Back From The Black: My Chemical Romance Discuss Their Return

In 2006, My Chemical Romance released their darkly ambitious concept album, The Black Parade, and thus became the self-proclaimed (as well as fanbase-proclaimed) saviors of rock 'n' roll and life as we knew it. And then...they just went away. Four years later, no new MCR music was forthcoming (other than a 2009 Bob Dylan cover on the Watchmen soundtrack)...and loyal followers began to fret as breakup rumors swirled, longtime drummer Bob Bryar departed the group in the middle of recording Parade's follow-up, and MCR were unjustly accused of being a negative influence on impressionable young listeners. For a while, it actually seemed like MCR would never, ever return from the blackness. Was it possible that they wouldn't save the world after all? Where were My Chemical Romance when we needed them most?

"I wasn't sure if we were ever gonna do it again," frontman Gerard Way flat-out tells Yahoo! Music, explaining that the band actually scrapped an entire album recorded last year and started over from scratch in early 2010, once they finally freed themselves from what guitarist Ray Toro calls "creative stasis." But thankfully, that frustrating phase passed, they realized that "the world needed us to do something," and now My Chemical Romance are at long last back with the long-awaited (and even longer-titled) Danger Days: The True Lives Of The Fabulous Killjoys.

And it is a fabulous and killjoyous comeback indeed, one of the finest and fiercest rock albums of the year and every bit as over-the-top and over-arching as its predecessor--although it is very different in feel, more of a straight-up rawk blitzkrieg than goth/glam opera. Gerard describes it as "a louder noise than we've ever made....It felt great be to on fire again in the studio. It felt great to get it back." And it sure feels great to finally hear it.

MCR's Gerard, his bassist brother Mikey Way, and Ray all sat down with Yahoo! recently to frankly discuss the new LP's theme (yes, it's still a bizarre concept album of sorts, and really, we're better off letting them explain it), dealing with all the controversies surrounding their music, and how they ultimately got their groove back.