this thread sucks.
1. most people here dont know what real emo is. and they think their favorite mtv band is emo. one of the things that set emo apart in the nineties was DIY ethic. ALL emo bands of the 90s (NOT SUNNY DAY REAL ESTATE 90s) never get themselves signed in major labels, do shows at garages, living rooms, old bars and alleyways (CBGB's was a great bar. O.m.f.u.g. forever.)
2. most people here talk about how bad emo is. this thread is about how you guys, as guitarists, see emo from a guitarists point of view. dont make this thread into an "emo sucks/rocks" thread. there is no point since everyone listens to different stuff.
on number 1. i would like to erm, "educate" those who assume emo is about whiny vocals, tight pants, songs about their girlfriends, and more boo hoo [gooey brown stuff].
here is a history of emo. with mp3s included for you lazy asses who read the history but dont listen to the actual music or style. its the same thing as not knowing that the [strawberry] youre playing. ask any metal listener about the history of metal, im sure most would give you a clear or even complete history. same goes with punk, and hardcore listeners.
the anomaly in the lineage of punk is emo. heres the scoop. imagine mtv discovering a band with whiny vocals. and singing about their exes. "wow, aint that emotional. i know! lets advertise it as emo!". thats where mislabeling begins. real emo is a relatively obscure genre. a prodigal son sired by hardcore punk. now. what if someone else claims your son as his own? wouldnt that suck?
without further ado. i present you the REAL history of emo. the following essay was written by the vocallist of Mesa Verde. an emo band from the states (not the whiny [gooey brown stuff] type)
Late 80s to Mid 90s
If you didn't read FOURFA and don't plan to, then emo was basically created because the tough guy machoness of the original NY hardcore scenes was a bit unappealing to some people. The only solution was for these people to invent a brand of music that future emoists could act all elitist about online (emos have psychic future-predicting powers and saw the internet coming even back in '85, dude). Long ill-informed story short, emo took the original "angry" hardcore punk rock but took it in the direction of melody and emotion. The period when this whole thing really started to kick off is usually refered to as "revolution summer".
If a band is called just "emo" then they are most likely from the MOSS ICON or
INDIAN SUMMER (my fave band -paengkee) school of thought, the quiet to loud dynamic and indie-ish melodies are much more obvious than in RITES OF SPRING - who are usually heralded with starting the whole emo thing. THE HATED is a good example of the more pop/indie version of emo with the off-key clean vocal style which many bands would combine with screamy crescendos. The JULIA mp3 is a song which I think sums up these styles the most, very punkish but also something tru-as-fukk hardcore kids would scoff at and say "this isn't hardcore you pussy!" due to the lovely melodies and emotional leanings.
Rites of Spring - For Want Of (4.16 MB)Moss Icon - Guatemala (7.76 MB)The Hated - Everysong (5.38 MB)Indian Summer - Orchard (5.43 MB)Julia - Untitled (7.49 MB)Although bands of this style dissappeared some time in the mid-90s, there has been a mini-revival of sorts in the last couple of years with many bands trying to recapture the intensity and passion of these early emo bands. The Pine, Sinaloa, Wow, Owls!, Life At These Speeds and Catena Collapse are just some of the bands out there giving those of us who missed it the first time a chance to enjoy that [gooey brown stuff] live.
Early 90s to Late 90s
The missing link between early emo bands like Indian Summer and the current sound of bands like Orchid, City of Caterpillar, et al was when proper angry young hardcore kiddies starting jamming the emotional element into their music. Bands like HONEYWELL, MOHINDER and SWING KIDS set the tone for the screamo phase of the late 90s whilst PORTRAITS OF PAST set the blueprint for so many modern emo bands.
Honeywell - You and Me (4.46 MB)Swing Kids - 43 Seconds (4.03 MB)Mohinder - Numb (2.34 MB)Portraits of Past - Implications of a Sinkhole Personal (5.37 MB)This stuff is obviously far more chaotic and screamy than the previous brand of emo and also far less cheesey. This era of emo certainly set the groundwork for the next wave of bands, who became even more chaotic even taking influences from grindcore and metal. Canada, of all places, had a whole apocalyptic hardcore thing going on in the mid-90s which had a huge influence on the late 90s sound. One Eyed God Prophecy, Breakwater, Jonah, Drift and UNION OF URANUS are just a few that later emo bands (whether any of these Canadian bands are emo is up for debate) ripped off in a big way. SAETIA appeared around the mid-90s to late-90s mark and are credited with influencing a lot of the current modern emo stuff.
Union of Uranus - Pedestal (4.16 MB)Saetia - Venus and Bacchus (4.74 MB)The influence of all the above bands on the modern emo sound should be obvious. Bands like Joshua Fit For Battle, Love Lost But Not Forgotten, You And I and Spirit of Versailles all seemed to take what Saetia did and make it less emo and more good. Whilst the amount of bands that ripped off the Canadian sound is pretty much all of the next section...
Late 90s to Present
Screamo is the worst genre name ever, this much we can all agree on. It has become one of the most annoying and abused terms ever, used to describe any modern hardcore band that has cheesey bits or "emotional" lyrics. A [gooey brown stuff] explanation is that Hardcore Emo sort of died in the mid-90s and turnt into mushy indie-emo for a while, but when the whole chaotic thing took off again the new bands were known as screamo. Thanks for that, jerks! Screamo took off in a huge way though, with ORCHID, REVERSAL OF MAN, USURP SYNAPSE, JEROME'S DREAM and HASSAN I SABBAH taking the Uranus style and making it even faster and even more chaotic. When you compare this stuff to the very first emo bands, you'll see why the "screamo" distinction is made. You'll often hear of "Witching-Hour style screamo", Witching Hour was a record label who put out a [gooey brown stuff] of seminal screamo releases including most of the bands in this list.
Jerome's Dream - Taking Care of Terrific (1.70 MB)Hassan I Sabbah - Untitled (0.8 MB)Orchid - Aesthetic Dialectic (2.71 MB)Usurp Synapse - Wrist Meet Razor (1.44 MB)Reversal of Man - I'm a New York Detective... (2.92 MB)This style is still alive and kicking in 2005, especially in Europe. Phoenix Bodies, Kaospilot and Shikari are examples of bands who've taken the standard format but did something a little different, whilst bands like The Apoplexy Twist Orchestra and Louis Cyphre are much more akin to the Witching Hour style. It's been beaten to death a little though, and bands have started trying to combine the intensity and chaos with the exact opposite...
21st Century Emo!
The number of amazing screamo bands not listed in the screamo section is pretty big, that should tell you how saturated that sound ended up being. As a result bands started trying new things, combining the modern chaotic sound with the old, original quiet-loud dynamic of bands like Moss Icon and Indian Summer. CITY OF CATERPILLAR were one of the first to combine Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Mogwai style post-rock with emo, whilst Japanese band ENVY were doing a similar thing to their previously straight-up hardcore assault. A weird combination of emo, grind and experimentation also became the norm with two bands doing it particularly well, PG.99 and CIRCLE TAKES THE SQUARE being two modern seminal chaotic emo bands.
City of Caterpillar - [strawberry]ing Hero (6.15 MB)Envy - Chacun de tes Pas (6.74 MB) <<< GOOD BAND
Pg.99 - In Love With An Apparition (2.71 MB) <<< SAME HERE
http://Circle Takes The Square - Same Shade as Concrete (6.27 MB)<<<AND THIS
Throaty shouted vocals early-90s style emo and the post-rock with screamo style seems to be the direction the emo scene is headed in at the moment. Funeral Diner, La Quiete and Raein (amongst others) are also very much keeping the Portraits of Past school of emo alive.
WHY IS THERE CONFUSION?!
As touched upon previously, in the mid-90s emo went through a whole phase when new screamy emo bands stopped appearing. The scene sort of died out, probably due to saturation and lack of interest. When this happened, a phase of emo occured quite horribly referred to as "post-emo-indie-rock". It's my opinion that this stage is to blame for most of the confusion, and why bands like Jimmy Eat World and Deep Elm Records bands are thought of as emo. Probably evolving from the likes of The Hated and Evergreen rather than Moss Icon, bands like Cap'n'Jazz, Sunny Day Real Estate and Braid made upbeat quirky pop. Because these bands made catchy music it wasn't long until similar bands started appearing in the mainstream, and the press of course got a hold of the emo term and bastardised it.
These days emo is applied to any band which sounds like these mid-90s poppy emo bands, leaving an entire category of music fans unaware of the hardcore roots. Another reason it is often misused is because although emo has changed a lot in the last two decades, the attitude towards it from grass roots hardcore fans has remained the same. Most deny any relation to hardcore and often label it "pussy" and "queer", even when it comes to the chaotic style (which, funnily enough, is often far more intense and challenging to listen to than straight-up HC). Thursday, who did come from a DIY emo background (they infamously supported Neil Perry, a US screamo band), were one of the first to go mainstream and are probably to blame for so many bands being mislabelled screamo and the whole misrepresentation of yet another emo buzzword.
It's reasons like this why sites like fourfa exist, and why I felt the need to type this crap up. So many times I've had to post links to an Orchid mp3 and say "this is what emo is you stupid [strawberry]" (I'm an internet badass) that even I'm tired of listening myself telling people. But since the reaction to bands like Orchid and City of Caterpillar is often "hey... this is pretty good, i didnt expect this at all" I feel it is worthwhile to continue doing. Thus, now I will simply link them here so they can download mp3s instead of me posting the same [gooey brown stuff] over and over. Everyone's a winner!
please take time to read. i dont like my posts being in vain.
