rosiespark

Day 5- Favorite MCR music video

True to form, I'm going to cheat - just slightly - on this one. I can't separate the Na Na Na and Sing videos, nor would it make sense to do so when they're two installments (so far!) of the same story. It's funny - with TBP, I love the music but was distinctly underwhelmed by the videos. For Danger Days. it's completely the other way round, and I just wish they'd come up with a third video. I'm still hoping! Come on, Gerard - I know you're all being zipped into BLInd bodybags at the end of Sing, but surely a trivial technicality like being dead isn't going to stop you?





Bonus: download link for a 4-minute 'making of' video for Na Na Na. They're so clearly having a great time, messing around in the desert with costumes and props. And if you watch very very carefully, Gerard's extra short shorts make a blink-and-you'll-miss-it appearance...
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Day 3- Favorite song off of The Black Parade

So having waxed lyrical about Revenge yesterday, today it's TBP's turn. The Black Parade was the first MCR album I ever listened to, followed within a couple of weeks by Revenge and by Bullets shortly after that, all in the first few months of 2008. Perfect reverse order. And while I adore Bullets and can happily lose myself in its fantasy world of revenge, bullets and blood, TBP grabs me by the throat and says "THIS is it. THIS is what it's like". It's about being broken but defiant, acknowledging that life is fucked-up and then fucking CARRYING ON with courage and with wit and (black) humour. There's an honesty to it that bowls me over. So no, I don't find it depressing in the least and yes, I've never had the slightest difficulty in seeing TBP's positive message.

Heh, I'm using these "favourite song off of" posts to talk about the albums rather than attempting the impossible task of choosing a favourite track. And I think I'll treat the whole meme as an excuse to talk about MCR. Just the thing to get me posting again after so long. :)

Grandiose. Playful. Theatrical. Over the top. Musically, all things I love about TBP, and I do agree with the Queen comparisons. And Brian May himself said the nicest things about Gerard after performing with MCR recently at Reading. In particular: "Gerard as a front man is magnificent, of course - his honesty and vulnerability - along with the right kind of instinct for being a hero - connects instantly with the audience, reminding me quite a bit of a certain other great front man I worked with for many years." Awwww.

Favourites are probably The Sharpest Lives, Welcome to the Black Parade, House of Wolves, Mama and Sleep. But like with Bullets, the whole album works so perfectly as a coherent whole that I’ll rarely, if ever, just listen to individual tracks.

Love love LOVE the first line of The End. Used to be this journal's title: "So come one, come all to this tragic affair". It's an invitation to life! And then "You've got front row seats to the penitents' ball; When I grow up, I want to be NOTHING AT ALL". ::shivers::

Just the fact of having Dead! as a song title is a stroke of genius. With a cheery exclamation mark, no less! And "Have you heard the news that you're dead? No-one ever had much nice to say, I think they never liked you anyway". They sound so happy about it!

I always think the lyrics of The Sharpest Lives must be autobiographical, the first verses in particular... And I LOVE this bit:
"There's a place in the dark where the animals go
You can take off your skin in the cannibal glow
Juliet loves the beat and the lust it commands
Drop the dagger and lather the blood on your hands, Romeo"

Welcome to the Black Parade is the album's heart. The anthem of the broken, the beaten and the damned:
"Do or die, you'll never make me, because the world will never take my heart
Go and try, you'll never break me; we want it all, we want to play this part
I won't explain or say I'm sorry; I'm not unashamed, I'm gonna show my scar
Give a cheer for all the broken."

I love the drums in the intro to House of Wolves. And the lyrics. Too many lines to quote.

Mama is crazy and beautiful. I can remember sitting in my car in traffic soon after I got the album (no cd player so no music in my old car) and singing Mama to myself and being ecstatic when I could remember all the lyrics.

Sleep:
"Don't you breathe for me, undeserving of your sympathy
'Cos there ain't no way that I'm sorry for what I did"

Teenagers I like, but Disenchanted I never really got. I'm sorry I don't like it more because it's apparently one of Mikey's favourites.

Oh, and Blood makes me giggle. EVERY TIME. And sing along, of course.

One more thing I love about this album is how clearly Gerard's voice can be heard. I suppose it's a mixing choice during production, but it's one of the things I don't much like about Danger Days is that his vocal aren't clear. I want to hear Gerard singing, dammit!

And last thing I'm going to say: I am SOOOOO glad that Gerard has finally admitted that dissing his previous work is the way he lets go so he can move on to the next thing. I mean, I get that they wore themselves out touring with TBP and that they hated the negative reaction it got from some quarters, but I was sad when they seemed to not want to have anything to do with it any more. Because it will ALWAYS have a special place in my heart.
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Red Haired Killjoy Gee icon in honour of his changing back to black. Do I like it better? Yes? No? I really don't know what I think!

And in honour of a post from me after so long that I can't even remember how long it's been, here's an MCR meme that yekith is doing and that I thought looked fun:

Day 1- Favorite song off of Bullets

Without looking at the track list ('cos that'd be cheating!), I have to say Demolition Lovers. It's one of Gerard's "telling a story" songs - or maybe it would be better to say that it conjures up an atmosphere, because the story is largely left to the imagination... That's one of the things I absolutely love about their music, whether they call them concept albums or not, the worlds they evoke are fascinating. And Demolition Lovers sums up the star-crossed lovers on the run vibe of the whole album. Doomed to end their days "in a hail of bullets"... Here, have a listen.

Close second favourites are Our Lady of Sorrows and Headfirst for Halos. Can I have two second favourites? Of course I can!

I love this album. I'm a huge fan of the darkness of pre-Killjoys MCR.


( Rest of the questions for later... )

Gacked from any number of people and rather late, to boot:

1. Go to your desktop and press the Print Scrn key (located on the right side of the F12 key).
2.Open a graphics program (like Picture Manager, Paint, or Photoshop) and doing a Paste (CTRL + V). If you wish, you can “edit” the image before saving it.
3. Post the picture on your blog. You can also give a short explanation on the look of your desktop if you want. You can explain why you prefer such a look or why it is full of icons. Things like that.
4. Tag five of your friends and ask them to give you a Free View of their desktops as well.

( I love the lighting. And his eyelashes. And knowing which scene it's from and what inevitably happens next. *shiver* )

I rarely post memes and I certainly never do these personal questions thingies. Except that today I've just spent longer than I care to contemplate answering 28 questions over at fajrdrako's journal. *g* So here it is in mine:

I want to know 28 things about you. I don't care if we've never talked, never liked each other, or if we already know everything about each other. I really don't. I'm curious about who's on my list and who has me on theirs. What kind of people share this odd non-space with each other, hm?

1. Your Middle Name:
2. Age:
3. Single or Taken:
4. Favorite Movie:
5. Favorite Song or Album:
6. Favorite Band/Artist:
7. Dirty or Clean:
8. Tattoos and/or Piercings:
9. Do we know each other outside of LJ?
10. What's your philosophy on life?
11. Is the bottle half-full or half-empty?
12. Would you keep a secret from me if you thought it was in my best interest?
13. What is your favorite memory of us?
14. What is your favorite guilty pleasure?
15. Tell me one odd/interesting fact about you:
16. You can have three wishes (for yourself, so forget all the 'world peace etc' malarkey) - what are they?
17. Can we get together and bake a cake?
18. Which country is your spiritual home?
19. What is your big weakness?
20. Do you think I'm a good person?
21. What was your best/favorite subject at school?
22. Describe your accent
23. If you could change anything about me, would you?
24. What do you wear to sleep?
25. Trousers or skirts?
26. Cigarettes or alcohol?
27. If I only had one day to live, what would we do together? (If you have no idea, just say something crazy, it'll entertain me!)
28. Will you repost this so I can fill it out for you?