If you were a hardcore member of The Black Parade back in the day, IвЂ™d reccomend coming into this album with open ears. Rather than simply offering a watered down version of his previous bandвЂ™s output (*cough*Thom Yorke*cough*), Gerard Way decides to completely switch gears and ditch the pop punk theatrics for some glammed up garage rock, and he does it with such style and grace that you canвЂ™t help but love him for it. Hesitant Alien succeeds where other solo debuts donвЂ™t. ItвЂ™s a fantastic track that perfectly caps off the album, and does it in a stellar manner.

And before you know it, the album ends on a high note with the power pop rave-up of вЂњMaya The PsychicвЂќ, which could almost pass for an outtake from Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge if you sped the tempo up a little and pitched up WayвЂ™s voice a little. Gerard Way displayed glimpses of his anglophile tendencies back in MCRвЂ™s heyday, with The Black Parade recontextualising the works of Pink Floyd and Queen for the modern era, but if youвЂ™d gone into Hesitant Alien without knowing who the man was, youвЂ™d swear he was some upstart revivalist from Shoreditch or something. Almost every track on Hesitant Alien sounds like it could be a potential single. вЂњDrugstore PerfumeвЂќ is eerily reminiscent of The Jesus and Mary ChainвЂ™s вЂњJust Like HoneyвЂќ, utilising the same вЂkick kick snareвЂ™ drumbeat and showering the track in a haze of reverb and echoed vocals. вЂњJuarezвЂќ shows us that when push comes to shove, Gerard Way can do The Black Keys better than The Black Keys themselves. вЂњMillionsвЂќ seeвЂ™s Way injecting a strong dose of Britpop into the track, with the distorted guitar tones and vibrant hooks resembling l a faster version of Oasis, or a dirtier Supergrass. вЂњBrotherвЂќ is the closest Way comes to recapturing the spirit of MCR. вЂњAction CatвЂќ is a scuzzy, driving rocker of a track with enough reverb and raw fidelity to appease the White Stripes fans in the audience. The 70вЂ™s Bowie-esque coverart is no coincidence, as Way seems to be channelling Hunky Dory-era Bowie (and a little bit of Iggy thrown in for good measure, that saxophone on вЂњNo ShowsвЂќ sounds like it could have come straight out of Fun House) with great abandon, as the song structures and guitar fuzz owe a huge debt to the coked out,70вЂ™s glam era. Hesitant AlienВ lacks the crisp production and slickness that The Black Parade or Danger Days were known for, opting for a scuzzy, lo-fi sound that makes you wonder if WayвЂ™s been listening to too much Jack White since MCR broke up. And needless to say, it sounds worlds away from the dramatic rock-opera style that MCR were primarily known for. Either way, frontman Gerard Way decided to release his debut solo album this year. Some cried, some couldnвЂ™t have given less of a shit, some thought it was about damn time. After the decidedly lukewarm reception to 2010вЂ™s Danger Days, the band decided to call it quits and pursue other interests. From about 2004 to 2010, people were divided on the bandвЂ™s highly theatrical and energetic take on pop punk, with some proclaiming them one of the greatest rock outfits of the past few years, and others just slapping the вЂњemoвЂќ tag on them and lumping them in the Hot Topic pile with Hawthorne Heights and From First To Last. In the last decade, no band was more polarising than My Chemical Romance.

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