Album Anniversaries: 20 Years of My Chemical Romance's ‘I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love’

My Chemical Romance’s debut album began as a creative outlet for frontman Gerard Way to cope with witnessing the horrors of 9/11, but ultimately built the foundations for a new generation of emo.

Written by Audrey Vieira

For many of the millions who consider themselves part of the “MCRmy,” My Chemical Romance is a form of therapy. They find community in their friendships with other fans of the now-iconic emo rockers, and gain catharsis by coming together to sing the chorus of the band’s 2004 hit, “I’m Not Okay.” Even the band’s lore-heavy concept albums offer escapism, transporting listeners into the gothic afterlife of The Black Parade or the flamboyant dystopia of Danger Days.

Despite bringing joy to millions of fans, My Chemical Romance was born directly as a result of unspeakable tragedy. Vocalist Gerard Way started the band exactly one day after witnessing the 9/11 attacks on the commute from his native New Jersey to his Cartoon Network internship in New York City. In need of a creative outlet to cope with the experience, he wrote the lyrics for “Skylines and Turnstiles” before recruiting his younger brother Mikey Way, as well as friends Matt Pelissier, Ray Toro, and Frank Iero, to record the band’s debut album, I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love.

Released just 10 months after the 9/11 attacks, Bullets is perhaps the earliest example of post-hardcore for the post-9/11 era. Whereas some country artists addressed the attacks with nationalist rhetoric, Way was the antithesis of a country musician, having been kicked out of his first band as a teenager for being unable to play “Sweet Home Alabama” on guitar. No wonder My Chemical Romance instead embraced the anguish and angst of emo. “Skylines and Turnstiles,” of course, is the most direct example of this, as Way describes the “steel corpses” of the Twin Towers falling before he asks, “...after seeing what we saw / Can we still reclaim our innocence?”

In addition to the direct response to 9/11 on “Skylines and Turnstiles,” Bullets also incorporates apocalyptic imagery while rejecting conformity with songs such as “Vampires Will Never Hurt You” and “Early Sunsets Over Monroeville.” The latter imagines Way losing a lover to a zombie bite, mourning the time he took for granted with her, his voice becoming increasingly desperate as it becomes more and more apparent that she is doomed. The former, on the other hand, depicts a vampirism epidemic from the perspective of a man desperate not to become a bloodsucking creature of the night. “Vampires” also embraces nonconformity early on, setting the stage for similar themes in My Chemical Romance’s later works as Way screams, “And if they get me… put the spike in my heart!” But most importantly, both songs capture the same anguish in their conceptual worlds as “Skylines and Turnstiles” does in response to real-life tragedy, indicating early on how My Chemical Romance would eventually resonate with millions of fans.

Bullets may not be as cohesive as My Chemical Romance’s later efforts, but it is a perfect introduction to all the best elements of My Chemical Romance’s music, including their heavier influences. However, these influences became less audible in their later works, especially the poppy Danger Days. Sure, there isn’t exactly a storyline throughout the album like that of the band’s 2004 major label debut Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge, but Bullets’ closing track “Demolition Lovers” introduces the concept of the two doomed lovers at the heart of that album, establishing the lore of their second album in the final moments of their debut. My Chemical Romance may not have begun with The Black Parade, but the now-iconic rock opera’s rebellious nature and rejection of conformity are built on the same ideas present in Bullets.

And it’s unfortunate that Bullets is sometimes overshadowed by its successors, because even if it were the only album that My Chemical Romance released, it would still be important, and while Bullets has gone on to influence much of the band’s later work, none of those albums are as raw or as heavy as the one where it all began. Its brilliance is not only visible in how My Chemical Romance captured the angst and anguish of the world in 2002, but how these feelings remain relevant in 2022. Now, the band which began as a form of therapy for its members brings the same comfort to millions of listeners, many of whom were born after the album’s release, who are dealing with a very different world, but perhaps with traumatic experiences of their own. Both a glimpse into the past and a must-listen for present-day fans, Bullets is a time capsule into the uncertainty of the early aughts that continues to age like a fine wine.