Life on the Murder Scene

Life on the Murder Scene consists of three discs, including two DVDs and one CD.^[1] The first DVD contains footage of My Chemical Romance's live performances.^[1][2] It also includes the music videos for the singles "I'm Not Okay (I Promise)", "Helena", and "The Ghost of You", from the band's second album Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge.^[1] The other DVD contains a documentary of the band's history up to that point,^[2] presented as a series of "video diaries".^[1][3]

The CD also contains recordings of the band's live performances, specifically from MTV2 $2 Bill and Sessions@AOL, and from a show at the Starland Ballroom. It also contains two demos:^[1] "Bury Me in Black", an unfinished song that was included as a bonus track for the Japanese release of Revenge,^[4] and a demo for "I Never Told You What I Do for a Living".^[1] Also included is the previously unreleased "Desert Song",^[2] another song that was scrapped from Revenge.^[5]

Life on the Murder Scene was announced on October 14, 2005.^[6] It was released on March 21, 2006,^[7] through Reprise Records.^[1] The album's cover art is a live reenactment of Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge's cover, which depicts a couple covered in blood.^[6] 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.^[8]

In the United States, Life on the Murder Scene reached number 30 on the Billboard 200 chart,^[9] number 9 on Top Rock Albums,^[10] and number 3 on Music Video Sales.^[11] 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.^[12] In the United Kingdom, it reached number one on the UK Rock & Metal chart^[13] and 53 on the UK Albums Chart.^[14] It has been certified gold by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) as an album, indicating shipment of over 100,000 units.^[15] Elsewhere, it reached number two on both the Australian Music DVD and New Zealand Music DVD charts,^[16][17] number ten on the Mexican Albums chart,^[18] 15 on the Canadian Albums chart,^[19] and 40 on the Irish Albums chart.^[20] It has also been certified platinum in Argentina.^[21]

More information Review scores, Source ...

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[3]
Billboard	Positive[22]
Prefix Magazine	4/10[23]
Rolling Stone	[24]

Close

Stephen Thomas Erlewine, writing for AllMusic, described Life on the Murder Scene as a snapshot of the band during their early history, combining two widespread ways for band's to preserve history—namely a live album and live video—in one.^[3] 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.^[3] Jenny Eliscu of Rolling Stone said that the release highlighted the band's "punk" nature during their live performances.^[24] Christa L. Titus of Billboard 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".^[22] 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.^[23]

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.^[24] 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.^[3] Liebowitz and Titus also criticized the track selection's repetition, the latter calling it "overkill".^[22][23]

Adapted from the album's liner notes.^[1]