I log onto my computer and check my favorite bands’ websites, scanning for news. It is late, and after I tour my way through Switchfoot, The Killers and Rise Against, I decide to call it quits after one more. After typing some key phrases into Google and clicking a webpage result, I am met with a strange image: an old-fashioned TV screen with several different pictures coursing through it.

A smile slowly creeps onto my face as a realization hits me: After four years since their last studio album, My Chemical Romance is back. A few months and several Twitter feeds later, Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys drops into stores, Nov. 22, and I happily place one more CD into the case kept in my car.

Danger Days focuses on the fictional lives of the characters the band created on their YouTube channel. While this may seem odd at first, the fictitious videos help give each song a sense of humanity which the average album lacks.

Through their unorthodox videos and fascinating songs, My Chemical Romance tells the story of a not-so-distant future where the majority of the population is ruled by a maniacal company that keeps the people down through poverty and brainwashing. Only the Killjoys, a small group made up of singer Gerard Way and the rest of the band, have the courage to stand up to this regime, leading to a series of small skirmishes between the two opposing sides.

Although the stories are interesting, the music is really the pinnacle of My Chemical Romance’s work, both past and present. In the band’s second single “Sing,” Way cries out these lyrics, almost in desperation, as he expresses his wish to be an individual: “Sing it for the boys, sing it for the girls / every time that you lose it sing it for the world / Sing it from the heart / Sing it till you’re nuts / Sing it out for the ones that’ll hate your guts.”

My Chemical Romance, in past albums, proclaims their theory of uniqueness being key, through punk songs like “I’m Not Ok (I Promise)” and “Teenagers.” With Danger Days, in particularly “Sing,” the band takes the idea to a new level with the concept that if one fights for one’s right to be different, one will ultimately win.

Of course, not every song is about evil corporations and guerilla-style combat. “Bulletproof Heart,” for example — one of my personal favorites — is a simple love ballad expressing the human longing to escape from society with someone exceptional.

With a driving bass-line and a punk/pop beat to back him, Way sings: “I’ve got a bulletproof heart, you’ve got a hollow point smile / me and your runaway scars / got a photograph dream on the getaway mile.”

For a band that is usually defined as dark, I found myself missing the older songs of My Chemical Romance, as this album is generally more punk than its predecessors. Thankfully, the band provides me with a lovely parting gift with a song by their old style: “Save Yourself I’ll Hold Them Back.”

The song has all the gritty lyrics and shredding guitar parts I would expect from The Black Parade, the band’s previous record, with the new punk feel expected from the rest of the songs on Danger Days.

In between guitar solos and a steady background of na-na-nas, Way sings: “I’ll tell you all how the story ends / Well, the good guys die and the bad guys win (who cares?) / I’m the only friend that makes you cry / So to save yourself, I’ll hold them back tonight.”

Even though I would prefer the band’s darker days over their more upbeat fourth album, they excel at what they do and produce a brilliant collection of music.

The entire point of the album is to teach the band’s point of view: that if you are an individualist, more power to you. Nothing can stop someone who is determined, and the band from New Jersey which formed in 2001 has truly shown this through all their works. With such a beautiful arrangement, I can foresee no power able to stop this powerhouse of musical prowess.

The best way to describe Danger Days is, as their “Na Na Na (Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na)” music video states so boldly, “The future is bulletproof. The aftermath is secondary. It’s time to do it now and do it proud. Killjoys, make some noise!”

Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys is available now on iTunes, on Amazon.com and at most music stores.

For more music reviews, read the Nov. 12 article, Michael Bubl