My Chemical Romance and John Legend Reviewed

I've been wanting to post these two reviews for quite some time now, as both albums have created much excitement in similar ways. My Chemical Romance announced well before the release of their latest album, The Black Parade that the release would be a departure from everything they've done previously, and not only have they accomplished that much, but I think they might've even outdone themselves. John Legend, after successfully winning over darn near everyone a few years ago with his debut album and singles like "Ordinary People" and "Used to Love U," is back with a sophomore release that isn't so much a departure as much as a supreme maturation over what he'd done previously. So, with that in mind, here are the reviews:

My Chemical Romance The Black Parade

Hands down, the most surprising album I've heard all year.

Color me impressed. I've never been a My Chemical Romance fan (and that's really an understatement), and truthfully, despite all of the great reviews, I still didn't think that this album would be anything special. Not only is this album special, but this thing is so good that they managed to beat Green Day at their own game and made American Idiot look like crap in comparison. Cynics are probably thinking to themselves, "Most emo relies so heavily on overly-dramatic premises anyway that it was probably only a matter of time before a band was smart enough to channel that energy into a rock-opera album," and they're probably right. At the same time, these guys pull it off really well-- not only is there not a single weak link in the album, but at the best moments you would think you're listening to the 21st century Queen. From the minute the album begins with the enthralling "The End." you realize that this isn't your typical concept album, and that if you didn't take them seriously before, you probably should start doing that now. From "Dead!" on, it's pretty much non-stop rocking, and while the themes are incredibly dark (which can be assumed given the album title), each song is a lot of fun to listen to. Some of the highlights include the title track, the spectacular "House of Wolves," which at times seems to have a hint of White Stripes going for it, and the bizarre rocker "Mama." The true anthem song for the album however is the absurdly catchy "Teenagers," which will probably serve as the "Teen Angst" anthem for this decade if there's any justice in the world. My Chemical Romance impresses whether they're playing loud or soft, and they take more risks on this album than most of their contemporaries have made in their careers. Not only do I now know better than to sell these guys short, but I swear if they continue to make albums that are even remotely like this one I'll be their biggest fan.

Overall Rating: 100


John Legend Once Again

While it's a "two steps forward, one step back" type of effort, it's Legend's maturity that makes this release worthwhile.

John Legend's debut studio effort, Get Lifted, despite it's finer moments had some serious issues. Firstly, I'm pretty sure there's an unwritten rule about how many times you can sing about cheating before it gets to be obnoxious (okay, I get the point), and secondly, Legend hardly ever mixed things up, causing a lot of tracks that weren't necessarily bad (although some certainly were), but simply got lost in the shuffle with everything else on the album. This time around, it seems as if he's expanded his horizons a bit, as indicated on the seemingly Sergio Mendes' influenced single, "Save Room." The one two punch of that track and the subsequent "Heaven" shows a formidable promise on the album that isn't entirely carried through on the rest of the tracks. When Legend is on, he's really on, between the aforementioned tracks, "Each Day Gets Better," and "P.D.A. (We Just Don't Care)," and there are many other moments where he uses the Motown-influenced productions to his advantage. However, there are other times where the album is so incredibly boring that it has very little purpose other than background music. As interesting as "Where Did My Baby Go" seems when the track begins, it becomes so dull and cliched as the song meanders on that you figure she probably just went into a deep sleep. That being said, Once Again is largely better than Get Lifted, it just still finds John Legend as a work in progress. Once he gains some consistency in his songwriting and takes more chances with his music, he'll be in the position to be one of the better talents in his genre.

Overall Rating: 79