"Long ago / Just like the Hearse you die to get in again..." With those dramatic words, most fans had their introduction to a new kind of emo band: New Jersey's own My Chemical Romance. More than two decades after catapulting into the mainstream with 2004's Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge, the band have revisited it with a new expanded and remixed edition.

Re-released by Reprise on June 6 and available on CD, vinyl and digitally, Three Cheers now features a striking new remix from original engineer Rich Costey and four unreleased bonus live performances recorded by the BBC in the wake of the album's original release. The album also sports a new cover image, as well, drawing from original art elements in the original packaging.

Formed by songwriter and budding comic book artist Gerard Way in the suburbs of New Jersey after the events of September 11, 2001, My Chem featured Way on vocals, his younger brother Mikey on bass, guitarists Frank Iero (formerly of Pencey Prep) and Ray Toro and drummer Matt Pelissier. After independently releasing 2002's I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love (produced by Geoff Rickly of alt-rock heroes Thursday), the group fleshed out their live presence and burgeoning fan base in the early days of social media. The work paid off, with the band signing to Reprise for their next project.

With bright production from Howard Benson and wildly catchy songcraft, Three Cheers began life as a vaguely conceptual project before giving way to thematic brushstrokes about love's enduring pleasure and life's unending pain, from mental health to substance abuse. Combining the sonic highs of emo, pop-punk and good old-fashioned arena rock, My Chem walked away with a triple-platinum album that featured fan favorites like "I'm Not Okay (I Promise)" and "Helena," a surprise Top 40 crossover hit. The band, which would replace Pelissier with drummer Bob Bryar a month after Three Cheers' release, would open for Green Day on their American Idiot tour before co-headlining the Warped Tour alongside Fall Out Boy in 2005, kicking off a new wave of crossover emo and alt-rock acts from Hot Topic to the heartland.

And the band themselves would only get bigger: the conceptual albums The Black Parade (2006) and Danger Days: The True Lives of The Fabulous Killjoys (2010) were each Top 10 albums in America, with the single "Welcome to the Black Parade" becoming a Top 10 pop smash in the U.S. and a U.K. No. 1 hit. The band split up in 2013 but reunited six years later, mounting a hotly-anticipated reunion tour across arenas in 2022 after enduring the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic. (The band toured with a session drummer in place of Bryar, who retired from performing before his death in 2024.) Following Three Cheers' first-ever Top 10 placement with this reissue, the band will embark on another tour this summer, playing The Black Parade (expanded and reissued for its 10th anniversary in 2016) in its entirety.

The remixed and expanded Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge is available now and can be purchased at the links below. As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases.

Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge (Deluxe Edition) (originally released as Reprise 48615, 2004 - reissued Reprise 093624838883, 2025)

CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
2LP (red/black marble): Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
2LP (silver/black corona - Amazon exclusive): Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

1. Helena
2. Give 'Em Hell, Kid
3. To the End
4. You Know What They Do to Guys Like Us in Prison
5. I'm Not Okay (I Promise)
6. The Ghost of You
7. The Jetset Life is Gonna Kill You
8. Interlude
9. Thank You for the Venom
10. Hang 'Em High
11. It's Not a Fashion Statement, It's a Fucking Deathwish
12. Cemetery Drive
13. I Never Told You What I Do for a Living
14. I'm Not Okay (I Promise) (Live on BBC Radio 1's The Lock-Up - 1/23/2005) *
15. Helena (Live on BBC Radio 1's The Lock-Up - 1/23/2005) *
16. The Ghost of You (Live on BBC Radio 1's The Lock-Up - 1/23/2005) *
17. You Know What They Do to Guys Like Us in Prison (Live on BBC Radio 1's The Lock-Up - 1/23/2005) *

All tracks newly mixed by Rich Costey. 2LP includes Tracks 14-17 (* previously unreleased) on Side C