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Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge
Studio album by My Chemical Romance
Released	June 8, 2004
Recorded	2003 - 2004
Genre	Alternative Rock
Length	39:42
Label	Reprise Records
Producer(s)	Howard Benson
Professional reviews
All Music Guide link Rolling Stone link Kerrang! Sputnikmusic link
My Chemical Romance chronology
Like Phantoms, Forever (2002)	Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge (2004)	Warped Tour Bootleg Series (2005)

Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge is the second studio album by New Jersey rock quintet My Chemical Romance. It was released in 2004 and is their first album on Reprise Records. It is widely regarded as a concept album however frontman Gerard Way has said that while the album started with a plot in mind, about half of the album isn't related to the plot as much as it is drawn from his own experiences with love and loss. In the Life on the Murder Scene DVD, Gerard talks about Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge, saying it is mostly about the "fear of losing someone".

Contents 1 Overview 2 Album Split 3 Track listing 4 Credits 5 Trivia 6 Response and band image 7 Charts 8 References

Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge is a concept album and continues the story from I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love where two lovers die in a gunfight in a desert. Three Cheers continues the story, detailing the struggle of a man to gain back his life and to join the woman he loves. In exchange for his life and to be reunited with his dead lover (albeit her returning to the world of the living), he must bring the souls of 1,000 evil men to the devil.^[1]

Frontman Gerard Way has said that while the album started with a plot in mind, about half of the album isn't related to the plot as much as it is drawn from his own experiences with love and loss.^[2]

It is believed that the album is split into two different parts musically and lyrically. The first half being the light half (tracks 1 through 7) and the second part (tracks 9 through 13) as the darker half. Musically between track seven and nine, the music turns to a darker style. The lyrics too become more meaningful and carry much more strength in them.

1. “Helena” – 3:22
2. “Give 'Em Hell, Kid” – 2:18
3. “To the End” – 3:01
4. “You Know What They Do to Guys Like Us in Prison” – 2:53 (featuring Bert McCracken)
5. “I'm Not Okay (I Promise)” – 3:08
6. “The Ghost of You” – 3:23 (featuring Rinat)
7. “The Jetset Life Is Gonna Kill You” – 3:37
8. “Interlude” – 0:57
9. “Thank You for the Venom” – 3:41
10. “Hang 'Em High” – 2:47 (featuring Keith Morris)
11. “It's Not a Fashion Statement, It's a Deathwish” – 3:30
12. “Cemetery Drive” – 3:08
13. “I Never Told You What I Do for a Living” – 3:51
14. “Bury Me in Black” (demo; Japanese version bonus track) – 2:37

• Gerard Way - lead vocals
• Ray Toro - lead guitar, backing vocals
• Frank Iero - rhythm guitar, backing vocals
• Mikey Way - bass guitar
• Matt Pelissier - drums
• Bert McCracken - vocals on "You Know What They Do to Guys Like Us in Prison"
• Rinat - vocals on "The Ghost of You"
• Keith Morris - vocals on "Hang 'Em High"
• Howard Benson - organ (Hammond), producer
• Craig Aaronson - A&R
• Mark Holley - design assistant
• Fernando Diaz
• Joe Nicholson - drum technician
• Eric Miller - engineer
• Mike Plontikoff - engineer
• Mike Gardner
• Keith Nelson - guitar technician
• Bryan Mansell
• Tom Baker - mastering
• Rich Costey - mixing
• Chris Ozuna
• Justin Borucki - photography
• Dana Childs - production coordination
• Matt Griffin - production coordination
• Paul DeCarli - programming, digital editing, editing
• Arturo Rojas

• "Hang 'Em High" was named after a Clint Eastwood movie of the same name.

• "To The End" was written after a short story by William Faulkner called "A Rose for Emily"

• "Helena" was written for Gerard and Mikey's grandmother Elena Lee Rush.^[3]

• The album cover closely resembles the cover of Mad Season's Above

After the release of Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge, My Chemical Romance received an extremely positive response from the mainstream music communities, as shown by the popularity of their music videos on MTV, etc. However, they received a generally negative response from the underground music communities. Factors that may have contributed to this shift in fanbase are hypothesized to include: the band replacing Matt Pelissier with Bob Bryar on percussion; the band signing to a new and major label, Reprise Records; a change in image and style; and the fact that they had gained a measure of mainstream popularity.

It has been implied by the underground fanbase that the band has abandoned their original stylistic roots in favor of a more mainstream sound and style. Critics called their previous album, I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love, post-hardcore; some going as far as to say that the band had created a new genre for itself. Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge has been alternately called pop-punk, and emo by some reviewers, fans, and critics. Notably, My Chemical Romance's image changed right after the video shoot for "Helena" when they decided that they wanted to be a band with a uniform, from a Post-hardcore image to a more emo/pop-punk fashion. Critics note their music video for "The Ghost of You", and the increase in amount of cosmetics that group uses when performing as evidence of this shift.

Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge has sold 1.4 million copies in the U.S. and has been certified double platinum by the RIAA.

• Billboard (North America)

Year	Chart	Position
2004	The Billboard 200	28[1]
2004	Top Heatseekers	1
2004	Top Internet Albums	103

My Chemical Romance
Gerard Way | Ray Toro | Frank Iero | Mikey Way | Bob Bryar
Matt Pelissier
Discography
Studio albums: I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love | Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge | The Black Parade
Live album: Life on the Murder Scene
EPs: Like Phantoms, Forever | Warped Tour Bootleg Series
Singles
“Honey, This Mirror Isn't Big Enough for the Two of Us” | “Vampires Will Never Hurt You” | “Headfirst for Halos” | “Our Lady of Sorrows” | “Thank You for the Venom” | “I'm Not Okay (I Promise)” | “Helena” | “Under Pressure” | “The Ghost of You” | “Welcome to the Black Parade” | “Famous Last Words” | “I Don't Love You”
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