In October 2007, My Chemical Romance played Maxwell's, a 200-capacity venue in Hoboken, New Jersey. The recording from that show had been locked away in the 2008 concert DVD "The Black Parade Is Dead!," never released on its own as a stream. Now, 18 years later, that live version of "The Sharpest Lives" has finally arrived online, serving as the first signal of the band's newly announced 20th anniversary reissue of "The Black Parade."
The quadruple-platinum album will be reissued via Reprise Records on October 23, keeping the original 14 tracks intact while adding six bonus cuts. Three of them are live recordings from that Hoboken show — "Dead!," "The Sharpest Lives," and "Someone Out There Loves You" — while the other three are fan-favorite B-sides previously scattered across various releases: "Heaven Help Us," "Kill All Your Friends," and "My Way Home Is Through You." The studio version of "Someone Out There Loves You" will be released publicly for the first time.
The band looked back in a statement: "Twenty years ago we wrote what would become 'The Black Parade,' our third album and the follow-up to 'Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge.' We had no idea what that record would come to mean to the band — we just knew we'd made something crazy and couldn't wait for it to come out." They continued: "Twenty years later, we're celebrating its release. This is the first time we've put everything that came out of those sessions into one collection."
The reissue's cover art once again comes from James Jean, the artist behind the original artwork. The band said they invited him "back into the world of 'The Black Parade' to create three new pieces," describing the results as "a beautiful series depicting some of the iconic characters from that era." "James is a truly one-of-a-kind artist, essential to how this album presented itself to the world back then. We're so grateful to have met him all those years ago, and grateful that he was willing to create something new now."
Three Vinyl Formats, One Step Edition Limited to 7,000 Copies
The reissue arrives in three physical formats: a 2LP edition, a 1LP hologram vinyl edition, and a One Step vinyl package pressed from the original analog master tapes, limited to just 7,000 copies. Pricing has not yet been announced; details and pre-orders can be found through the band's official channels.
North American Tour Underway, Rare Tracks Return to the Setlist
My Chemical Romance is currently on "The Long Live The Black Parade" anniversary tour, performing the full "The Black Parade" album before moving to a B-stage at the center of the venue for a second set. With the European and UK legs wrapped, the North American run is now underway. The band has debuted "The Light Behind Your Eyes" live for the first time, played "Boy Division" from the "Conventional Weapons" EP, and dedicated a medley of shelved pre-"Danger Days" material to the late Every Time I Die guitarist and professional wrestler Andy Williams. Before the North American leg kicked off, the band revived "Bulletproof Heart" for the first time in four years and played "AMBULANCE" live for the first time ever in Glasgow. Earlier still, at their Anfield show, they performed "Save Yourself, I'll Hold Them Back" for the first time in nearly four years — a set NME awarded five stars, calling it "far more than a pop-punk nostalgia trip."
