Review Two: Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys

     Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys is the new album released by My Chemical Romance (not my favorite, but this assignment gave me chance to hear what they're up to). The album is a rock - opera, set in post-apocalyptic California in the year 2019.

   The World is run by a corporate conglomerate, Better Living Industries. The album focuses on a rebellious group of young people, the the Fabulous Killjoys. The Killjoys fight for those who have been oppressed by Better Living, and they know that they are doomed to fail. To them, life is one big party, and they rebel for the hell of it. Better Living finds characters like the Killjoys to be a nuisance, so they send "Exterminators" to kill them.

   The album is psuedo-narrated by Dr. Death-Defying, a pirate radio host also hell-bent on rebellion. He occasionally chimes in to give updates on the status of the "revolution." The fighters know that warring is a lost cause, stating that "Good guys die and Bad Guys Win" and "Who gives a damn if we lose this war?"

   The revolution, again, is fought against Better Living. Better Living Industries took control after a series of terrible natural disasters (and a bombing). The corporation lives by creating a world that relies on materialism and a lack of originality, creating a corporate dystopia.

    This depiction of the future reveals that we are too dependent on our material system in the present age. Though the exact purpose was to create a fun and listenable album (meh), the album gives messages against corporate America and urges the people to band together.

    I used this assignment as an excuse to listen to the new album in its entirety. I have to say I wasn't too impressed. There wasn't anything too complex, it was essentialy just a party rock album with some slow stuff mixed in. Their last two albums, Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge and The Black Parade, were much more listenable and enjoyable than this one.

Because Post-Apocalypic California is just One Big Party.

Weird Al's Apocalypse is much more fun.

Next week I'll probably compare Danger Days to Green Day's Futuristic Rock - Opera, 21st Century Breakdown.