Life on the Murder Scene is a live and compilation album by the American rock band My Chemical Romance. It was released on March 21, 2006, through Reprise Records. Containing three discs—specifically two DVDs and one CD—the release includes several live recordings, a documentary of the band's history up to that point, two demo tracks, and the previously unreleased "Desert Song".

Life on the Murder Scene received mixed reviews from critics. Commercially, it charted in multiple countries, reaching number one on the UK Rock & Metal chart and the top ten in multiple others. It has been certified 2× platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and platinum by the Argentine Chamber of Phonograms and Videograms Producers (CAPIF) as a video, and gold by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) as an album.

Content Life on the Murder Scene consists of three discs, including two DVDs and one CD. The first DVD contains footage of My Chemical Romance's live performances. It also includes the music videos for the singles "I'm Not Okay (I Promise)", "Helena", and "The Ghost of You". The other DVD contains a documentary of the band's history up to that point, presented as a series of "video diaries".

The CD also contains recordings of the band's live performances, specifically from MTV2 $2 Bill, Sessions@AOL, and a show at the Starland Ballroom. It also contains two demos: "Bury Me in Black", an unfinished song that was included as a bonus track for the Japanese release of Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge, and a demo for "I Never Told You What I Do for a Living". Also included is the previously unreleased "Desert Song", another song that was scrapped from Revenge.

Release and commercial performance Life on the Murder Scene was announced on October 14, 2005. It was released on March 21, 2006, through Reprise Records. The album's cover art is a live reenactment of Three Cheers for Sweet Revenges cover, which depicts a couple covered in blood. On April 17, 2020, the album was released on vinyl record for the first time as part of Record Store Day. A limited edition splatter vinyl was also released, limited to only 11,500 copies.

In the United States, Life on the Murder Scene reached number 30 on the Billboard 200 chart, number 9 on Top Rock Albums, and number 3 on Music Video Sales. It has been certified 2× platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) as a long-form video, indicating shipment of over 200,000 units. In the United Kingdom, it peaked atop on the UK Rock & Metal chart and number 53 on the UK Albums Chart. The British Phonographic Industry (BPI) has certified it gold as an album, indicating shipment of over 100,000 units. Elsewhere, it reached number two on both the Australian Music DVD and New Zealand Music DVD charts, number ten on the Mexican Albums chart, 15 on the Canadian Albums chart, and 40 on the Irish Albums chart. It has also been certified platinum in Argentina.

Critical reception

Stephen Thomas Erlewine, writing for AllMusic, described Life on the Murder Scene as a snapshot of the band during their early career, combining two widespread ways for bands to preserve their history—namely a live album and live video—in one. He praised the inclusion of the documentary, calling it an "insanely detailed two-hour documentary about a band that is on the cusp of breaking big" and a gift for fans. Jenny Eliscu of Rolling Stone wrote that the release highlighted the band's "punk" nature during their live performances. Billboards Christa L. Titus considered the behind-the-scenes footage of the band's music videos to be the highlight of the release, describing them as where the "unique vision is brought to life". Matt Liebowitz of Prefix Magazine criticized the band's performances, believing the band struggled with playing their songs on-stage and that the crowds were what made the release worth it.

Eliscu praised the performances of vocalist Gerard Way present on the release, calling it "top form". She also described the selection of songs present on the record as pulling "all the right guns" from their discography. Erlewine felt that the release was repetitious to non-fans of the band, criticizing the abundance of different performances of certain songs—particularly the several versions of "I'm Not Okay (I Promise)"—and calling it a "test of patience". However, he felt that these problems were less apparent with the live recordings present on the CD, saying they were "enhanced by rhythms" that worked better on-stage than in studio recordings and meshed well with Way's vocals. Liebowitz and Titus also criticized the track selection's repetition, the latter calling it "overkill".

Track listing

CD

DVD 1

DVD 2

Personnel Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes.

My Chemical Romance Bob Bryar — drums (live performance and music videos) Frank Iero — rhythm guitar, backing vocals Matt Pelissier — drums (studio tracks) Ray Toro — lead guitar, backing vocals Mikey Way — bass Gerard Way — lead vocals

DVD credits DVD post production: David May, Raena Winscott, Traci Samxzyk DVD mastered by Outpost Sound DVD menu animation designed by Magnetic Dreams DVD authoring by Mighty Forces Productions Directors: Brad Nolan & Greg Kaplan Executive producers: Craig Aaronson, Brian Schechter & Brad Nolan Camera & Interview Footage: Brad Nolan Management: Brian Schechter/Riot Squad Documentary Director/Editor: Greg Kaplan Legal: Stacy Fass Agent: Matt Galle/Ellis Industries (USA), Geoff Meall/The Agency Group (UK & Europe) A&R: Craig Aaronson Art Direction and Photography by P.R. Brown at Bau-Da Design Lab Design by Trevor Niemann at Bau-Da Design Lab

Charts

Weekly charts +2006 weekly chart performance for the album Chart (2006) Peakposition Canadian Albums (Nielsen SoundScan) 15 Mexican Albums (Top 100 Mexico) 10 UK Albums (OCC) 53 UK Rock & Metal Albums (OCC) 1

+2006 weekly chart performance for the video Chart (2006) Peakposition New Zealand Music DVD (RIANZ) 2 US Music Video Sales (Billboard) 3

+2020 weekly chart performance for the album Chart (2020) Peakposition

Monthly charts +2006 monthly chart performance for the video Chart (2006) Peakposition Argentine Music DVD (CAPIF) 7

Year-end charts +2006 year-end chart performance for the album Chart (2006) Position Mexican Albums (Top 100 Mexico) 98

+2006 year-end chart performance for the video Chart (2006) Position New Zealand Music DVD (RIANZ) 9

Certifications

References

Sources