New Jersey quintet My Chemical Romance suffers from a unique problem. On the one hand, they are exceptionally mature musicians, with a healthy mix of formulaic and experimental songwriting and one of the more underrated guitarists in modern music (the afro-graced Ray Toro).

But on the other hand, they have an immense image problem, with their nu-goth haircuts, clothing, and “Don’t turn on the lights, I just want to cry in the dark” lyrics and attitude.

To put it briefly, these guys are a world-class band stuck in the body of a whiny 14-year-old covered in eye shadow and black clothes.

However, I implore you to set aside your hatred for Hot Topic mall punks and their tear-filled lifestyles and give this album a fair shake; as a whole its far and away some of their best work to date.

Their third album, The Black Parade is a welcome step away from their previous offerings of screamy pop emo-rock that, while entertaining and popular, begged to be expanded on. It seems the boys of MCR finally listened and at least tried to come through with a little more evolved sound.

The album kicks off with the partnered tracks “The End” and “Dead!” which take the listener through a very familiar tumult of boisterous happy choral vocals and driving pop-rock instrumentation. A good sign to start off the album is the punctuated prominence of lead guitarist Ray Toro; featuring a few heavily layered lead lines and a fantastic shredding solo, it would appear that Toro has finally stepped into the forefront that he’s belonged in since day one.

The album’s title track and first single, “Welcome to the Black Parade,” starts off with a primarily vocal and piano duet coupled to a roaring lead guitar line that should make any Queen fan do a double-take. It smoothly transitions into another up-beat and driving rocker with a catchy chorus reminiscent of “Helena” off of their last album, Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge.

The guys show off a much more refined sound in songs like “The Sharpest Lives” and “Sleep.” These tracks display a much heavier and much more mature songwriting style than any of their previous work. The songs are extremely tight rhyth

mically and melodically, and the multi-layered choral work exhibits lead singer Gerard Way’s vocals much better than their past scream-filled offerings.

Like their previous albums, The Black Parade is a concept album, following an unspecified man merely referred to as “The Patient” who died at a young age from an untimely cancer. It goes without the saying that the lyrics are dark, at best.

However, unlike their previous batches of crappy wrist-slitting, MySpace poetry, these lyrics show a much more mature Way at work, at least most of the time; some of the messages are still very teen angst ridden and foster fits of giggles rather than any form of compassion, but it’s a step in the right direction.

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a few songs that are there, seemingly, to give the album a little more sonic diversity are rock ballad inspired acoustic works like “I Don’t Love You” which sounds like a fruitier and fluffier version of all of their other songs. Also, “Cancer” comes off sounding like a carbon copy of Jet’s “Look What You’ve Done,” which albeit not being all that original, isn’t a bad song to mimic. These songs aren’t terrible, but they aren’t great either. They don’t take advantage of the powerhouse songwriting that the rest of the CD exhibits and while Toro’s solo work is more than welcome, it’s too little too late in both cases.

Their more experimental side is showcased in a plethora of songs, from the Slavic folk-styled “Mama” to the big-band swing sound of “House of Wolves.” While creative, these songs come off as very all-over-the-place. They aren’t nearly as tight or refined as the others. They are, however, welcome interjections that prove that My Chemical Romance is doing their best to break away from the genre that pop culture has stuck them into and flex their muscle as musicians rather than as corporate robots.

Overall, The Black Parade is a major leap forward for My Chemical Romance. Not only have they made great strides in breaking their emo-pop mold through progressively more complex and intricate songwriting, but they have also noticeably matured as musicians, writing more meaningful and powerful songs, note for note, than ever before. While still suffering from the Hot Topic aura they project through their image and some of their lyrics, the music they create has finally begun to transcend the genre they’ve been pigeonholed into and will hopefully earn them some of the respect they heartily deserve.