Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge Song Sorter

About Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge

Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge dropped on June 8, 2004, their first album on Reprise. The day after their late 2003 tour ended, Gerard and Mikey's grandmother Elena died. Gerard wrote Helena for her, and in his words, "it's about two little boys losing their grandmother."

Howard Benson produced it in Los Angeles, and Ray Toro was basically its musical director. Gerard put on a different persona for every song. He did one take completely drunk and called it the worst take he ever did. That was Desert Song, and it got cut. Bert McCracken of the Used is on You Know What They Do to Guys Like Us in Prison, and Keith Morris of Black Flag is on Hang 'Em High.

It was meant to pick up the Demolition Lovers story, with the two lovers split between heaven and hell until he collects a thousand souls. After Elena died, Gerard only wrote the songs he felt like writing, so the story's loose at best. Thank You for the Venom is for the critics, and Gerard drew the cover himself after Magritte's The Lovers.

I'm Not Okay (I Promise) was the breakout, Helena went to 33 on the Hot 100, and The Ghost of You got a World War II video that's one of the most expensive ever made. The album only got to 28 on its first run, but it's sold over three million copies in the US.

Rich Costey remixed the whole thing for a deluxe edition in June 2025, and it went to number six on the Billboard 200, way past its original peak. Thirteen songs, about three minutes.