Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge

Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge (often shortened to Three Cheers or Revenge)[1] is the second studio album by American rock band My Chemical Romance, released on June 8, 2004, by Reprise Records.[2][3] With this album, the band produced a cleaner sound than that of their 2002 debut I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love.[4] It was the band's first release to feature rhythm guitarist Frank Iero on all tracks, as well as the final release to feature drummer Matt Pelissier, who would later be replaced by Bob Bryar.[5]

Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge
A man and a woman, with blood on their skin.
Studio album by
My Chemical Romance
ReleasedJune 8, 2004 (2004-06-08)
RecordedOctober 2003 – February 2004
Studio
  • Bay 7 Studios, Valley Village
  • Sparky Dark Studio, Calabasas, California
Genre
Length39:36
LabelReprise
ProducerHoward Benson
My Chemical Romance chronology
I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love
(2002)		 Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge
(2004)		 Life on the Murder Scene
(2006)
Singles from Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge
  1. "I'm Not Okay (I Promise)"
    Released: September 13, 2004
  2. "Thank You for the Venom"
    Released: December 13, 2004 (UK)
  3. "Helena"
    Released: March 8, 2005
  4. "The Ghost of You"
    Released: August 29, 2005

The album was a success for both the band and the label.[6] The record produced four singles—"I'm Not Okay (I Promise)", "Helena", "The Ghost of You", and in the United Kingdom, "Thank You for the Venom".[4] It was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) less than a year after its release,[3] and has sold over three million copies in the United States.[6]

Music and lyrical themes

Musically, Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge has been described as emo,[7][8] alternative rock,[8] pop punk,[9] post-hardcore,[10] punk rock,[11] and pop rock.[12] While I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love was considered "a particularly strident entry in that shifty genre of bands tortuously slamming together elements of emo, hardcore, and even metal",[13] Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge "both showcased their songwriting skills and gave them much-deserved attention".[4] Moving away from the "screamo parts"[14] and "the more complicated structures"[15] of their first record in favor of a sound that "skirts the line between pop punk and edgy, theatrical, emo"[4] while being "strongly influenced by hardcore punk",[15] Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge has been variously compared to The Misfits,[16] AFI,[13] and Thursday.[13]

Lead singer Gerard Way has referred to the first single "I'm Not Okay (I Promise)" as a "self help pop song"[17] while also being called "a surging piece of emo-pop with a hook as ridiculously catchy as it was ridiculous"[18] and a "moving anthem for the young and depressed"[19] by AllMusic and Rolling Stone respectively. This single went on to be nominated for the Kerrang! award for best single[20] and reached number 86 on the US Billboard Hot 100.[21]

The album opener "Helena" has been referred to as an "album highlight and smash hit". Gerard has claimed that the song "shaped what the album is about" and "revealed their dark side" in comparison to the first single.[17] Its lyrics mourn the loss of Gerard and Mikey's grandmother,[17] Elena Lee Rush, and was their first entry into the top 40.[21]

Album concept

According to Way, the album can be understood as a "pseudo-conceptual horror story",[4] that details:

...the story of a man and a woman who are separated by death in a gunfight and he goes to hell only to realize by the devil telling him that she's still alive. The devil says he can be with her again if he brings the devil the souls of a thousand evil men and the man agrees to do it, and so the devil hands him a gun. That was the idea behind the concept, the record ended up being much more about loss and real life than anything, so I would say it's a good split.[22]

Reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[23]
Alternative Press[4]
Blender[24]
IGN7.1/10[25]
Kludge7/10[26]
Melodic[27]
Pitchfork8.2/10[28]
Rolling Stone[29]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[30]
Stylus MagazineB[31]

Johnny Loftus of AllMusic wrote that "with the aid of production major-leaguer Howard Benson, they've edited the slight rookie excesses of I Brought You My Bullets You Brought Me Your Love, resulting in a rewarding, pretty damn relentless product."[23] Andy Greenwald of Blender noted Way's integration of elements of his life into the songs on the album and remarked that his "gulping, gasping whine turns stompers like 'I’m Not Okay (I Promise)' into after-school poetry".[24] Ian Mathers of Stylus Magazine felt that the album contained "twelve near-flawless songs and an interlude in thirty-nine minutes" and that "even when it lets up, [it] doesn’t let up",[31] while Kirk Miller of Rolling Stone described it as "a hell of a good time."[29] IGN critic JR was more reserved in his praise, calling Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge "a good album" that nonetheless "isn't nearly as varied or daring as it could have been".[25] In The Village Voice, Robert Christgau gave it a "dud" rating.[32]

Accolades
Publication Country Accolade Year Rank
Rock Sound UK Top 50 Albums of the Year 2004 5[33]
Spin US The 40 Best Albums of 2004 34[34]
Kerrang! UK Albums of the Year 3[35]
Metal Hammer UK Albums of 2004 7[36]

Legacy

NME listed the album as one of "20 Emo Albums That Have Resolutely Stood the Test of Time".[37] The album was ranked at number 260 on Spin's "The 300 Best Albums of the Past 30 Years (1985–2014)" list.[38] Rock Sound wrote that the album is "an era-defining release", striking "a nerve both musically and emotionally with millions around the world."[39]

In 2016, Rolling Stone declared Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge the tenth greatest emo album out of 40, saying that "Three Cheers wasn't just a concept record, it was a concept sequel, expanding the small-screen story of 2002's I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love into a big-budget production, complete with ruminations on life and death ("Helena") biting kiss-offs ("I'm Not Okay") and a series of dramatic music videos that made them MTV darlings."[40]

Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge has sold over three million copies to date in the United States and has been certified 3× platinum by the RIAA as of December 2017.[41] By February 2006, the album had sold over 1,356,000 copies in the US and 3 million copies to date.[42] It has also been certified Platinum in Canada and the UK, and Gold in Australia, Ireland, Chile,[43] New Zealand, and Argentina.

Track listing

Standard edition

All tracks are written by My Chemical Romance

No.TitleLength
1."Helena"3:22
2."Give 'Em Hell, Kid"2:18
3."To the End"3:01
4."You Know What They Do to Guys Like Us in Prison" (featuring Bert McCracken of The Used)2:53
5."I'm Not Okay (I Promise)"3:08
6."The Ghost of You"3:22
7."The Jetset Life Is Gonna Kill You"3:37
8."Interlude"0:57
9."Thank You for the Venom"3:41
10."Hang 'Em High"2:47
11."It's Not a Fashion Statement, It's a Deathwish"3:30
12."Cemetery Drive"3:08
13."I Never Told You What I Do for a Living"3:51
Total length:39:36
  • Track 11 listed as "It's Not a Fashion Statement, It's a Fucking Deathwish" in the album liner notes
Japanese edition
No.TitleLength
14."Bury Me in Black" (demo)2:37
Total length:42:13

Japanese special edition DVD
Live from Summer Sonic 2004 in Tokyo on August 8, 2004
No.TitleLength
1."I'm Not Okay (I Promise)" (music video version 2) 
2."I'm Not Okay (I Promise)" (music video version 1) 
3."Thank You for the Venom" (live) 
4."Helena" (live) 
5."Give 'Em Hell, Kid" (live) 
6."The Ghost of You" (live) 
7."You Know What They Do to Guys Like Us in Prison" (live) 
8."I'm Not Okay (I Promise)" (live) 

Personnel

Production

  • Howard Benson – producer, mixing
  • Rich Costey – mixing
  • Craig Aaronson – A&R
  • Brian Schechter – management
  • Stacy Fass – legal
  • Matt Galle – booking
  • Mike Plotnikoff – recording
  • Eric J. Miller – additional engineering
  • Paul Decarli – Pro Tools and programming
  • Jon Nicholson – drum tech
  • Keith Nelson – guitar tech
  • Tom Baker – mastering
  • Matt Griffen – production coordinator
  • Dana Childs – production coordinator
  • Arturo Rojas – runner
  • Fernando Diaz – runner
  • Mike Gardner – runner
  • Chris Ozuna – runner
  • Bryan Mansell – runner
  • Mark Holley – design assistance

Charts

Singles
Year Song Peak chart positions
US
[21]		 US Mod
[58]		 US Main
[59]		 UK
[60]		 NZ
[61]		 AUS
[62]
2004 "I'm Not Okay (I Promise)" 86 4 — 19 38 65
"Thank You for the Venom" — — — 71 — —
2005 "Helena" 33 11 — 20 27 78
"The Ghost of You" 84 9 38 27 — —

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[63] Gold 35,000^
Canada (Music Canada)[64] Platinum 100,000^
Chile[43] Gold 7,500[43]
Ireland (IRMA)[65] Gold 7,500^
Mexico (AMPROFON)[66] Gold 50,000^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[67] Gold 7,500^
United Kingdom (BPI)[68] Platinum 300,000^
United States (RIAA)[69] 3× Platinum 3,000,000‡

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history
Region Date Label Format Catalogue
Australia April 11, 2005 Reprise CD 9362486152
Japan July 22, 2004 WPCR11890
January 26, 2005 CD+DVD WPZR30075
June 24, 2009 CD WPCR13504
United Kingdom September 3, 2004 9362486152
United States June 8, 2004 486152
December 16, 2008 Vinyl LP 148615

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