The Attic Demos commonly referred to as “Dreams of Stabbing and/or Being Stabbed” was an EP recorded by American rock band My Chemical Romance (MCR) in 2001-2002. The EP contained demos “Turnstiles,” “Bring More Knives,” “Cubicles,” “Stabbing,” and “Wish You Away.”
Recording[]
MCR only had three members at the time of the recording, Gerard Way (lead vocalist), Ray Toro (background vocalist/lead guitarist), and Matt Pellissier (drummer). The EP was recorded in Matt Pelissier's attic, hence the nickname. Ray Toro and Matt Pelissier recorded their parts of the songs in the attic, while Gerard Way sang his part in the bathroom. The demos were recorded on Ray Toro’s computer. Gerard Way showed them to his brother, Mikey Way, which convinced him to play bass for MCR. The demos were sent to Eyeball Records so that MCR could sign a contract with them. While they were at Eyeball Records, Frank Iero heard them after his band at the time, Pencey Prep, split up. He liked them and would then go on to join MCR as the rhythm guitarist.
Release[]
The EP was given only to close family and friends. There were two versions of the EP, one which contained “Turnstiles,” “Bring More Knives,” and “Cubicles.” The other version of the EP contained all of the demos.
Re-recording of the demos[]
The band would then re-record the demos into actual songs with a bunch of new songs. It then became their debut album, “I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love.” On the album, “Stabbing” became “Vampires Will Never Hurt You,” “Cubicles” kept its original name, “Turnstiles” became “Skylines and Turnstiles”, and "Bring More Knives" would become “Our Lady of Sorrows,” and “Wish You Away” would become “Drowning Lessons.” Sometime during the earlier years of YouTube, somebody acquired the first version of the EP and uploaded them with a demo of “Early Sunsets Over Monroeville.” It is thought that this Early Sunsets demo may have been fake and was just the original song but with bass and rhythm guitar absent and with the addition of horrible quality, but no one knows for sure. However, “Stabbing” and “Wish You Away” both remain lost to the public.
Mentions from the band[]
The demos were first mentioned in the documentary about MCR’s second album, “Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge,” called “Life On The Murder Scene.” Gerard Way and Ray Toro both agreed that the demos were awful, but Frank Iero and Mikey Way thought they weren’t so bad.
Recent release[]
In 2014, after MCR split up, “Cubicles,” “Bring More Knives,” and “Turnstiles” were officially released on their greatest hits album, “May Death Never Stop You.” However, they were all three under different titles. “Cubicles” were “Cubicles (Demo),” “Bring More Knives” was “Knives/Sorrow (Demo),” and “Turnstiles” was “Skylines and Turnstiles (Demo).” On the 20th anniversary of I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love, Nada Recording Studios' official Instagram page posted a video showcasing a small part of "Stabbing". It means that the demo is in the hands of Nada and most likely Eyeball Records as well to issue it.
Other[]
It is unknown as to why the other two tracks, “Stabbing” and “Wish You Away,” have never been publicly released. Throughout the years, people have falsely claimed to have the other two demos. Another interesting and important thing is that most fans think that “Wish You Away” never actually existed and was just a working title for “Drowning Lessons.”