Thoughts on emo, as a GENRE Options

[Ihate]

This is a topic that a lot of people disagree on. What classifies a song or a band as "emo" to you? Not necessarily talking about the way a band dresses, or the way they do their hair, etc...just strictly basing it off the sound of the band/song. Is it lyrical content? Is it an almost whiny style of singing and screaming? When I hear the word emo one generalization comes to mind, suicidal people, so to me I would say an emo band or song is based off the lyrical content more so than the sound they produce.

What do you think?

[MiKKiBOO]

I dont know much of Rock Bands(: sorry.

[Joanne]

(pssst, then don't comment on this!)

I personally label emo bands 'emo' due to a mix of the things you listed. I look at their clothes/appearance, lyrics, and their way of singing. If a majority of their songs are about "oh, my life is so bad, blahblahblah" and they style their hair to cover half their face... yeah. xD

I don't know how to explain it. =\

[MiKKiBOO]

(Psst, Shut up. I can do what I want :|)

[Joanne]

(pssst, stop trying to raise your post count)

[dustbunny]

(Psst, Shut up. I can do what I want :|)

aaactually there are many things you can't do that will result in your warning level being raised but anyways jooooooaaaaaneeeeee was just trying to let you know that you don't have to respond to topics you don't know about or understand


as far as emo bands go, I agree with Joanne as far as I look for a combination of things. The biggest sign of "emosity" for me are bands that scream about how much their lives suck. Lyrical content > appearances since I don't watch the bands sing their songs all the time. err you know what, it's basically everything that Joanne said.

[MiKKiBOO]

Im not even concerned about my post count, and if I was it has nothing to do with you. >:|

[Just_Dream]

Im not even concerned about my post count, and if I was it has nothing to do with you. >:|

It obviously concerns her since she is a moderator, and don't even get started on it not being my business because obviously your attitude is not wanted here. If you're not going to contribute, then don't even post because honestly, no one wants to read an irrelevant, albeit unnecessary, post. KTHXBAI.


As for emo-ness, lyrics about being suicidal and how their lives suck, etc. are a factor, but I think if the music sounds melodramatic and full of sorrow, that's important too.

This is a lyrics excerpt from a song that sounds somewhat emo based on it's lyrics, but if you actually heard the song, it wouldn't really be emo.

"I wanna lay on the track
feel hot steel screaming at me
expose the bones on my back
let me show you what I mean
yea it's a different kind of love
I wanna climb barb wired fences
and warm our hands in blood"
(Thrice - In Years to Come)

Appearance.. Usually it's hard for me to determine if the band looks emo, gothic, or heavy metal, so I wouldn't really judge by appearance.

[sixfive]

Im not even concerned about my post count, and if I was it has nothing to do with you. >:|

hai ren hai ren hai ren hai ren hai ren

[tokyo-rose]

(Psst, Shut up. I can do what I want :|)

Responding to a topic only to say that you don't know anything about it is spam. It's covered in this topic. :)

Moved to Music.

[NoSex]

Emo (also known as emotive hardcore) is a form of hardcore punk which emerged in the mid-1980's around the scene in Washington D.C. with bands like Rites of Spring, Embrace, and Nation of Ulysses and continued on into the early 1990's with bands like Sunnday Day Real Estate and Fugazi. It wore American Hardcore influence on its sleeve with screaming and yelping vocalizations, simple percussion, and high distortion. However, due to the immense violence, discrimination, and rigidness in form within the hardcore punk scene... artists began to backlash. This created a more melodic, more experimental, and more personal sounds that was less chaotic and less violence.

Not until the turn of the century was the term largely perverted to include a "lifestyle," and "fashion." Further, the sound that the term "emo" was originally associated with has been entirely subjugated in today's generation. No longer is there a clear idea of what exactly "emo" sounds like, and, this sounds ambiguous nature has been accepted into the mainstream with bands like My Chemical Romance and and Dashboard Confessional being described as "emo."

LEARN SOMETHING.

[Kontroll]

Ha ha. No if's and's or but's... Emo is just f**king gay.

I guess you really can't categorize the genre fully on the lyrics because of what they talk about. Alot of artists from the 70's talk about problems they have. Hell, even blues artists. That's all they do, so in essence, they are emo.

I guess it would be a collaboration of all of their elements.

But what really sticks out to me when I hear a song and can categorize it as emo is definitely that whiny bitch voice, like all emo singers have. f**king newbs.

It's just suburban kids tying to make a name for themselves. That's all. I've seen it replicated a million times.

Ghey.

Emo (also known as emotive hardcore) is a form of hardcore punk which emerged in the mid-1980's around the scene in Washington D.C. with bands like Rites of Spring, Embrace, and Nation of Ulysses and continued on into the early 1990's with bands like Sunnday Day Real Estate and Fugazi. It wore American Hardcore influence on its sleeve with screaming and yelping vocalizations, simple percussion, and high distortion. However, due to the immense violence, discrimination, and rigidness in form within the hardcore punk scene... artists began to backlash. This created a more melodic, more experimental, and more personal sounds that was less chaotic and less violence.

Not until the turn of the century was the term largely perverted to include a "lifestyle," and "fashion." Further, the sound that the term "emo" was originally associated with has been entirely subjugated in today's generation. No longer is there a clear idea of what exactly "emo" sounds like, and, this sounds ambiguous nature has been accepted into the mainstream with bands like My Chemical Romance and and Dashboard Confessional being described as "emo."

LEARN SOMETHING.

Wow, buddy. Did you think of that all by yourself? Next time you should put quotes around your paragraphs that you steal from Wikipedia. Newb.

And I wouldn't say Dashboard is emo. Not quite the style.

[NoSex]

Wow, buddy. Did you think of that all by yourself? Next time you should put quotes around your paragraphs that you steal from Wikipedia. Newb.

I used wikipedia as a reference. But, most of that was all me, buddy.
In either case, read a book.

[AimeeLynn]

An emo song is

HAWTHORNE HEIGHTS

"Ohio Is For Lovers"

And I can't make it on my own.
(And I can't make it on my own.)
Because my heart is in Ohio.
So cut my wrists and black my eyes.
(Cut my wrists and black my eyes)
So I can fall asleep tonight, or die.
Because you kill me.
You know you do, you kill me well.
You like it too, and I can tell.
You never stop until my final breath is gone.


I think that emo music has sad lyrics and a little of screamo in it.

[Kontroll]

I used wikipedia as a reference. But, most of that was all me, buddy.
In either case, read a book.

Ha, most of it? What? You mean the few little words you changed around every couple of sentences, buddy?

In that case, I am reading a book. A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson. Great book.

But not to get off topic.

[ofconfidence]

in my opinion, there are alot of things that categorize a band as emo.
while it's stereotypically the bands with hair covering their face and constant screaming, alot of what could be called emo is mostly pertaining to the lyrics.

a song that is highly emotional and gives off an angry or sorrowful tone could be classified as emo.
i think it's a misconception to classify emo because i think it would be better suited to say a SONG is emo rather than a band.
however a song that a band plays is the song that they are known for and it made them big, then from that song a band could be labeled as emo.

[NoSex]

Ha, most of it? What? You mean the few little words you changed around every couple of sentences, buddy?

No, seriously, buddy.