MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE fans - can you clue me in on band "history"?!

MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE fans - can you clue me in on band "history"?

(background) I was 'turned on' to MCR when a friend of mine loaned me her copy of "Black Parade" last year.

(I'd heard of them in passing prior to that because my niece was dating one of the band members... small world!)

What I'm very confused about is all this "controversy" over "old" MCR vs. "new" MCR, and that they're "punks" and "sellouts" and all kinds of nasty things... and I can't seem to figure out WTF happened to have people "turn" on them like that!

So the question is: WTF happened? Who did they upset/piss off?

Thanks for your help!

MCR's music has been described variously by the media as "alternative rock","emo", "pop punk", "post-hardcore" and "punk revival". The band themselves described their music as simply "rock" or "violent, dangerous pop" on their official website, as well as rejecting the term "emo" to describe their style.

Another source quotes Gerard stating they are "What-else-ya-got-emo". My Chemical Romance cite their main influences as Queen, Thursday, Iron Maiden, The Misfits, Pink Floyd, and Morrissey/The Smiths. Geoff Rickly, the lead singer of Thursday, has also compared them to Ink & Dagger.

Growing up, they were also very influenced by horror films and comic books, and therefore their music, lyrics, and image all have overt elements of fantasy, storytelling, horror, and theatricality.

In October 2006, the British Indie Rock band Kasabian criticized My Chemical Romance, labelling them "clowns" and "emo kids" who "don't have anything positive to say" and "should get out more and try and have a good time instead.

In short, some people think their music is depressing and too dark. But actually, I'm a fan of theirs and I think that they aren't promoting suicide or giving negative influences. They are trying to give people hope and courage to carry on living.