A band defined as much by their shifting eras and changing personas as by individual songs, it isn’t the easiest ask to draw a Top 20 from My Chemical Romance’s sprawling catalogue. Strip away the razorblade eyeshadow, ghostly foundation and striking hair dye, however, and there are common goals running throughout: to balance the romance and nihilism at odds in their songwriting, to process the demons (addiction, anxiety, loss) within, and to prove that these four together – vocalist Gerard Way, guitarists Frank Iero and Ray Toro, bassist Mikey Way – could take on anyone.
“We all felt like outcasts,” Gerard told Kerrang! back in the day. “That’s what brought us together. We thrive on conflict, opposition… everything. At first it felt like us versus New York City. Then it felt like the band versus America. Now it’s us versus the world.”
These are the tracks that helped MCR win the war…