In their near-decade of existence, My Chemical Romance has had plenty of rather huge moments: touring with Green Day, premiering the first single from their Black Parade album some 70 stories above New York City and covering Bob Dylan for the “Watchmen” soundtrack, just to name a few.

But according to the band themselves, all of those achievements pale in comparison to their sprawling, spastic video for “Na Na Na”. To hear them tell it, just making the clip was the biggest achievement of their entire career … because it capped a long journey back from the brink.
“It was a really big moment for the band. It was a really special moment, because it was all of us together, acting, living it, being part of it, like living the actual dream that we had all talked about … and then to physically be in it?” MCR frontman Gerard Way told MTV News. “It was, to me, the biggest moment ever, being in this band. It used to be when I walked on the set of [the] ‘Black Parade’ [video], but now it’s that moment where I can remember the sun shining on us, and there’s dirt everywhere and sand and we’re all running around firing ray guns. That was the biggest moment to me.”

And though, by his own estimation, Way spent “three … or four years” toiling away on the basic concept of the “Na Na Na” video (and MCR’s brand-new Killjoys reinvention), his greatest achievement as co-director was creating a visceral, hard-charging thrill ride for his bandmates. And years from now, that’s what they’ll remember most about the clip.

“It was incredible … it was so much fun,” guitarist Frank Iero laughed. “Any time you get a chance to drive really fast in the desert, shooting ray guns at dudes in Dracula masks … are you kidding me?”