My Chemical Romance – Life on the Murder Scene

No one can deny the unimaginably huge leap My Chemical Romance has gone through over the past two years. They went from a small, unknown band from New Jersey to a world-renown rock band – and they have their crazy fans to thank for that. And what better way to thank them with a nice little bonus release to tide them over as they write their new album? There really is none, and that is why My Chemical Romance have given their ravaging fans Life On The Murder Scene, a release with one CD and two DVDs documenting the past few years of MCR.

For me, I find two of the discs just filler, noting great, not a great seller, but a nice little bonus to throw in with the release. Those two discs are the CD and the second DVD. First, let’s talk about the CD. Its a simple CD, eleven songs in total with eight live songs, 2 demos and one brand new track. It’s fun listening, but doesn’t flow too well since the live songs are from 3 separate occasions. Really, it’s just an added bonus, it will never replace either of the band’s studio album and doesn’t offer much new to their fans, just something extra.

The second kind of useless but fun disc is the second DVD – which features the live performances from all those tracks on the CD and all of the band’s music videos along with the “making of” segments. The footage is from all over the place, MTV, Starland Ballroom, AOL, Launch, Conan O’Brien and more. All of them are shot seamlessly, vividly, and sound great, but it’s rare that a live DVD is really capturing, and its even rarer that they make you want to come back and watch it over again – Life On The Murder Scene is no exception. They are interesting for one watch, but not multiple.

But there’s still one disc left, and for me, it is this disc which makes Life On The Murder Scene worthwhile for any fan. This “Video Diary” documents the band’s history, with tons of interviews with all the members and other important people involved in the band. You get to hear how the band has grown, how they found their sound, how they rushed their first recording and what makes My Chemical Romancebe My Chemical Romance. They even have a nice in depth look at Gerard Way’s drinking problem and shows how they got past that. It’s a two hour documentary that you can watch more than once, and that is why My Chem fans should buy the release. Not for the live CD, or the live performances, but the in-depth look at the band. The other two are just nice bonuses.