Gerard Way - Hesitant Alien - Printable Version +- Music Discussion (https://www.music-discussion.com) +-- Forum: Music Discussion (https://www.music-discussion.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=4) +--- Forum: Alternative (https://www.music-discussion.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=11) +--- Thread: Gerard Way - Hesitant Alien (/showthread.php?tid=11731)

Gerard Way - Hesitant Alien - Music Head - 15-10-2014 enters the Billboard chart this week at #16 Spotify online listen 4.0 of 5.0 from allmusic refreshing change from the standard pop and rap if you like MCR (I do) first album from the frontman artist website - http://hesitantalien.gerardway.com/ Bio - from allmusic As the compelling, pale-faced frontman of dynamic rock outfit My Chemical Romance, Gerard Way is one of a few key musicians responsible for bringing emo and punk music into the mainstream eye at the turn of the millennium -- and successfully sparking a million conversations about what is and is not considered punk in the process. He was born on April 9, 1977, in Newark, NJ, and raised in nearby Belleville. His grandmother Elena was a huge source of inspiration and encouragement to him growing up, teaching the young Way how to sing, draw, and perform. Way's first public performance was as Peter Pan in an elementary school play, but just as that show was over, he made a conscious decision to immerse himself in art and comics (preferring things "slightly evil") rather than anything dealing with drama club. Since his neighborhood wasn't exactly the safest place, Way spent a lot of time indoors with his younger brother Mikey, creating imaginary worlds to which they could escape. Despite his passion for drawing, Way never lost his love of music and taught himself how to play guitar as a teenager. He was a withdrawn kid -- in contrast to his outgoing, life-of-the-party brother -- and Way spent a lot of time by himself sketching and listening to bands like Iron Maiden, the Smiths, the Cure, the Misfits, and Queen. Following high school graduation, Way enrolled at the School of Visual Arts in New York to study cartooning and illustration. He spent some time interning at DC Comics, and after earning his bachelor of fine arts degree, eventually landed a gig doing work in toy design and animation; he even pitched an animated series to Cartoon Network at one point. Way had always wanted to be in a band -- especially after one particularly inspirational Smashing Pumpkins gig in 1997 with his brother -- and though he played in a few random ones over the years, it wasn't until the September 11th attacks that he really got the motivation to do something important with his life. He witnessed firsthand the collapse of the World Trade Towers from his office window, questioned how he was making a difference with his days, and soon wrote the song "Skylines and Turnstiles" about the 9/11 events back home in his parents' basement. Pressed with a sense of urgency, he confronted high school friend and drummer Matt Pelissier to start a band, and after convincing guitarist Ray Toro (whom Way felt was the best guitarist he knew), the seeds to My Chemical Romance were sown. Bringing aboard his brother Mikey on bass -- who brought with him the band's name -- and eventually rounding out their sound with second guitarist Frank Iero, My Chemical Romance recorded their first album within three months of forming. It was released in 2002 on local indie Eyeball Records and produced by the band's good friend Geoff Rickly, whose own local band Thursday Way had previously designed some T-shirts for the band. As My Chemical Romance's popularity steadily grew over the next few years, especially after the success of their second album, Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge (whose cover art Way drew), Way continued to battle -- as he had for many years -- depression, alcoholism, and drug abuse. This was especially compounded by the death of his grandmother, for whom he wrote the song "Helena" as a means of coping. After suffering through some very low lows, Way finally managed to get himself sober in mid-2004. By the time of the fall 2006 release of the group's wildly popular concept album The Black Parade, Way appeared in the media noticeably several pounds lighter and with bleached-blonde hair in contrast to his prior jet-black locks. His transformation sparked many comparisons to Billy Corgan; Way denied those comments, attributing his look as merely a reflection of The Black Parade's sickly main character and its album themes of life and death. Through his band's success, Way never lost his passion for art and comics, and continued to sketch while on the road. He created a comic book series called The Umbrella Academy that was due to be released in late 2007 via Dark Horse Comics; Way wrote the story, broke it down into issues and designed the characters, leaving the actual drawing in the hands of two other artists, however. A few months after brother Mikey got married in March 2007, Way announced his own engagement. Album Review - from allmusic The very title of Hesitant Alien conjures memories of David Bowie, just like how the album artwork evokes the Thin White Duke's iconic cover for Heroes (which was later repurposed for Bowie's own The Next Day). Such deliberate allusions are Gerard Way's sly nod to his audience, an admission of how he belongs to an art-punk tradition that stretches back several decades, but his first solo effort after the disbandment of My Chemical Romance isn't a re-creation of the glory days of glam. Way does indulge in T. Rex stomps and flirts with Bowie's interstellar swagger -- not to mention his cadence sometimes echoes Eno and he's savvy enough to thread saxophone into the background on "Get the Gang Together" -- but the heart of Hesitant Alien lies in the late '80s and early '90s, the time when all the arty strands of British and American post-punk converged on 120 Minutes. Sometimes Way creates a swirling, circular pastiche, sometimes he creates de facto tributes to individual bands ("Millions" is a dead ringer for prime Stone Roses), the two approaches blending to create a heady rush of sexy, stylish postmodern futurism. The clever thing about Hesitant Alien is, for as much as it consciously references the past, it's a record that never could've been played on college radio in 1990: the razor-thin guitars are too loud, the progressive pomp leans too heavily on '70s concept albums, Way retains the trappings of emo in his heated delivery but not his aesthetic. All this means that for as much as Way refers to other acts, this is a thoroughly original work, a vibrant reflection of all his artistic obsessions. guess I'll go with the first single: [video=youtube;aZcB9maO1-E]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZcB9maO1-E[/video] Track Listing 1. The Bureau 2. Action Cat 3. No Shows 4. Brother 5. Millions 6. Zero Zero 7. Juarez 8. Drugstore Perfume 9. Get the Gang Together 10. How It's Going to Be 11. Maya the Psychic Gerard Way - Hesitant Alien - SteveO - 15-10-2014 I am really liking this!!!!! mile: Gerard Way - Hesitant Alien - evilB - 15-10-2014 Count me in as a fan. Great stuff! Gerard Way - Hesitant Alien - Ruby - 15-10-2014 ^^I quite like that too - despite not being standard fare for me. Something appealing here.