The Black Parade (by My Chemical Romance, Rock)

Yes, they did drop a few f-bombs. So what? Kids my age do it every single day. If parents are worried about their kids commiting suicide or becoming depressed from listening to My Chemical Romance's lyrics, then they should listen to the last track, 'Famous Last Words', which uses the lines quite a few times, 'I am not afraid to keep on living, I am not afraid to walk this world alone.' And thanks to that song, I am not afraid to keep going on with my life, even through the darkest of times.

The Language Is Pretty Awful, It's Death-Obsessed But...You Know What? I LOVE It. I Have A Hoodie, A Poster, Three Albums Of Theirs. I May Only Be Eleven, But They Are An Incredible Band, Whatever Controversy They've Attracted. I Mean, They Must Be Doing Something Right If My MUM Likes Them A Bit (Though Not My Dad, He Despises Of Heavy Metal =/)

MCR is a great band and role model. i don't like the age thing though it should be on how mature your kids are. MCR helps kids get through hard times. they are not death obsessed or suicidal they are savers. Gerard used to use drugs and be messed up but now he is fine. their lyrics help many people and i can relate to their songs. if you are mature you should be able to listen to this and love it.

The concerns I have selected go as follows: -Violence – The song Mama is centered around a (pretty mentally unstable) soldier feeling guilty for what he has done in the army. The song climaxes with the line “But the s**t that I’ve done with this f**k of a gun, you would cry out your eyes all along.” This is by far the darkest line in the darkest song on this album. Also, the song Teenagers describes someone who brings a gun to school. While this song was actually written from the perspective of disdaining this behavior, it would be easy to misread the message. This is my only other big concern with this album. -Drinking – Mentions being drunk, but not excessively. Again, the song teenagers mentions drugs, but it is meant in disdain. -Language – As I mentioned, the line from Mama is really the worst on the album. The f-word is used once more, in the hidden track Blood, and also in the word motherf***er in the song Dead!. There might be a few more profanities scattered in there but I didn’t feel that it was a major point or theme. (Oh, and I don’t feel that Hell is a profanity.) -Negative Messages – There are some dark themes (the album is about a man who died of cancer; that’s some pretty dark stuff.) The songs Cancer and Sleep especially deal with the intensity of this disease. However, I feel that the positives outweigh the negative messages overall. Also, the intensity of the aforementioned songs, while it can be depressing, actually helped me personally deal with my own experiences with cancer. (Ok, 3 stars for consumerism? Really?! There was one flyer in the packaging if you buy the actual album and the coupons already expired. This does not warrant 3 stars.) My highlights: -Role Model – While not exactly explicit on the album, the lead singer of this band, Gerard Way, has the potential to be a great role model. He went through a very dark period dealing with drinking, drugs, and depression, but overcame it all to be the man he is today: a strong, sober, and secure adult. -Positive Messages – I think that the positive messages present on this album can be summed up by the chorus from the final song (not including the hidden track) Famous Last Words, “I am not afraid to keep on living, I am not afraid to walk this world alone, Honey if you stay you’ll be forgiven, Nothing you can say can stop me going home.” Overall, this is the story of a man who is looking back on his life, dealing with some of his demons, and finally coming to grips with the past. While I find this message uplifting and inspirational, some may become stuck on the dark side of some of their imagery. This is my main concern with younger, or “weaker”, listeners, especially on tracks such as Mama, Teenagers, or even The End. This album was, and still is, monumental for me. It is still one of my favorite albums and I am certainly not suicidal, depressed, addicted to any substances, or some kind of social outcast so don’t assume that we all are. I bought this album when I was 15 but I feel that it is mostly appropriate for all of the teenage years.

Some of these reveiwers that are at Common Sense suck! You give this and iffy for 15, while American Idiot is iffy for 12 and has way more swearing, and drugs. Also albums do not "warrent" a parental advisory sticker, they are chosen to be given by the band. The band is the one that chooses wheter not to give the sticker.

When some parents see, "Death obsessed lyrics..", they freak out. MCR may mention death quite a few times, or have "dark lyrics", but have you ever considered that your children really feel like this inside? You might say, "oh its that darn My Chemical Romance. Timmy, you shouldn't listen to them.", but maybe your kids have really "big" problems in their lives and need to be listened to. On the album "Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge", the song "I'm Not Okay" expresses many teens' feelings (YES, even the f bomb near the end!) On, "The Black Parade", the song "Welcome to the Black Parade" can help many get over the death of a friend or family member; as well as the song "Helena" from the "Three Cheers..." album. Parents: STOP blaming bands, TV, and whatever else. START talking to your kids and listening to them when they are trying to tell you that something is wrong with them. Instead of ending the coversation or changing the subject, ask your kid how they feel when they listen to MCR's music. Some may just tell you their inner feelings and that MCR helps them through dark times. When you don't listen, it makes them seal their feelings up in their minds and not want to tell you anything, driving them far away from you and closer to MCR's music. And the reason why they like MCR? Because these songs make them feel understood and may even make them feel better. Bottom Line: LISTEN TO YOUR KIDS, talk to them, and STOP blaming bands like MCR.

i get branded as emo at school cus i listen to my chemical romance, paramore and stuff 'emo' music gets branded a kkiller. I feel for hannah bonds familiy and everything its just that my chemical romance isnt the reason she killled herself she killed herself for a different reason its not like my chemical romance bewitches there fans into killing themselves some people take there music too literally there music is amazing and is constantly on but cant people stop calling people things that they arent for the music they listen to and even if i was emo its none of their business

The lyrics contain a lot of violent imagery, be warned. And the F and S word appear enough to get a PA sticker. However, it's tamer than Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge, and it exceeds the high expectations we got from it. One of the main themes of this album is hope and courage, and you can find it behind the violent imagery. Get this album for your teens as soon as possible, but keep it out of most tweens reach.

I totally agree with heartlessxsinner. This album does have some choice words, and some references, but it has some good messages too! The songs encourage you to stay strong, no matter what you are going through. They have helped so many people who were thinking about things like suicide, trying to keep them strong, not make them weaker. As long as you are mature enough, (i.e. not laughing when certain subjects are mentioned) this is an amazing album to strengthen you.