| May Death Never Stop You | ||||
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| Greatest hits album by | ||||
| Released | March 25, 2014 | |||
| Length | 73:20 | |||
| Label | Reprise | |||
| Producer |
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| My Chemical Romance chronology | ||||
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| Singles from May Death Never Stop You | ||||
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May Death Never Stop You[a] is agreatest hits compilation album by American rock bandMy Chemical Romance. It was released on March 25, 2014, throughReprise Records and is a collection of 19 songs from across My Chemical Romance's discography from 2001 to 2013. Most of those songs are from previous albums, ranging from their commercially successful singles to fan-favorite songs. In addition to those songs, the album contains a previously unreleased song, "Fake Your Death", and three demos.
The album was announced after My Chemical Romance announced their breakup in 2013. The album was supported by "Fake Your Death", which was released as a single on February 17 and was the final song that the band had made before their breakup. The album received generally positive reviews from critics, who viewed the release as a good overview of the band's history, though some had mixed opinions on its track selection. It charted in several countries and was later certified platinum by theBritish Phonographic Industry and gold byRecorded Music NZ.
On March 22, 2013, My Chemical Romance announced that they would be breaking up through a blog post on their official website.[2][b] Two days later, band memberGerard Way confirmed the break up through a post on hisTwitter account.[4] Later that year on December 13, the band announced that they would be releasing a greatest hits album, titledMay Death Never Stop You, in celebration of the band's history. In addition to containing songs from each of the band's studio albums, the band announced that the album would contain previously unreleased material.[5] The album's cover art was designed by Way,[6] who previously revealed it on November 30.[5] It features a ruined, half-destroyed statue in the center in a marching uniform fromThe Black Parade (2006), as well as memorabilia representing the band's other albums scattered throughout.[6] In January 2014, it was announced that the album would contain "Fake Your Death",[7] the final finished song that the band had created.[8][b] It was originally intended for the band's scrapped fifth album.[9]
Pre-orders for the album started on January 21, 2014.[5] On February 17, "Fake Your Death" was released as a single oniTunes andBBC Radio 1.[9] A trailer for the album was released that same day, containing clips of the band's music videos accompanied by the song.[8]May Death Never Stop You was released on March 25, 2014[5] throughReprise Records.[10] The album was available in three editions: a standard version released on CD, a Deluxe edition containing a DVD with extra content, and a "Physical Deluxe" edition that included the CD as well as a two-piece vinyl set.[7]
May Death Never Stop You is a greatest hits compilation album containing 19 songs from across My Chemical Romance's discography from 2001 to 2013.[11] Most of these are from their previous studio albums, with two songs fromI Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love (2002), four each fromThree Cheers for Sweet Revenge (2004) andDanger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys (2010), and five fromThe Black Parade (2006).[11][1]
While the majority of songs featured on the album were successful singles, some were never released as such, instead being fan-favorites. These include "You Know What They Do to Guys Like Us in Prison", "Cancer", and "Mama". Similarly, two of the band's singles, "Thank You for the Venom" and "I Don't Love You" were excluded, despite the latter's commercial success in the United Kingdom.[1] Alongside their songs from previous albums,May Death Never Stop You features the aforementioned "Fake Your Death"[7] and three songs from their "Attic Demo" sessions: "Cubicles", "Skylines and Turnstiles", and "Knives/Sorrow", the third of which is a demo of "Our Lady of Sorrows".[12] The album's deluxe edition comes with a DVD[7] that features twelve of the band'smusic videos. Among these is the previously unreleased video for "Blood" and the scrapped introduction to the clip for "Na Na Na (Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na)".[12]
"Fake Your Death" is apiano ballad.[13] Alongside the band's regular members, the song featuresJames Dewees on keyboard.[14] It is the album's opening track.[1] Evan Sawdey ofPopMatters described the song as "bombastic", and felt that it was comparable to a song fromThe Black Parade.[1] It was previously recorded for their scrapped fifth studio album, and ended up being the last song the band had completed before breaking up.[9] According toFrank Iero, the song was the only recording from the project that was suitable for release, saying that the other tracks from it were unsalvageable and unlikely to ever be released officially.[15] Gerard Way stated that he viewed the song as a "eulogy for the band", as well as its "final fully realized collaboration", though he did not initially create the song with the idea that it would be the band's last.[9]
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 79/100[17] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Alternative Addiction |    [10] |
| AllMusic | [11] |
| Drowned in Sound | 7/10[16] |
| PopMatters | [1] |
May Death Never Stop You received generally positive reviews from critics. On review aggregatorMetacritic, it holds a score of 79 based on 4 critic reviews.[17]
Evan Sawdey ofPopMatters describedMay Death Never Stop You as a "fitting monument" to My Chemical Romance's legacy and discography.[1] Similar thoughts were written by Carla Washbourne ofDrowned in Sound.[16] Sawdey felt that, in most cases, creating a compilation of the band's work would have been difficult, and highlighted band's decision to use fan-favorite songs over what he considered to be "less interesting" radio singles as helping combat this.[1] Similar thoughts were echoed byAllMusic'sStephen Erlewine and Carla Washbourne ofDrowned in Sound.[11][16] Erlewine further described the compilation as highlighting how most of the band's best songs were able to stand on their own, even when taken out of their associated albums.[11]
Sawdey criticized the demos included in the album, describing them as "weak and disposable". He also criticized the lack of some fan-favorite songs, such as B-sides or songs fromConventional Weapons, feeling that those should have been included over the demos.[1]Alternative Addiction felt that the songs included on the album weren't the best choices, criticizing the lack of material fromConventional Weapons and the exclusions of "Thank You for the Venom" and "Dead!". And while he believed that these omissions were flaws, he felt that they didn't significantly impact the release.[10] Washbourne liked the inclusion of the demos and felt that while the album slightly prioritized the band's more popular material, the track list effectively functioned as an "evolutionary tree" of My Chemical Romance's discography, with the addition of "Fake Your Death" converting it into a "smartly chronological last hurrah".[16]
In the United States,May Death Never Stop You debuted and peaked at #9 on theBillboard 200, spending 6 weeks on that chart.[18] In the United Kingdom, it reached #15 on theUK Albums chart,[19] and was later certified platinum by theBritish Phonographic Industry.[20] In New Zealand, it peaked at #22 on theNew Zealand Albums chart[21] and has been certified gold byRecorded Music NZ.[22] Elsewhere, it charted on the album charts for Hungary (#2),[23] Australia (#11),[24] Ireland (#13),[25] Scotland (#17),[26] and Czechia (#25).[27]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Originally from | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Fake Your Death" | James Dewees,Frank Iero,Ray Toro,Gerard Way,Mikey Way | Previously unreleased | 3:21 |
| 2. | "Honey, This Mirror Isn't Big Enough for the Two of Us" | Iero, Matt Pelissier, Toro, G. Way, M. Way | I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love | 3:53 |
| 3. | "Vampires Will Never Hurt You" | Iero, Pelissier, Toro, G. Way, M. Way | I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love | 5:26 |
| 4. | "Helena" | Iero, Pelissier, Toro, G. Way, M. Way | Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge | 3:26 |
| 5. | "You Know What They Do to Guys Like Us in Prison" | Iero, Pelissier, Toro, G. Way, M. Way | Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge | 2:55 |
| 6. | "I'm Not Okay (I Promise)" | Iero, Pelissier, Toro, G. Way, M. Way | Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge | 3:08 |
| 7. | "The Ghost of You" | Iero, Pelissier, Toro, G. Way, M. Way | Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge | 3:57 |
| 8. | "Welcome to the Black Parade" | Bob Bryar, Iero, Toro, G. Way, M. Way | The Black Parade | 5:14 |
| 9. | "Cancer" | Bryar, Iero, Toro, G. Way, M. Way | The Black Parade | 2:25 |
| 10. | "Mama" | Bryar, Iero, Toro, G. Way, M. Way | The Black Parade | 4:39 |
| 11. | "Teenagers" | Bryar, Iero, Toro, G. Way, M. Way | The Black Parade | 2:42 |
| 12. | "Famous Last Words" | Bryar, Iero, Toro, G. Way, M. Way | The Black Parade | 5:00 |
| 13. | "Na Na Na (Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na)" | Bryar, Iero, Toro, G. Way, M. Way | Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys | 3:26 |
| 14. | "Sing" | Iero, Toro, G. Way, M. Way | Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys | 4:31 |
| 15. | "Planetary (Go!)" | Iero, Toro, G. Way, M. Way | Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys | 4:07 |
| 16. | "The Kids from Yesterday" | Iero, Toro, G. Way, M. Way | Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys | 5:26 |
| 17. | "Skylines and Turnstiles" (demo version) | Pelissier, Toro, G. Way, M. Way | Previously unreleased | 3:30 |
| 18. | "Knives/Sorrow" (demo version) | Pelissier, Toro, G. Way, M. Way | Previously unreleased | 2:14 |
| 19. | "Cubicles" (demo version) | Pelissier, Toro, G. Way, M. Way | Previously unreleased | 4:00 |
| Total length: | 73:20 | |||
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "I'm Not Okay (I Promise)" (version 1) | 1:48 |
| 2. | "I'm Not Okay (I Promise)" (version 2) | 7:43 |
| 3. | "Helena" | 23:06 |
| 4. | "The Ghost of You" | 4:26 |
| 5. | "Welcome to the Black Parade" | 24:20 |
| 6. | "Famous Last Words" | 11:30 |
| 7. | "I Don't Love You" | 14:54 |
| 8. | "Teenagers" | 6:07 |
| 9. | "Blood" (previously unreleased) | 1:30 |
| 10. | "Na Na Na (Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na)" / "Art Is the Weapon" | 9:34 |
| 11. | "Sing" | 4:37 |
| 12. | "Planetary (Go!)" | 16:55 |
Credits adapted fromiTunes.[28]
Band members
Additional musicians
| Chart (2014) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums (ARIA)[24] | 11 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[29] | 147 |
| Czech Albums (ČNS IFPI)[27] | 25 |
| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[30] | 66 |
| Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ)[23] | 2 |
| Irish Albums (IRMA)[25] | 13 |
| Italian Albums (FIMI)[31] | 67 |
| Japanese Albums (Oricon)[32] | 37 |
| New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[21] | 22 |
| Polish Albums (ZPAV)[33] | 37 |
| Scottish Albums (OCC)[26] | 17 |
| Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[34] | 61 |
| UK Albums (OCC)[19] | 15 |
| UK Rock & Metal Albums (OCC)[35] | 1 |
| USBillboard 200[18] | 9 |
| US Indie Store Album Sales (Billboard)[36] | 16 |
| USTop Alternative Albums (Billboard)[37] | 2 |
| USTop Rock Albums (Billboard)[38] | 2 |
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| New Zealand (RMNZ)[22] | Gold | 7,500‡ |
| United Kingdom (BPI)[20] | Platinum | 300,000‡ |
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. | ||
| Studio albums | |
|---|---|
| Compilation albums | |
| Video albums | |
| Singles |
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| Promotional singles | |
| Other songs | |
| Tours | |
| Related articles | |
