My Chemical Romance - I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love

Many people have shrugged off My Chemical Romance, or at least their first album, as emo, screamo, or other such labels. But really, is it? Would you be willing to shed the labels and negative press to see if you truly like the first album of this genius band?

The album, nicknamed Bullets by fans and non-fans alike, starts off with the song Romance, an instrumental roughly a minute long. It is indie-quality recording, but a very fitting start to the rest of the album.

Honey, This Mirror Isn't Big Enough For The Two Of Us comes after. It starts extremely depressing, I must admit, 'the amount of pills I'm taking counteracts the booze I'm drinking'. But don't give up just yet; listen a little farther and you'll find a song about heartbreak, fidelity, and losing yourself. The first time you may hear it, it may sound a bit aggressive, but only the next times do you notice the soft echoes in the background. The video for this single is rather disturbing, but keep in mind that it's not their best.

The third song, Vampires Will Never Hurt You, is a single, just like the previous song, but I recommend not watching the video the first time you hear it. It is rather simplistic, and you may miss the depth of the song, which goes far past thoughts of mythical blood-slurping monsters. At the center, the song seems to be about not being afraid to take the plunge, whether plunging a spike through your lover's heart or simply not being afraid of who you really are. The polar opposite of the previous song, this one may be mistaken for less aggressive than it really is.

The guitar and drums of Drowning Lessons, the fourth song, may just surprise you the first time you hear it. You'd never imagine that under all that noise is are soft lyrics hinting to a wedding. Surprising what you can find when you think about the true meaning of a song, isn't it?

I hope you've stuck with me, keeping an open mind, to this point, because here comes Our Lady Of Sorrows. The title might hint at an emo persona, but don't be fooled. This song drops the F-bomb more times than I've listened to it. Even if the 'Clean' version is questionable. But underneath the profanity, it's a song about friendship and trust, lyrics about never letting go of those friends, trusting them to the end. It also spawns one of my personal favorite lines of the record, 'Oh, how wrong we were to think that immortality meant never dying.'.

Better be ready to wait for the words to Headfirst For Halos, which don't start for a good forty-five seconds. If you couldn't tell, this song is based around drugs and was originally written as a joke after rhythm guitarist Frank Iero got high. Yes, this from a band that is now clean and sober. Even so, after the drugs, it is a brilliant song. I have to admit, however, that its lyrics are the least deep on the album. Not the best song, but still good.

Ah, here comes the big one. Skylines and Turnstiles was the first song written by My Chemical Romance and reflects the tragedy that formed the band. If you didn't know, MCR was started after lead singer Gerard Way witnessed the September 11th attacks on New York City. If you listen to the lyrics, you can hear the roots of the song. It is probably the most emotional song on the record, you can tell by the raw pain that is put into it. My personal favorite song on the record, and I'm sure others would agree.

Early Sunsets Over Monroeville comes from a different background. Though it is a song about love and loss, it was written from an unexpected inspiration. Yes, the movie Dawn of the Dead inspired this wonderful song. You may not be able to listen to it with a straight face after you know that, but please try. It truly is genius, to make a corny horror movie into a serious song.

Now, This Is The Best Day Ever might conjure up images of Spongebob, but don't fall for it. This song first introduces My Chemical Romance's seeming fetish with hospitals, something that not many of us mind. This is a darker song, speaking of escapes from hospitals or just not being able to take it. However, it is only slightly over two minutes, so don't get too attached.

Labeled previously as the 'least favorite song they've ever written', Cubicles still holds up the name of a good debut-album song. The cubicle and workplace metaphor is a little bit overdone, but that can't disguise how loss comes through in the song. It may be the 'least favorite', but it is still very good.

Demolition Lovers ends this record with a bang. By far the longest song, it distinctly separates itself into three parts. The first; soft, sweet lyrics about love and being willing to die for a lover. 'I'm trying to let you know just how much you mean to me. The second; screaming, harsh words that are basically the same as the first part, but delivered infinitely differently. The third; extremely soft, recovering from the screaming, speaking of even deeper love. 'All we are, is bullets, I mean this. It is also one of my personal favorites.

I hope you've been able to go past the screamo labels to truthfully take a look at the record that become the first of many by My Chemical Romance. It really is a work of art, and I hope you think the same.