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The Jersey boys go from flirting with mortality on The Black Parade to time-traveling to 2019 as the Killjoys, a group of revelers out to destroy evildoers Better Living Industries. The concept is a tad flimsy, but in the hands of the Queen of pop-punk, it's a grandiose affair. The madness comes to a head with ragers "Na Na Na," "Planetary (GO!)" and the surf-punk "Vampire Money," while new-wave synths give a futuristic glow to mid-tempo ballads "Summertime" and "Sing." It may just be the most fun sci-fi comic punk opera ever; watch out, Green Day, MCR may be your future rivals on Broadway.

For its ambition, The Black Parade echoes that other rock record of Oct., 2006, the Killers' Sam's Town: brash guitars, brassy horns and Gerard Way's adenoidal yelp drive a concept album about a cancer victim's ghost (or something). Unlike their Vegas brethren, though, MCR don't switch up styles in an effort to squeeze a little gravitas out of their glossy rock. On this follow up to their 2004 breakout, they're slam-dancing with the vaguely gothic, amphetamine-laced sound that brung 'em. See if you don't do a spit-take when the titular single storms the ramparts toward the end. Epic and gutsy.

My Chemical Romance's Gerard Way is the kind of artist who evokes feelings of the concerned parent in listeners not bouncing off one another to the strains of his angst-ragged screaming. Both camps are handed the opportunity to witness how this translates into a live spectacle with Life on the Murder Scene, but don't expect too much casual banter with the crowds.