here's a definition for emo
Emo or emocore is a subgenre of punk rock music. Use of the term (and which musicians should be so classified) has been the subject of much debate.
In its original incarnation, the term "emo" was used to describe the music of the mid-1980s DC scene and its associated bands. Eventually, the DC scene adopted the term "emo-core", short for "emotional hardcore", derived from the fact that, on occasion, members of a band would become spontaneously and literally emotional during performances. The most recognizable names of the period included Rites of Spring, Embrace, One Last Wish, Beefeater, Grey Matter, Fire Party and slightly later, Moss Icon. The first wave of emo began to fade after the breakups of most of the involved bands in the early 1990s.
Starting in the mid-1990s, the "emo" began to reflect the indie scene that followed the influences of Fugazi, which itself was an offshoot of the first wave of emo. Bands including Sunny Day Real Estate and Texas Is the Reason put forth a more indie rock brand of emo, which was more melodic and less chaotic in nature than its predecessor. The so-called "indie emo" scene survived until the end of the 1990s, as many of the bands either disbanded or shifted their style to the mainstream.
As the remaining indie emo bands entered the mainstream, newer bands began to emulate the more mainstream style, creating a style of music that has now earned the moniker "emo" within popular culture. Whereas, even in the past, the term "emo" was used to identify a wide variety of bands, the breadth of bands listed under today's emo is even more vast, leaving the term "emo" as more of a loose identifier than as a specific genre of music.
So as we can see there is definite problem with people labelling music these days.
In no way would I ever consider my chemical romance or the used emo. nfw.
People who feel the need to classify music under emo are just lazy that they can't figure out which goes where.
Are there ane true emo bands? I've got no idea, and it's clear that general people don't have a clue either.
Even wikipedia defines my chemical romance and the used as emo. have a look.
"In turn, the term "emo" shifted to describe a form of music significantly different from its forebearers. And, in an even more expanded way than in the 90s, the term came to encompass an extremely wide variety of bands, many of whom had very little in common. Today, "emo" is often used to describe such wide-ranging bands as Coheed and Cambria, Taking Back Sunday, The Starting Line, Brand New, Something Corporate, The Used, A Static Lullaby, From First To Last, Finch, Silverstein, From Autumn To Ashes, Hawthorne Heights, and My Chemical Romance.
In many cases, "new emo" bands are simply trying to pursue their own version of the "emo" that came before on their own terms. However, the backlash stemming from the success of a few seemingly "less emo" (and more popular in the mainstream) bands, including Dashboard and The Used, has brought an increasingly substantial pool of detractors.
In a strange twist, screamo, a sub-genre of the new emo, has found greater popularity in recent years through bands such as Thrice and Glassjaw. The term "screamo", however, was used to describe an entirely different genre in the early 1990s, and the bands themselves more resemble the emocore of the early 1990s."
"As the chorus of detractors increased, emo became more and more a target of derision. Like the Goth scene, people who focus on emo music often share a dark and emotional psyche that makes them feel like they belong outside the mainstream. They tend to thrive on the emotional ups and downs that are typically prevalent in emotionally-driven music such as emo. At the same time, fans of other rock genres, which often emphasize aggression and anger, accuse emo of being too "soft" and whiny."
anyone agree with that last paragraph?
