Their first official music video was ‘I’m Not Okay (I Promise)’ taken from their major label debut album Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge. It is their fourth overall single. It reached #86 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, and, in March 2005, #19 on the UK Singles Chart. The music video was directed by Marc Webb, both narrative and performance based, mainly narrative based. It depicts life inside a fictional American high school in the form of a fake movie trailer. The band appears as a group of outcast, dorky students who are repeatedly harassed by another group who are portrayed as jocks. The band members then attempt to take on the jocks and ultimately have a showdown in a hallway, with the band members armed with croquet mallets and the jocks with lacrosse and hockey gear. The band wears a uniform in the narrative and stand out with their messy gothic hairdos. In the parts of the video where they are performing we see their style properly with the same scruffy hairdos and black clothing. The lead singer wears heavy redish eye make-up with an extremely pale look making him appear almost like a vampire, this look is similar to the one in MCR’s previous video ‘Vampires will Never Hurt You’ which was taken off their first album I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love in 2002. This look makes them appear typically ‘emo’ giving them a post-hardcore image. It also shows a slight change since their last video which wouldn’t have been recognised by their new mainstream audiences. This video seems to encourage individuality and the bands image contributes to this as they stand out here. Mid shots and long shots are frequently used on the band performing giving the audience a chance to get familiar with each member of the band as they are still quite new.
After the release of Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge the band had received an extremely positive response from mainstream communities, however, they received some negative responses from the underground music communities. This was due to their changes: the band replaced Matt Pelissier with Bob Bryar on percussion; signing to a new label, Reprise Records; a change in image and style and the fact that they had gained a measure of mainstream popularity. MCR's image changed right after the video shoot for "Helena"(the second video which emphasized their ‘emo’ appearance) when they decided that they wanted to be a band with a uniform, from a post-hardcore image to a more punk fashion. This new uniform look was first featured in their third music video ‘The Ghost of You’; this video marked the changes in their musical style, fanbase and overall image.
In 2006 MCR started recording their third studio album ‘The Black Parade’. The video for the first single off the album ‘Welcome to the Black Parade’ released on September 26, 2006 showed many changes in the bands appearance and music style. The song became the group's first number one in the UK on October 15, 2006, staying there for two weeks. The video introduced a new image of MCR and the Black Parade imagery spawned a wide cult following. It is both performance and narrative based. The video opens with a hospital patient in bed, it then cuts to the small television above the bed featuring an extreme close-up shot of MCR’s lead singer Gerard Way who starts singing. The close-up shot has been used to show Gerard’s new look, he has lost his heavy eye make-up and longish hair which here is now bleach blonde. Throughout the video the patient is being taken by death in the form of a Black Parade. On the main float stands My Chemical Romance playing "Welcome to the Black Parade". Behind the float are dozens of masked figures. The bassist Mikey Way has much shorter hair along with lead guitarist Frank Iero, the other lead guitarist Ray Toro has also dyed his hair black. The drummer Bob Bryar also has a new side fringe typically recognised as an ‘emo’ feature. The bands are all wearing their new trademark military outfits which soon became popularly worn by MCR fans. This song is much more up-beat than their previous songs with the lead singers same aggressive voice.
Over the next few years, after a break, Gerard announced to NME magazine what he would like the new album and band image to be like, "it's not going to be hiding behind a veil of fiction or uniforms and makeup anymore." The bands very recent music video ‘Na Na Na’ is the first single off their fourth studio album Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys. It shows the bands whole new image and very much changed musical style. The music video is much more colourful than their previous videos; the song is much catchier and upbeat sounding like a party anthem. The ‘emo’ look is no longer noticeable in the bands dress wear but a very punky rockstar image has been used. The lead singer now has bright red hair wearing a leather jacket. This video is very different from their other videos, much comedy and more action with the band driving full speed in a car. The lead singer is driving with bassist Mikey next to him who now has a blonde hair style wearing a red leather jacket. The two lead guitarists at the back are bopping their heads to the music, Frank has longish black hair and Ray has kept his same hairstyle. The band appears fun and mischievous in this video showing a difference with no performance and just a narrative.
The bands change in image is clear through their videos and music. As they became more popular their fanbase changed along with their appearance and musical style. Their change in appearance is shown from one video to another showing their development. This is a good idea as it helps the band draw in different audiences through changes whereas some audiences may see them as a sell out band.
After the release of Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge the band had received an extremely positive response from mainstream communities, however, they received some negative responses from the underground music communities. This was due to their changes: the band replaced Matt Pelissier with Bob Bryar on percussion; signing to a new label, Reprise Records; a change in image and style and the fact that they had gained a measure of mainstream popularity. MCR's image changed right after the video shoot for "Helena"(the second video which emphasized their ‘emo’ appearance) when they decided that they wanted to be a band with a uniform, from a post-hardcore image to a more punk fashion. This new uniform look was first featured in their third music video ‘The Ghost of You’; this video marked the changes in their musical style, fanbase and overall image.
In 2006 MCR started recording their third studio album ‘The Black Parade’. The video for the first single off the album ‘Welcome to the Black Parade’ released on September 26, 2006 showed many changes in the bands appearance and music style. The song became the group's first number one in the UK on October 15, 2006, staying there for two weeks. The video introduced a new image of MCR and the Black Parade imagery spawned a wide cult following. It is both performance and narrative based. The video opens with a hospital patient in bed, it then cuts to the small television above the bed featuring an extreme close-up shot of MCR’s lead singer Gerard Way who starts singing. The close-up shot has been used to show Gerard’s new look, he has lost his heavy eye make-up and longish hair which here is now bleach blonde. Throughout the video the patient is being taken by death in the form of a Black Parade. On the main float stands My Chemical Romance playing "Welcome to the Black Parade". Behind the float are dozens of masked figures. The bassist Mikey Way has much shorter hair along with lead guitarist Frank Iero, the other lead guitarist Ray Toro has also dyed his hair black. The drummer Bob Bryar also has a new side fringe typically recognised as an ‘emo’ feature. The bands are all wearing their new trademark military outfits which soon became popularly worn by MCR fans. This song is much more up-beat than their previous songs with the lead singers same aggressive voice.
Over the next few years, after a break, Gerard announced to NME magazine what he would like the new album and band image to be like, "it's not going to be hiding behind a veil of fiction or uniforms and makeup anymore." The bands very recent music video ‘Na Na Na’ is the first single off their fourth studio album Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys. It shows the bands whole new image and very much changed musical style. The music video is much more colourful than their previous videos; the song is much catchier and upbeat sounding like a party anthem. The ‘emo’ look is no longer noticeable in the bands dress wear but a very punky rockstar image has been used. The lead singer now has bright red hair wearing a leather jacket. This video is very different from their other videos, much comedy and more action with the band driving full speed in a car. The lead singer is driving with bassist Mikey next to him who now has a blonde hair style wearing a red leather jacket. The two lead guitarists at the back are bopping their heads to the music, Frank has longish black hair and Ray has kept his same hairstyle. The band appears fun and mischievous in this video showing a difference with no performance and just a narrative.
The bands change in image is clear through their videos and music. As they became more popular their fanbase changed along with their appearance and musical style. Their change in appearance is shown from one video to another showing their development. This is a good idea as it helps the band draw in different audiences through changes whereas some audiences may see them as a sell out band.
MCR 2001
MCR 2004
MCR 2006
MCR (2010-present)
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