so she won't be in need of a chastity belt' then, after a lecture about responsibility, they sigh and let you go. Can anyone say Hell Yeah?

Then let's say, years from now, you meet, say, Sonny Moore. Sonny asks you out. You bring him to meet your parents and instead of them immediately freaking out about him just for being a rock musician, they know that these days, rock stars don't usually act like Axl Rose, and they actually give him a fair chance. Or if you end up dating a guy who later becomes a musician, they don't hate him. It makes things easier for us too.

Plus, these girls dating these rock stars make them happy. When these guys are happy, it makes them nicer. When they are happy, it means they are more prepped to give us some more great music. It means they like us teenage girlfans more.

So God bless these rock stars and their girlfriends. They make our lives easier in the long run.

 

PS: I'm not usually this obsessed with these details of a band myself, but I'm just trying to deliver solutions and make life easier

Okay, Here is what needs to be said about Band member's significant others