My Chemical Romance’s Debut Album Turns 18

My Chemical Romance’s debut album, I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love, was released 18 years ago today, New Noise reported.

The New Jersey band formed in late 2001 and was quickly snapped up by Eyeball Records. Their debut album was released on July 23, 2002, by the indie label. It features cult songs such as “Vampires Will Never Hurt You,” and “Honey, This Mirror Isn’t Big Enough For The Two Of Us.” It catapulted them to the forefront of the early 2000s emo scene.

Lead singer Gerard Way was inspired to start the group after witnessing the September 11, 2001, terror attacks, PPCorn reported. The original lineup consisted of Way, his brother Mikey Way, Ray Toro, and Matt Pelissier. Rhythm guitarist Frank Iero joined just before they began working on the debut.

The record subsequently piqued interest from larger labels, and the band was later signed to Reprise Records and Warner Bros. Records, where they recorded their next three albums before breaking up in 2013. They’re best known for their 2006 album, The Black Parade.

This anniversary is more special for My Chemical Romance groupies, who dubbed themselves the “MCRmy,” a play on “army” and the acronym for My Chemical Romance, as the band reunited last October. After a 6-year break, they announced their reunion show last Halloween, which took place on December 20 at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. Shortly after, they announced U.S. and European tour dates.

So far, the members of My Chemical Romance have not publicly acknowledged the event. Fans took to Twitter to share their appreciation and to reminisce on how far My Chemical Romance has come since 2002.

“Happy release day to my personal favorite mcr album #mychemicalromance,” a follower tweeted.

“Happy 18th birthday to one of my favorite albums of all time…I’ve been a fan from day one and I’ll be a fan till the end…if you don’t have this on repeat all day today you’re doing it wrong!” another person reminisced.

“I hold Bullets era My Chemical Romance very close to my heart… happy 18 years bby,” wrote another follower, who also added a black heart emoji.

“happy birthday to bullets and that whole era! they really didn’t know what was going to come and i am so proud of them #mychemicalromance,” a final person gushed.

Unfortunately for fans, their reunion tour was postponed until 2021 due to COVID-19. In the meantime, they can catch The Umbrella Academy, an adaptation of lead singer Gerard Way’s comic book, on Netflix. Season 1 of the show premiered in February of 2019, and the second season is due to air on July 31.