During a time when we’ve gotten used to bands that specialize in one sound and one sound only, My Chemical Romance’s Welcome to the Black Parade is a surprisingly fresh breath of pop-Goth air. While they have stayed tidily within their genre, the boys of My Chemical Romance have allowed themselves to grow, develop and bleach their hair. And while the pop-rock genre has continued to disappoint, MCR has done a fantastic job creating an album of catchy, earnest tunes that seems to say “Hurrah for things that suck!” The tracks each approach a different level of darkness, discussing everything from death (“Welcome to the Black Parade”) to impending death (“Cancer”) to moral death (“House of Wolves”), all with a fist-in-the-air gusto that belies fatalistic lyrics. You may not like their MTV-TRL-teeny-rocker air, but you have to give them credit for being good at what they do. Grade: B+
— Michelle Forelle, Muse Staff