My Chemical Romance wants to make it all cool again - guitar solos, concept albums, rock stars, melody and ambition.

Their first two releases from the New Jersey band hinted at such goals, but The Black Parade sealed it - a sweeping set of music with a cancer-stricken character examining life, death and the purpose of being on the planet. It's dark yet exhilarating.

"I am not afraid to keep on living," singer Gerard Way declares in Famous Last Words, while stridently vowing "We'll carry on" in the title track. The soaring melodies and wild guitar recalls the best work of Queen or Pink Floyd with a decidedly punk bent.

"We're really trying to be like a worldwide band. I think that's what we've always wanted to be. We never wanted to be a flash in the pan," said guitarist Ray Toro during a stop in Brisbane on MCR's sold-out Australian tour. "We intend to have a career. We don't wanna show up and disappear. A lot of good bands have done that. We definitely intend to stay."

How did The Black Parade turn into a concept album?

"The first song, The End, it just had such an epic feel. From the opening line it just sounded like Gerard was getting ready to tell a story. That was when we first talked about doing a concept record. The material we were writing was just getting more and more exciting, a little crazier than the next. Each song progressively got a little more weirder, a little more fun."

Often record companies don't encourage that.

"We feel like we know what we're doing and we know what we want. The label was just supportive of it and always has been. There's never been a moment when they've overstepped their bounds. If it happens, it hasn't happened to us. That support helps you write the records you want."

Was there self-doubt as this came together?

"After all is said and done you're like 'I wonder if people are going to get this?' You never want to let that change what you're writing. You never want those questions to influence the direction you're taking, the songs you're writing. People want honest music. Not written for them or the label, not for anybody but the band themselves. People are smarter than they're given credit for and they can see through (BS)."

Many have compared the songs and your guitar solos to Brian May of Queen.

"I appreciate it. He's one of my favorite guitarists. I just love his work. I love how he takes guitar and makes it very symphonic. That guy is capable of everything. He can lay back when he needs to, then writes some of the best leads. He comes up with great harmonies, he's a great singer. To me it's an honor for anybody to say that I play like him or the parts remind them of Queen. That's a huge honor."

It has helped bring a sense of melody back into the picture.

"We've kind of tried to start exploring those ideas on the last record. It seems like there was a period of time in modern music where guitar solos or good guitar leads just weren't done. Definitely a lot of the bands we were touring with at the time were 'What? A guitar solo?' A lot of people associate the guitar solo with showing off and being excessive. It all depends on what you do with it. If it's tasteful and adds something to the song then hell yeah you should do it. (The hit single) I'm Not OK was definitely a conscious effort - 'Let's try to bring back the guitar solo in modern rock.' We continued and pushed it further on the new record."

How hard are these songs to play live?

"It was a little difficult for me especially when we first started doing them. There's a lot of singing for me. On the record Gerard does all his harmonies himself. Live, I have to do them. You have to program your brain to play the guitar parts and sing at the same time. The songs are just a ton of fun to play. The kids' response to the new stuff is even better than the previous two albums."

Do you feel like you're in a moment?

"I feel that we definitely have a lot of momentum. Everything just seems to keep growing. It's just amazing to watch. It's really crazy, a crazy time. We're taken aback and shocked at how people have taken this record and made it their own. It's like graduation day when you let it out into the world. We're having the best time of our lives right now. It's like a train that keeps going and going. It's unreal."

Making a connection

In perhaps the oddest matchup since Toni Tenille sang backup on Pink Floyd's The Wall, pop icon Liza Minnelli sings with My Chemical Romance's Gerard Way on the song Mama. How did that happen?

"It was a phone call," guitarist Ray Toro said. "Gerard was kind of joking around. There's this part in the song (that) Gerard did in a female voice and we weren't happy with it. (Producer Rob Cavallo) just asked 'Who would you want to sing that part?' He said 'I don't know, someone like Liza Minnelli maybe?' A couple of days later we got the word she'd sing on the record."

Hooked up via Integrated Services Digital Network lines in studios in Los Angeles and New York, "she was awesome. She came up with her own little melody. She was going for it. She was hilarious. It was just a joy to work with her."

If you go

• When and where: 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Magness Arena, DU

• Cost: Sold out at press time, but extra tickets may be

released at $26.25

• Of note: Rise Against opens the show.

• Information: 303-830-8497 or www.ticketmaster.com

Mark Brown is the popular music critic. Brownm@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-2674

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