The Strokes and My Chemical Romance might be polar opposites but Julian Casablancas and Gerard Way share similar traits as they found frustrations of leading a band whilst being trapped by a reputation gained from early success.The Strokes might exist but demand for a new album isn't so high anymore allowing Julian to release his passions under his own name but the pressures and expectations for My Chemical Romance proved to be key to the split which appeared to come out of the blue. It's four years since Danger Days: The True Lives Of The Fabulous Killjoys, eighteen months since the band broke up and Gerard is back with a new image, fresh sound and a rebirth of enthusiasm with Hesitant Alien, a debut album which screams freedom as it explores an array of sounds which the guidelines of My Chemical Romance's demographic never allowed.
Every avenue Gerard goes down on Hesitant Alien is executed with perfection from The Killers-esque Brother, a piano heavy stadium rock anthem to the Brit pop swagger of Get The Gang Together. Millions has an air of Green Day, before they went stale about it whilst Juarez is the most aggressive Gerard has been since MCR drug fueled debut, I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love. The sense of adventure runs through the album from power pop opener The Bureau to the deliciously upbeat honesty on How It's Going To Be.
The singles Action Cat and No Shows felt like My Chemical Romance b-sides, I wasn't wowed so I was pleasantly surprised how the rest of the album panned out. The front man got every element right, my only concern is where will it fit in, will he lose the MCRmy but carry on trying to win over the haters?
The shackles are off and Gerard is in his element. The biggest difference between the solo releases from the Prince of Indie and the Prince of Emo? One has created something accessible, the other hasn't.
