By Georgina Gaber

DigiPak:My Chemical Romance

– The Black Parade

Front Cover

“The Black Parade” is about a character referred to as “The Patient” who dies of cancer and the album tells the story of his apparent death, experiences in the afterlife and subsequent reflection on his life. The character on the album cover is supposed to be the symbol, according to the band, of the parade that ensues before death comes to us and eventually leads us to the afterlife.

This character clearly represents everything that death represents as his face is skeletal.

The letting of the album name is odd, all of the letters aren’t the same size and it looks to be scratched onto the album – as if the appearance of this album isn’t the most important thing about it and shouldn’t be the focus – the album is predominately, after all, about the death of someone.

The character holds a pin to lead the parade – if we assume that the character is a doll then he is holding the only thing that can hurt it/kill it, this therefore holds relevance for an album that centres around death.

The background colour looks like it should be white but instead looks unkempt and dirty, coupled with the font of the title, it creates an appearance of roguishness.

Back coverThe back cover, much like the front cover looks old and destroyed, probably reflecting the state of the character that features on the album cover

We see the same character on the back as we do on the front, but this time his hat and body has arrows shot through it and his jacket has been ripped off of him. He looks defeated, as if he was the leader of this parade yet death has come for him – the thing he thought he was immune from is in fact his worst enemy. This album is only about “The Patient” realising his death but also the character realising his own

SpineOn the spine we, again, see the conductor character leading the parade, his jaw is open and the pin in his hand is raised as if he is going to shout instructions to the parade behind him.

What is included in the parade is a giant clock, since this is a parade that supposedly leads you into the afterlife, this is mostly likely a clock that counts down how much time you have left until death.

Some of the songs on the album talk about how many people like “The Patient” may have died and this is illustrated by what is in the parade. Here, there are two soldiers holding guns and another soldier on horse-back. There is also a woman wearing a gas-mask – this maybe another cause of death or it could be the woman that is referred to as “Mama” in one of the songs on the album.

A parade leading you into the afterlife isn’t only seen in a metaphorical sense, but also the literal sense. A parade is there to celebrate a person’s life and this is what the band also do with “The Patient”, therefore there is also band members in the parade, for example, this member is playing the trombone.

Panel 1

The image is blurry, possibly relating to the album’s topic of death and subsequently the entry into the afterlife

The band members are pictured standing up straight as if they are part of the parade

This album saw the creation of the alter ego band The Black Parade. My Chemical Romance would perform the album live in costume as the Black Parade up until their performance in October 2007. On stage they would wear black marching uniforms similar to those worn by The Beatles for the album “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”. The live performance was theatrical, with Gerard Way, the lead singer, assuming the character of a member of The Black Parade

Panel 2What is inside the album is made to look like newspaper that has been printed on several times. The paper is printed with the album’s songs which is just about legible.

Panel 3The album’s songs are also on the inside of the album booklet. The font for all the songs aren’t consistent – some are written in bold lettering, some take up the whole line and some are written on several lines.

There is a panel in the middle of the booklet that looks blood-stained, possibly referring to the album’s topic of death

Panel 4

One page in the booklet you receive in the album looks like a page out of a newspaper but this is undestroyed.

A vintage-looking picture of the band standing and dressed as The Black Parade is shown as if they are part of which the article is speaking about

This section ,which looks like a newspaper article, displays the lyrics to all the songs on the album/talks about the songs on the album.