Now I know emo is a style of music, but i didn't know what it sounded like, I've never heard an emo song. I met someone who says she's a big fan of emo so I ask her to send over some songs through MSN... and I'm hearing Coheed and Cambria, Velvet Calibur and I'm left thinking... how is this different from everything else I've already heard? It sounds like normal punk or rock songs with maybe a weird instrument here or there... what am I not hearing here?
-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
What exactly is emo?
- Thread starter LakeEarth
- Start date
- Status
Cerebral Palsy
Banned
It's post-hardcore punk. I'd like to shank whoever came up with the word 'emo' in the liver. Please punch her in the face.
Oh, Coheed and Cambria rocks \m/
Oh, Coheed and Cambria rocks \m/
Yeah I'm not saying I didn't like it... I also enjoyed this band called Underoath... I'm just clueless on how it was supposed to be different. I'm guessing it's just "punk but we can't call it punk cause punk is pop now", a way of making an 'underground movement in music' in a genre already popular so it will be "cool cause people don't know about it yet".
Originally an arty outgrowth of hardcore punk, emo became an important force in underground rock by the late '90s, appealing to modern-day punks and indie-rockers alike. Some emo leans toward the progressive side, full of complex guitar work, unorthodox song structures, arty noise, and extreme dynamic shifts; some emo is much closer to punk-pop, though it's a bit more intricate. Emo lyrics are deeply personal, usually either free-associative poetry or intimate confessionals. Though it's far less macho, emo is a direct descendant of hardcore's preoccupations with authenticity and anti-commercialism; it grew out of the conviction that commercially oriented music was too artificial and calculated to express any genuine emotion. Because the emo ideal is authentic, deeply felt emotion that defies rational analysis, the style can be prone to excess in its quest for ever-bigger peaks and releases. But at its best, emo has a sweeping power that manages to be visceral, challenging, and intimate all at once. The groundwork for emo was laid by Hüsker Dü's 1984 landmark Zen Arcade, which made it possible for hardcore bands to tackle more personal subject matter and write more tuneful and technically demanding songs. Emo emerged in Washington, D.C. not long after, amidst the remnants of the hardcore scene that had produced Minor Threat and Bad Brains. The term "emo" (sometimes lengthened to "emocore") was initially used to describe hardcore bands who favored expressive vocals over the typical barking rants; the first true emo band was Rites of Spring, followed by ex-Minor Threat singer Ian MacKaye's short-lived Embrace. MacKaye's Dischord label became the center for D.C.'s growing emo scene, releasing work by Rites of Spring, Dag Nasty, Nation of Ulysses, and MacKaye's collaboration with members of Rites of Spring, Fugazi. Fugazi became the definitive early emo band, crossing over to alternative rock listeners and getting press for their uncompromisingly anti-commercial attitudes. Aside from the Dischord stable, most early emo was deeply underground, recorded by extremely short-lived bands and released on vinyl in small quantities by small labels; some vocalists literally wept onstage during song climaxes, earning derision from hardcore purists. Fugazi notwithstanding, emo didn't really break out of obscurity until the mid-'90s emergence of Sunny Day Real Estate, whose early work defined the style in the minds of many. Tempering Fugazi's gnarled guitar webs with Seattle grunge, straight-up prog-rock, and crooned vocals, SDRE launched a thousand imitators who connected with their dramatic melodies and introspective mysticism. Some of this new generation connected equally with the wry, geeky introspection and catchy punk-pop of Weezer's Pinkerton album. While several artists continued to build on Fugazi's innovations (including Quicksand and Drive Like Jehu), most '90s emo bands borrowed from some combination of Fugazi, Sunny Day Real Estate, and Weezer. Groups like the Promise Ring, the Get Up Kids, Braid, Texas Is the Reason, Jimmy Eat World, Joan of Arc, and Jets to Brazil earned substantial followings in the indie-rock world, making emo one of the more popular underground rock styles at the turn of the millennium.
allmusic.com is a beautiful thing.
allmusic.com is a beautiful thing.
Error Macro
Member
Sirpopopop
Member
SKluck - That definition of emo does not apply to most music which falls under the label today. I bet quite a few of the bands who consider themselves a part of the "emo" movement who start out on major labels today never even heard of Fugazi or Sunny Day Real Estate. They are just doing what their record label tells them to do.
For the most part, it is pop punk music infused with melodramatic whines from prissy white boys.
For the most part, it is pop punk music infused with melodramatic whines from prissy white boys.
.Cerebral Palsy
Banned
I like post-hardcore music.
I'm white.
I'm from the suburbs.
I'm not rich. Dodged the bullet.
Meh. I don't know one band who considers themselves 'emo.' If someone considers themselves emo then A) They are probably in the 7th grade and B) They shop at Hot Topic. Anyway, some great music/bands who have been stuck with a fucking lame label.
I'm white.
I'm from the suburbs.
I'm not rich. Dodged the bullet.
Meh. I don't know one band who considers themselves 'emo.' If someone considers themselves emo then A) They are probably in the 7th grade and B) They shop at Hot Topic. Anyway, some great music/bands who have been stuck with a fucking lame label.
JoshuaJSlone
Member
it's a confused and confusing label. i would claim that it's basically meaningless now. originally it meant the dramatic hooking of SDRE, and if you listen to shit like the rising tide, it really hits you in the face, but nowadays it's been spread so thin, there's no simple definition or clear lines between emo and not.
i would say there's kind of an umbrella of post-hardcore (or post-punk which i would claim is basically the same thing), and in there somewhere you have the pop punk that most people are thinking of, saves the day, bad charlotte, blink 12, etc. as hardcore kind of finishes re-entering the mainstream (think pop -> punk -> hardcore -> pop) and some of this is kind of more emotional, dashboard confessional, and i don't know, some other shit. so blop on an emo tag if you want to.
it's a pretty futile game, but you can see where it's going.
i would say there's kind of an umbrella of post-hardcore (or post-punk which i would claim is basically the same thing), and in there somewhere you have the pop punk that most people are thinking of, saves the day, bad charlotte, blink 12, etc. as hardcore kind of finishes re-entering the mainstream (think pop -> punk -> hardcore -> pop) and some of this is kind of more emotional, dashboard confessional, and i don't know, some other shit. so blop on an emo tag if you want to.
it's a pretty futile game, but you can see where it's going.
- Status