In the 1980s heyday of New Jersey rock, the Garden State's favorite frontmen made videos featuring them posing ironically in front of American flags, masquerading as toothsome cowboys, pulling young girls onstage and soaring high above crowds during sold-out arena tours. In short, it was pretty much all good times.

It's funny how things have changed.

"When I first read the treatment for the new video, I got emotional. I realized it was going to be very sad," Gerard Way, lead singer of Jersey's goth-punk quintet My Chemical Romance explained. "The song is about my grandmother, who passed away. She taught me how to sing and paint and how to perform. She was an artist, and she pushed me to be an artist. We were really close, so making the video was really good closure for me, personally. It's one of those things where I knew I was going to have to face my fears."

The song Way is referring to is "Helena," the shattering and shredded lead track on MCR's breakthrough album, Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge. It's also the second single off the record — following in the footsteps of "I'm Not Okay (I Promise)," which, powered by a "Rushmore"-inspired clip, garnered major airplay on MTV2 and mtvU and earned the band a whole bunch of new fans.

Not too shabby for the group's first effort.

"There's pressure, but we know that the video for 'Helena' is our chance to be known as a 'video' band. We could be like the Smashing Pumpkins, a band that always made these movies instead of just a bunch of guys in a basement," Way said. "I think it's going to be very different from 'I'm Not Okay.' It's not funny at all. The best way to describe the video is 'very sad and celebratory, upsetting and uplifting at the same time.' It was a risk, but we've always taken risks. And this video is the biggest risk we've ever taken."

The clip, helmed by Marc Webb (who directed "I'm Not Okay"), takes place in a rickety church and features the band presiding over the funeral of a young girl. The mourners are played entirely by MCR fans, who applied to be extras via the band's Web site. There's plenty of black suits and eyeliner and Gothic-inspired cobwebby umbrellas. Oh, and interpretive dance, too.

  More on this and other "TRL" Breakout Stars

The choreographer who worked on Björk's 'It's Oh So Quiet' video worked on this one. It's a funeral, so it's very somber and very depressing, but as soon as the fast part of the song kicks in, everybody starts dancing in this Busby Berkeley style," Way said. "And the girl in the coffin dances, and it's really beautiful. When I watched it through the monitor I got so upset I had to leave the room. It's really sad. Because it's her last dance."

But it's not all weepy on the MCR front. Take, for example, their just-announced tour with punk heavyweights Green Day (see "Green Day Taking My Chemical Romance On Tour This Spring"). It's not every day that you get to share a venue with your idols.

"Oh man. Billie Joe from Green Day influenced everything about how I play guitar," Way laughed. "He just made it look so easy. He was the first person I aped. And if it wasn't for Green Day I wouldn't have picked up a guitar.

"The band couldn't believe it when we heard the news," Way continued. "I got the call and I was in the street in New York City and it was pouring rain, but I was just yelling and people were staring at me. And that was everybody's response. I think [drummer] Bob [Bryar] fell down a flight of stairs when he heard the news."

For more news, info and music from Breakout Stars check out "Spankin' New Presents Breakout Stars Week."