Over its nine-year career, My Chemical Romance cemented itself as the pied piper of sorts for the more angst-driven members of Generation Y. It’s no surprise then that when news of singer Gerard Way’s intentions to record a solo album hit the Twittersphere, his former militant-like fan base, the MCRmy, began rallying behind him like a scene out of “Gladiator.“
Now, take every expectation that you might have of Way, put them in a little box and bury it in the backyard. He has traded in the bulletproof vests, jet-black Sgt. Peppers uniform and post-apocalyptic neon biker getups for orange hair, a blue suede suit and a sound more reminiscent of David Bowie, the Smiths and The Jesus and Mary Chain.
In an interview with Rolling Stone, Way said that his intention with his solo album was to reboot shoegaze and Britpop and change the landscape of music in America.
“Hesitant Alien” makes a strong case that Way may very well be the man for the job. There has always been something undeniably jubilant in Way’s voice despite the typically macabre and emo nature of My Chemical Romance’s lyrics. Hearing it now in the context of Britpop-inspired rock songs, lush with a vast array of guitars and synthesizers, is enough to question whether the world might have jumped the gun by branding him the “savior of the broken, the beaten and the damned” – a pale-faced king of the emo scene.
Take “Get the Gang Together” for instance. Crunchy, effected guitars take the listener on a ride that would seem more at home on a Queens of the Stone Age or Kyuss album. Way drops brash, free-form shoegaze-style lyrics about the past and present and the ability of both to take their toll on the heart and head.
“Just keep it together,” Way begs, but somehow his desperation is different, new and refreshing.
Gone are the My Chemical Romance days of triple-tracked vocals that helped Way’s voice punch its way through the guitar work of Frank Iero and Ray Toro. However, this is not to say that Way gets lost in the shuffle. Something about the new, less vocal-centric production entices the listener to seek him out in the frenzy.
Album opener “Bureau” serves as a perfect mission statement for the album. Fuzz pedals on full blast thrash and build into a cacophony as Way wails out a call to arms: “Everybody’s getting on tonight/ Everybody’s getting on/ And so am I.”
The song’s composition is reminiscent of the mellow tone of the Suedes or the Smashing Pumpkins, yet grounded in Way’s voice, the song is caustic and biting.
Turning 37 clearly hasn’t led Way to tone down the angst. Heck, he has named his tour band the Hormones, and he is quick to remind us of this on the second track. “Action Cat” is nothing new. Power chords? Check. Distortion pedal turned up to 10? Check. Again, it’s the desperation in Way’s vocals that makes it hard not to get dragged in by the ear. Here the theme of the album starts taking shape:
“And don’t ask a lot, you won’t lose a lot,” Way sings.
Way keeps swinging with the third track, “No Shows,” but any sense of momentum comes to a screeching halt with “Brother,” Way’s jangly, nostalgic piano ballad about missing the sounds of the past while stuck in a city that refuses to stop moving forward. That’s not to say it’s not good; it just seems to mark a bit of a drop-off in the midsection of the album.
Way brings back the energy with “Jaurez,” a sleazy, rabid, metal ripper that builds into something fantastically frantic. “Me and my heavy metal master,” Way sings, fully aware that in two minutes and 49 seconds he will be dropping you into “Drug Store Perfume,” a mellow love letter to ’90s Brit rock. Slow with a metallic-sounding acoustic guitar, this Depeche Mode era throwback serves as a sign that Way might be trying to appeal to an older audience with his solo work.
Way’s face was used as one-fourth of a composite image for the headstone on the cover of My Chemical Romance’s final release, “May Death Never Stop You,” a visual metaphor of the band’s demise and a marker of where the members fell. “Hesitant Alien” goes to show that 6 feet below that hunk of stone is an empty coffin.
Without a doubt, Way is creatively alive and kicking in his debut. The risk-taking shown on “Hesitant Alien” is a breath of fresh air in a stagnant scene. While some may see its lack of cohesion as a sign of being devoid of purpose, a few listens make it clear that these 11 helter-skelter tracks do carry a message: Gerard Way is back, and he can and will do whatever he wants.