Marilyn Manson vs. My Chemical Romance

Fightin' Words: "Rebels without applause/ I sell my shadow to those who are standing in it" ('Mutilation Is the Most Sincere Form of Flattery,' Manson)

The aging shock rocker took shots at a younger generation, claiming that MCR owes him an unacknowledged debt. MCR frontman Gerard Way, astutely noting that many feuds occur when one of the offending parties has a new record to promote, dismissed Manson: "If Elvis Costello said we sucked we would think about it a bit ... We still haven't found someone that has knocked us down that we need to take seriously."

Judges' Decision: My Chemical Romance gets the last laugh

With their album 'The Black Parade' and subsequent tours, My Chemical Romance have emerged as one of the most theatrical and visually compelling bands in rock, hearkening back to a time when concerts were feats for the eyes as well as the ears. Backstage at Projekt Revolution, where the quintet continues to display its grand artistic style with pyrotechnics and an elaborate stage setup, frontman Gerard Way offered some insight into where the band might have gotten its ideas by listing his favorite visual rock acts.

1. The Smashing Pumpkins: Not only did each of their members embody a completely different feeling, but with each record they evolved and grew the hell up and really pushed it and tapped into things like Fritz Lang and 'Voyage to The Moon' and things like that. That's ballsy stuff, and it becomes art rock at that point. I really feel no matter what anybody says about what we do, we're doing art rock. It's on a grand scale, but it's art rock.

2. Queen: Another band that evolved -- you have Freddie [Mercury] as a harlequin, a greaser, wearing a parade jacket, and everybody in that band evolving with him in their own unique way.