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I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love

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I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love
Studio album by
My Chemical Romance
ReleasedJuly 23, 2002
RecordedMay 2002[1]
StudioNada Recording Studio, New Windsor, New York[1]
Genre
Length40:52
LabelEyeball
ProducerGeoff Rickly
My Chemical Romance chronology
Like Phantoms, Forever
(2002) 		I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love
(2002) 		Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge
(2004)
Singles from I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love
  1. "Honey, This Mirror Isn't Big Enough for the Two of Us"
    Released: December 15, 2003
  2. "Headfirst for Halos"
    Released: April 5, 2004

I Brought You Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love is the debut studio album by American rock band My Chemical Romance, released on July 23, 2002 through Eyeball Records. It was produced by Geoff Rickly and recorded at the Nada Recording Studio in New Windsor, New York. The album was initially conceived in 2002 during the band's recording sessions for existing music that they had written prior, and was produced and recorded over the course of twelve days.

An emo, post-hardcore, punk rock, and pop-punk album, I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love features a composition style that was unique from contemporary emo music at the time of it's release. The album's eleven songs cover a variety of subjects, though the album's central themes include depression, pessimism, anger, and disillusionment. Some have considered it to be a concept album, although significant connections between tracks have generally only been made by fans. The album was supported by the promotional single "Vampires Will Never Hurt You", as well as the singles "Honey, This Mirror Isn't Big Enough for the Two of Us" and "Headfirst for Halos".

The album did not receive much attention from critics or listeners upon it's initial release, with the album only charting beginning in 2004 and initial reviews being scarce. Over time, the album received more reviews from critics, who have had generally had mixed opinions on the album, divided on the it's lyrics, themes and composition. The album has been considered influential on the emo music genre due to it's unique style, and it has been certified gold by the British Phonographic Industry.

Background

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My Chemical Romance was formed after the band's frontman, Gerard Way, witnessed the collapse of the World Trade Center during the September 11 attacks. Shortly afterwards, he was joined by drummer Matt Pelissier, guitarist Ray Toro, and bassist Mikey Way.[2] Soon after the band formed, they created three songs–"Skylines and Turnstiles", "Cubicles, and "Bring More Knives"–in a makeshift studio set up in Pelissier's attic. These records have since been referred to as the "Attic Demos".[3]

These demos were then listened to by Eyeball Records' Alex Saavedra, who was impressed by the band's work and continued continued working working with the band during their beginnings.[4] He would later send a demo of another song that the band had created, "Vampires Will Never Hurt You", to Geoff Rickly, a music producer and member of the band Thursday.[5] Shortly afterwards, the band would play their first concert live in Ewing, New Jersey in October 2001,[6] and subsequently played several more shows over time, working on new material in-between shows.[7]

Production and writing

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By March 2002, the band was properly recording new demos at the Nada Recording Studio[8] and began contemplating whether or not to start work on a proper album after recording another demo for "Vampires Will Never Hurt You".[9] After the song's final version was complete, Pencey Prep frontman Frank Iero, who had previously already witnessed the band's past recording sessions, joined My Chemical Romance.[10] In May 2002, the band went back to Nada to begin recording their first studio album, I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love.[11]

The album was recorded and produced over the span of twelve days.[12] Rickly served as the album's producer,[12] and Alex Saavedra was the album's assistant producer for two of the album's tracks. John Naclerio helped record and mix the album, and Ryan Ball mastered the album. It's cover was designed by Marc Debiak and Gerard, and Saavedra provided additional photography.[13] Despite joining the band a couple of days before the album's development had begun, Frank Iero was only able to perform on two of the album's tracks, namely "Honey, This Mirror Isn't Big Enough for the Two of Us" and "Early Sunsets Over Monroeville", due to time constraints.[12]

When creating the songs in the album, Gerard wrote them to be akin to their own individual short stories, reusing titles from his past works for song names;[14] the album's title was also named after a short story that Gerard had written prior.[15] His writing process involved writing lyrics from the perspectives of characters within each story, and acting as that said character while recording the song.[14] During recording, Rickly recommended to Gerard that he interpret the creation of the album as like writing a comic book, based on Gerard's prior experience as an artist.[14] Several songs in the album were influenced by comic book themes, implementing ideas such as gothic imagery and zombies.[14]

Composition and themes

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I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love is considered a emo,[16][17] post-hardcore,[18][19][20] punk-rock,[21][17] and pop-punk[17] album. It also features influences from hardcore punk and heavy metal.[22][23][22] The composition style of the album differed from traditional emo acts of the time like Taking Back Sunday and the Used.[12] Lyrically, the album primarily covers themes such as depression, pessimism, anger, and disillusionment,[24] with the settings of each of the songs varying.[14] While it has been considered a concept album with a story centered around the aforementioned two lovers inspired by Bonnie and Clyde, a claim later affirmed by Rickly,[14] the connections between songs have generally only been made by fans.[25][26]

Songs

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I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love consists of 11 songs.[27] It opens up with an instrumental cover of the "Romance" guitar piece,[28] before directly leading into "Honey, This Mirror Isn’t Big Enough For The Two of Us",[27] a metalcore influenced[29] song primarily about consuming antidepressants and alcohol.[30][14] "Vampires Will Never Hurt You" tells the story of someone lamenting their transformation into a vampire,[31] while also being an auto-biographical song about the early stages of Gerard's alcoholism.[32] It starts off as a slower song, before turning into hardcore punk.[33][34] "Drowning Lessons" is a song where the band brings up the question of morality,[21] and is seemingly about a man who either kills his lover, or witnesses his lover being killed, and must relive the day of their death over and over again. The story of this track is also viewed as tying into the premise of the last track on the album, "Demolition Lovers".[35] "Our Lady of Sorrows" is a "raw, adrenaline-inducing punk-rock"[36] song about revenge, and uses metaphors to reference the "dark forces" that led Gerard to begin writing stories.[14]

"Headfirst for Halos" is about both welcoming suicide and experiencing the best moments in life.[21] It is considered to be the origin of how the band's future works would sound, and was conceived as a joke song before the band decided to challenge themselves by completing it; during production, the band described as "jagged bubblegum punk" and a rip-off of a song by The Beatles, before they actually completed the song and realized that the song had the potential to influence their future work.[37] "Skylines and Turnstiles" is centered around the September 11 attacks, focusing on the emotions that Gerard felt after witnessing the events.[38] "Early Sunsets Over Monroeville" was inspired by the 1978 zombie horror film Dawn of the Dead, telling the story of a group of lovers attempting to survive the apocalypse.[27] "This Is The Best Day Ever" is about the idea of trying to break free from everyday life, and features additional vocals by Rickly.[39] The tenth song on the album, "Cubicles", has been noted by Gerard to be among the hardest songs for the band to play live; Loudwire's Cassie Whitt described it as the band's worst song.[39]

"Demolition Lovers"
An excerpt of the ending of "Demolition Lovers", which illustrates the demise of the titular characters in a "hail of bullets"
Problems playing this file? See media help.

The final song on the album is "Demolition Lovers",[23] which has been considered an extension of "Drowning Lessons".[35] At about six minutes long,[39] it starts off slow, and during it's buildup suddenly stops at around the 2:50 mark before starting back up again in a completely different, minimalist style.[23] Throughout it's runtime, the song goes through several unique movements before it's abrupt ending.[40] The song follows the titular Demolition Lovers as they go on a crime spree,[39] ultimately dying in a "hail of bullets".[39][35] The song has generally been considered an analogy on Gerard's willingness to die for his loved ones based on the text present in the album's inlay.[35] The premise of "Demolition Lovers" has been tied to the concept of Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge,[35][26] which loosely follows the story of two separated lovers that can only reunite if one harvests the souls of one thousand people.[26] It has also been considered representative of the band's future, grander scale recordings.[40]

Release and commercial performance

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The album was released on July 23, 2002[41] through Eyeball Records.[28] Due to the lack of awareness surrounding the band and the album at it's initial release, Saavedra began an effort to try and promote the album by sending copies of it to local radio stations, journalists, and DJs.[42] The first song from the album to be aired onto radio stations from the album was "Vampires Will Never Hurt You", which local DJ Mario Comesanas played on college-radio station WSOU.[42] Upon the song's positive response from audiences, the record label began expanding and the band gained popularity.[42] In an effort to promote them further, Saavedra would push the band to play at as many shows as possible.[42] Alongside "Vampires Will Never Hurt You"'s prior premiere on radio, two singles from the album were released: "Honey, This Mirror Isn't Big Enough For The Two Of Us" on December 13, 2003[43] and "Headfirst for Halos" on April 5, 2004.[44]

I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love appeared on the UK Independent Albums chart in 2004, peaking at number 31 that year.[45] It's all time peak on the chart was number 17.[45] It later appeared at number 129 on the UK Albums chart,[46] and 250 on the Japanese Albums chart.[47] The album has been certified gold by the British Phonographic Industry, selling a confirmed 100,000 units.[48]

Critical reception

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Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[24]
Alternative Press[17]
Drowned in Sound[49]
The Guardian[18]
IGN7.9/10[23]
Rolling Stone[50]

I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love did not receive many critic reviews upon it's release.[41] Media outlets and magazines that generally wrote about the genre the album was associated with, such as Alternative Press, did not review it at first, while magazines such as Kerrang! and The Guardian did.[41] The album was reviewed by more critics as time went on, with reviews being published by outlets such as IGN[23] and the aforementioned Alternative Press,[17] and future retrospective pieces being published by websites such as Consequence of Sound.[22]

Critics were divided on the album's writing and themes. A writer of IGN wrote that the album was a "truly unique listening experience", one where lyrics that would otherwise be viewed as "standard emo-ish lyrics" were presented in a way that made the album "vastly darker and more sinister" than an average emo record. They further described the album as "one of the most interesting aural experiences" that they had had.[23] Rolling Stone described the album as reading like a list of things that caused Gerard to "grow up to fast", and that it was "designed to make you feel sixteen-years-old again, experiencing every heartache as if it's on scale with the World Trade Center crumbling down".[50] Consequence of Sound highlighted what she believed was the album's emotional value.[22] AllMusic believed that the album's lyrics were similar to other songs written by other bands, and that the album simply "fell short of exceptional" in comparison, though he believed that the album was a good debut for the band.[24] Drowned in Sound felt that album's lyrics when viewed separately sounded "ridiculous".[49]

The album's music style and composition were met with a mixed response. Rolling Stone praised the music, writing that it combined with the lyrics to help create what he compared to the "frenetic build-up to an over-the-top climax that you find in horror movies".[50] Emily Zemler of Alternative Press described the album as being "relatively makeshift" with moments that were "haphazard", though felt that the style and those moments helped give the album it's charm.[17] Drowned in Sound believed that the album had "undeniable fragmentation" as a lack of consistency between it's tracks, though felt that this allowed the songs to stand on their own.[49]

Legacy

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The music style that My Chemical Romance demonstrated in I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love has been considered influential of the sound of the emo music genre, due to it's at the time unorthodox composition style compared to contemporary emo bands at the time.[12][28] In a 2022 retrospective article, Chris Payne of Stereogum wrote that while the album wasn't My Chemical Romance's best work, it helped combine different several different genres into one, and stated that the album was a good start to "one of the greatest three-album runs in rock history", with the other two being Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge and The Black Parade (2006).[28]

Two songs from the album, "Vampires Will Never Hurt You" and "Honey, This Mirror Isn't Big Enough For The Two Of Us" were included on the band's greatest hits compilation, May Death Never Stop You, released on March 25, 2014. The compilation also features the band's three "Attic Demos".[51]

Track listing

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All tracks are written by My Chemical Romance, except for "Romance"

Standard edition
No.TitleLength
1."Romance" (instrumental)1:02
2."Honey, This Mirror Isn't Big Enough for the Two of Us"3:51
3."Vampires Will Never Hurt You"5:26
4."Drowning Lessons"4:23
5."Our Lady of Sorrows"2:05
6."Headfirst for Halos"3:28
7."Skylines and Turnstiles"3:23
8."Early Sunsets Over Monroeville"5:04
9."This Is the Best Day Ever"2:12
10."Cubicles"3:51
11."Demolition Lovers"6:06
Total length:40:52
Re-release/iTunes deluxe edition bonus videos
No.TitleLength
12."Honey, This Mirror Isn't Big Enough for the Two of Us" (video)3:53
13."Vampires Will Never Hurt You" (video)5:37
Total length:50:42

Personnel

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My Chemical Romance

  • Gerard Way – lead and backing vocals
  • Ray Toro – guitars, backing vocals
  • Mikey Way – bass guitar
  • Matt Pelissier – drums, percussion

Additional musicians

Technicals

  • Geoff Rickly – producer (tracks 1–11)
  • Alex Saavedra – assistant producer (tracks 2 and 8)
  • John Naclerio – recording, mixing
  • Ryan Ball – mastering
  • Marc Debiak and Gerard Way – cover art design
  • Alex Saavedra – additional photography

Charts

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2004 chart performance for I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love
Chart (2004) Peak

positions

UK Independent Albums (OCC)[45] 31
2005–2009 chart performance for I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love
Chart (2005–2009) Peak

position

Japanese Albums (Oricon)[47] 250
UK Albums (OCC)[46] 129
UK Independent Albums (OCC)[52] 17

Certifications

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Certifications for I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love
Region Certification Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[48] Gold 100,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

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  1. ^ a b Bryant 2014, p. 53.
  2. ^ Harvilla, Rob (July 26, 2022). "The Eternal March of the Black Parade". The Ringer. Archived from the original on January 7, 2025. Retrieved January 7, 2025.
  3. ^ Bryant 2014, p. 35.
  4. ^ Bryant 2014, pp. 35–36.
  5. ^ Bryant 2014, pp. 37.
  6. ^ Bryant 2014, p. 38.
  7. ^ Bryant 2014, p. 45.
  8. ^ Bryant 2014, p. 49.
  9. ^ Bryant 2014, p. 51.
  10. ^ Bryant 2014, pp. 51–52.
  11. ^ Bryant 2014, pp. 52–53.
  12. ^ a b c d e "How My Chemical Romance's 'I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love' Redefined Emo Music | GRAMMY.com". grammy.com. Retrieved 2025-01-29.
  13. ^ I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love (Compact disc liner notes). Eyeball Records. 2002. EB-022.
  14. ^ a b c d e f g h Bryant 2014, p. 60.
  15. ^ ""You can hear the nervousness and excitement": The story of My Chem's…". Kerrang!. 2024-11-01. Retrieved 2025-01-29.
  16. ^ Michel, Sia (2006-10-22). "Fresh From the Garden State, in Black Leather and Eyeliner". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2025-01-28.
  17. ^ a b c d e f "My Chemical Romance – I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love – Alternative Press". Alternative Press. Archived from the original on April 6, 2014. Retrieved April 24, 2015.
  18. ^ a b Sullivan, Caroline (April 9, 2004). "Pop CD: My Chemical Romance, I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love". The Guardian. Retrieved February 23, 2012.
  19. ^ Anderson, Kyle (April 9, 2010). "Happy Birthday, Gerard Way: Wake-Up Video". MTV. Archived from the original on August 9, 2017. Retrieved April 24, 2015.
  20. ^ "An Obituary For My Chemical Romance". NME. Retrieved April 24, 2015.
  21. ^ a b c "Guilty Pleasure: My Chemical Romance - I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love". Consequence. 2009-07-05. Retrieved 2025-01-28.
  22. ^ a b c d Ritt, Megan (July 5, 2009). "Guilty Pleasure: My Chemical Romance – I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love". Consequence of Sound.
  23. ^ a b c d e f Jesse Lord (2004-08-04). "I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love". IGN. Archived from the original on 2012-03-29. Retrieved 2021-10-16.
  24. ^ a b c I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your ... | AllMusic, retrieved 2025-01-29
  25. ^ The Black Parade - My Chemical Romance | Album | AllMusic, retrieved 2025-01-29
  26. ^ a b c Markarian, Taylor MarkarianTaylor (2022-06-08). "10 Facts About 'Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge' Only Superfans Would Know". Loudwire. Retrieved 2025-01-29.
  27. ^ a b c AltPress. "11 things you might not know about MCR's 'I Brought You My Bullets...'". Alternative Press Magazine. Retrieved 2025-01-29.
  28. ^ a b c d "My Chemical Romance's Debut Album 'I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love' Turns 20". Stereogum. 2022-07-21. Retrieved 2025-01-29.
  29. ^ Enis, Eli (January 21, 2020). "The 10 Most Underrated My Chemical Romance Songs". Paste. Archived from the original on January 14, 2025. Retrieved January 18, 2025.
  30. ^ Sullivan, Caroline (August 8, 2004). "My Chemical Romance, I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love". The Guardian. Archived from the original on December 27, 2024. Retrieved January 18, 2025.
  31. ^ Krovatin, Chris (May 26, 2021). "The 29 greatest songs about vampires". Kerrang!. Archived from the original on December 11, 2024. Retrieved January 23, 2025.
  32. ^ Bryant 2014, pp. 50–51.
  33. ^ Weatherby, Taylor (November 14, 2019). "The 15 Best My Chemical Romance Songs: Staff Picks". Billboard. Archived from the original on December 19, 2024. Retrieved January 23, 2025.
  34. ^ Lord, Jesse (August 4, 2004). "I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love". IGN. Archived from the original on January 14, 2025. Retrieved January 23, 2025.
  35. ^ a b c d e Boisvert, Lauren (2024-12-18). "The My Chemical Romance Song Fans Theorize Is Haunted—and Gerard Way's Reasoning for Refusing To Play It Live". American Songwriter. Retrieved 2025-01-29.
  36. ^ Mortensa, Mala. "10 essential My Chemical Romance songs that encapsulate every era". Alternative Press Magazine. Retrieved 2025-01-29.
  37. ^ Bryant 2014, p. 57.
  38. ^ Law, Sam (April 9, 2021). "The 20 greatest My Chemical Romance songs – ranked". Kerrang!. Archived from the original on December 27, 2024. Retrieved January 6, 2025.
  39. ^ a b c d e Whitt, Cassie (2019-03-24). "Every My Chemical Romance Song Ranked From Worst to Best". Loudwire. Retrieved 2024-12-10.
  40. ^ a b "The 10 Most Underrated My Chemical Romance Songs". Paste Magazine. Retrieved 2025-01-29.
  41. ^ a b c Bryant 2014, p. 63.
  42. ^ a b c d Bryant 2014, p. 65.
  43. ^ "New releases: singles" (PDF). Music Week. December 13, 2003. p. 23. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 20, 2024. Retrieved January 7, 2025.
  44. ^ "New releases: singles" (PDF). Music Week. April 3, 2004. p. 27. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 20, 2024. Retrieved January 22, 2025.
  45. ^ a b c "Official Independent Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. 18 April 2004. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
  46. ^ a b "Chart Log UK: 1994–2010". zobbel.de. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
  47. ^ a b "My Chemical Romance – Album Sales Rankings" (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
  48. ^ a b "British album certifications – My Chemical Romance – I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 25 July 2012.
  49. ^ a b c "Reviews – Albums – My Chemical Romance – I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love". Drowned in Sound. Archived from the original on 2007-07-09. Retrieved 2012-04-29.
  50. ^ a b c "My Chemical Romance: Album Guide". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on January 6, 2013. Retrieved 2012-04-29.
  51. ^ Paul, Aubin (January 21, 2014). "My Chemical Romance detail 'May Death Never Stop You,' launch pre-orders". Punknews.org. Archived from the original on July 14, 2024. Retrieved July 14, 2024.
  52. ^ "Official Independent Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. 3 April 2005. Retrieved 7 February 2022.

Sources

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