People used to call At The Drive-In emo when they first started getting popular.
They are in my mind the greatest band of the late 90s.
there is a great Cedric quote on the term "emo".. I can't find it but the just of it is how stupid it is to throw names like that on bands.. if you are truly passionate about your music how can that not come from true emotion..
so there you have it. good coming from emo. a few diamonds amongst the crap. and yeah, the label is stupid. so was grunge. yet you still use it as a reason to dismiss a dozen bands you wont even listen to becos you saw a picture of them and saw emo in the tagline.
Emotional Rock Music can define many bands and genres. Popular "Emo" music today is a mixture of various punk influences and The Cure (<Good point made earlier in this thread).
i really don't have the energy to read through this entire thread. i'm sure it's just a lot of mindless complaining back and forth. i don't like mindless complaining. that's why i don't listen to emo.
anyhow, while i'm assuming that some of the following points have already been made, here are the best reasons i can think of why i personally cannot listen to emo:
1) LYRICAL CONTENT: i'm 25. the shortcomings of the high school social scene are not of particular concern to me. obviously, a high school kid would have a different opinion about this. but let me ask you a question: how many signed emo bands are still in high school? none that i can think of, although i certainly don't follow emo closely enough to know for sure. i would estimate that the average emo "musician" is roughly the same age as me. so are these guys really that bitter about their high school experiences that they feel the need to express their angst 5-10 years afterwards? that is just about the lamest thing i can think of. most people get over the high school phase of their life after they leave high school, usually having realized that there's a whole world out there. does it make you feel special to lyrically pick on a bunch of kids who are ten years younger than you? get over yourself. i can assure you that your classmates all did.
the lyrics tend to come across as whiny, too. i've always felt that the point of writing personal lyrics was to give the listener something that they can relate to. you want them to be able to analyze your words within the context of their own lives. but emo singers just whine to the point where you don't want to hear it anymore. i don't really care that your girlfriend won't fuck you anymore. this does not affect me. try writing songs that help the listener deal with his/her own problems rather than just making them aware of yours.
2) GUITAR PRESENCE: hello? is there anybody out there? turn up your volume, i can't hear you! on most emo tracks that i've heard, the guitars are mixed so low that they serve only as a background effect rather than as a driving force. i suspect that this is partially done to hide the guitarists' lack of ability. but a lot of these bands have two or even three guitarists (e.g. hawthorne heights). why do you need three guitars to produce a background effect that most bands could produce with just one?!? it's entirely possible that the purpose of these superfluous guitarists is just for stage presence. it makes the bands appear more like rock bands and less like pop bands. if you want to be in a pop band, be in a pop band... that's your business. but don't give me a TRL-fucking-pop album and tell me it's rock.
and another thing about the way they mix the guitars... have you SEEN some of these guitars?!? PRS custom 24s, gibson firebirds, etc... hell, the lead singer of fallout boy plays a fucking 1967 SG custom re-issue (or at least i hope to god it's a re-issue). what's the point of bringing a $3,500 guitar on stage if nobody is gonna hear it? i guess you can say that it's an image thing but here's the bottom line: somebody much more talented than yourself spent a hell of a lot of time hand-building that guitar for you. turn up the fucking volume and give that instrument the respect that it deserves. the art that is created by gibson's custom shop is much more legit than the art that is created by any fucking pop band.
will somebody please correct me and tell me that his SG custom is actually an epiphone? i think it's a gibson but i really haven't looked that closely.
i do recognize the fact that not everyone reading this will be bothered by the guitar mixing as much as i am... again, personal opinion.
3) FURTHER BASTARDIZATION OF PUNK CULTURE: this is not necessarily an issue that specifically involves music. punk culture was created as a way to rebel against mainstream society, which is why i feel that "pop punk" is a completely contradictory term. emo is just another example of pop punk, and i refuse to recognize any attempt to reduce punk culture to a mainstream trend. obviously i understand that there's money involved, but any type of music that you put on TRL will automatically sell a million copies... so why mess with punk?
i apologize for my rant, but hopefully my points make a little bit of sense beyond just saying "FUCK EMO!!!!!!!!!!!!!" i guess it's really not necessary to say anything at all, since i can't imagine that emo will stand the test of time, but whatever... it is what it is...
Emotional Rock Music can define many bands and genres. Popular "Emo" music today is a mixture of various punk influences and The Cure (<Good point made earlier in this thread).
exactly. not all emotional music is emo. b.b. king is not emo.
Sure, but the way it was described and the videos of 30Secs, I tend to think they're being more theatrical. That's ok if a person likes that, but doesn't it seem a bit pretentious.
I think this person needs to watch a circa-1977 Kiss show and get set straight on theatrical rock.
i´m 25 , from gen x? and actually i like a few ´´emo´´and ´´nu metal´´ rock bands-cd´s...
At the drive in, Deftones, Korn, AFI ´´pre december´´ The used ´´self tittled album´´, Trivium, Sistem of a down, Glassjaw- worship and tribute
,Seether...
young people always try to get angry old people..... rebels? that´s their nature....
i've read it all and one person who wrote alot said something about the guitar volume and i agree. that is a huge factor for me. i need it loud and i need it clear. not just a low wall of sound. and the voice is probably most important aspect, well equal to the guitar, but most important is the whole package. lyrics don't really mean that much. i don't fuckin know i'm drunk at this wonderful point in time.
here is the main point:
at first i thought all this emo attitude was silly, i still think that, but i see all these hot emo chicks and i've always liked the dark, goth, punk look so its really turning me on. so now i'm hooking up with emo chicks and, yes, i still call them "nemo". they are great. i suggest you try some. just tell them whatever they want to hear, like in every situation.
i really don't have the energy to read through this entire thread. i'm sure it's just a lot of mindless complaining back and forth. i don't like mindless complaining. that's why i don't listen to emo.
anyhow, while i'm assuming that some of the following points have already been made, here are the best reasons i can think of why i personally cannot listen to emo:
1) LYRICAL CONTENT: i'm 25. the shortcomings of the high school social scene are not of particular concern to me. obviously, a high school kid would have a different opinion about this. but let me ask you a question: how many signed emo bands are still in high school? none that i can think of, although i certainly don't follow emo closely enough to know for sure. i would estimate that the average emo "musician" is roughly the same age as me. so are these guys really that bitter about their high school experiences that they feel the need to express their angst 5-10 years afterwards? that is just about the lamest thing i can think of. most people get over the high school phase of their life after they leave high school, usually having realized that there's a whole world out there. does it make you feel special to lyrically pick on a bunch of kids who are ten years younger than you? get over yourself. i can assure you that your classmates all did.
the lyrics tend to come across as whiny, too. i've always felt that the point of writing personal lyrics was to give the listener something that they can relate to. you want them to be able to analyze your words within the context of their own lives. but emo singers just whine to the point where you don't want to hear it anymore. i don't really care that your girlfriend won't fuck you anymore. this does not affect me. try writing songs that help the listener deal with his/her own problems rather than just making them aware of yours.
2) GUITAR PRESENCE: hello? is there anybody out there? turn up your volume, i can't hear you! on most emo tracks that i've heard, the guitars are mixed so low that they serve only as a background effect rather than as a driving force. i suspect that this is partially done to hide the guitarists' lack of ability. but a lot of these bands have two or even three guitarists (e.g. hawthorne heights). why do you need three guitars to produce a background effect that most bands could produce with just one?!? it's entirely possible that the purpose of these superfluous guitarists is just for stage presence. it makes the bands appear more like rock bands and less like pop bands. if you want to be in a pop band, be in a pop band... that's your business. but don't give me a TRL-fucking-pop album and tell me it's rock.
and another thing about the way they mix the guitars... have you SEEN some of these guitars?!? PRS custom 24s, gibson firebirds, etc... hell, the lead singer of fallout boy plays a fucking 1967 SG custom re-issue (or at least i hope to god it's a re-issue). what's the point of bringing a $3,500 guitar on stage if nobody is gonna hear it? i guess you can say that it's an image thing but here's the bottom line: somebody much more talented than yourself spent a hell of a lot of time hand-building that guitar for you. turn up the fucking volume and give that instrument the respect that it deserves. the art that is created by gibson's custom shop is much more legit than the art that is created by any fucking pop band.
will somebody please correct me and tell me that his SG custom is actually an epiphone? i think it's a gibson but i really haven't looked that closely.
i do recognize the fact that not everyone reading this will be bothered by the guitar mixing as much as i am... again, personal opinion.
3) FURTHER BASTARDIZATION OF PUNK CULTURE: this is not necessarily an issue that specifically involves music. punk culture was created as a way to rebel against mainstream society, which is why i feel that "pop punk" is a completely contradictory term. emo is just another example of pop punk, and i refuse to recognize any attempt to reduce punk culture to a mainstream trend. obviously i understand that there's money involved, but any type of music that you put on TRL will automatically sell a million copies... so why mess with punk?
i apologize for my rant, but hopefully my points make a little bit of sense beyond just saying "FUCK EMO!!!!!!!!!!!!!" i guess it's really not necessary to say anything at all, since i can't imagine that emo will stand the test of time, but whatever... it is what it is...
What he said!!! I'm with you man...FUCK EMOS (not liturally unless there hot emo chicks, I dig that haha)
some of them do. but you're giving your buddy the best of grunge. what about the dozens of grunge clones that followed in pj's wake? that's why we hate emo. we see the most mediocre pretenders of it. it'd be like handing someone a seven mary three cd and saying these guys are total alternative man. they rock! they'd think you were nuts. time has weeded out the bad grunge imitators and the only ones anyone remembers or listens to are the good ones. look at a band like blind melon... nobody knew them then, now people hear after the hype and wondered that they missed it. this is what emo is now. emo bands are being signed left and right, good or bad. so we see a ton of shit. but with time, the crappy ones will be gone and we'll see that emo was the same as every other movement... a label applied to sell magazines, with some great bands and a dozen charicatures. there is good emo out there and time will show it. all im saying is nobody should close their ears to good music just becos of the label applied to it.
and now im gonna go home and listen to 'clarity' by jimmy eat world.
i've read it all and one person who wrote alot said something about the guitar volume and i agree. that is a huge factor for me. i need it loud and i need it clear. not just a low wall of sound. and the voice is probably most important aspect, well equal to the guitar, but most important is the whole package. lyrics don't really mean that much. i don't fuckin know i'm drunk at this wonderful point in time.
here is the main point:
at first i thought all this emo attitude was silly, i still think that, but i see all these hot emo chicks and i've always liked the dark, goth, punk look so its really turning me on. so now i'm hooking up with emo chicks and, yes, i still call them "nemo". they are great. i suggest you try some. just tell them whatever they want to hear, like in every situation.
i have thought about this too. my gf is into a lot of emo bands. some are ok, some atrocious, some good. but when i went to a show with her.... sweet chiba there was some fine looking tail in the room that night. made me wish id stayed single a little longer before checking out that scene. i do really well with the sad and needy girls.
Comments
so there you have it. good coming from emo. a few diamonds amongst the crap. and yeah, the label is stupid. so was grunge. yet you still use it as a reason to dismiss a dozen bands you wont even listen to becos you saw a picture of them and saw emo in the tagline.
-Greg Dulli
anyhow, while i'm assuming that some of the following points have already been made, here are the best reasons i can think of why i personally cannot listen to emo:
1) LYRICAL CONTENT: i'm 25. the shortcomings of the high school social scene are not of particular concern to me. obviously, a high school kid would have a different opinion about this. but let me ask you a question: how many signed emo bands are still in high school? none that i can think of, although i certainly don't follow emo closely enough to know for sure. i would estimate that the average emo "musician" is roughly the same age as me. so are these guys really that bitter about their high school experiences that they feel the need to express their angst 5-10 years afterwards? that is just about the lamest thing i can think of. most people get over the high school phase of their life after they leave high school, usually having realized that there's a whole world out there. does it make you feel special to lyrically pick on a bunch of kids who are ten years younger than you? get over yourself. i can assure you that your classmates all did.
the lyrics tend to come across as whiny, too. i've always felt that the point of writing personal lyrics was to give the listener something that they can relate to. you want them to be able to analyze your words within the context of their own lives. but emo singers just whine to the point where you don't want to hear it anymore. i don't really care that your girlfriend won't fuck you anymore. this does not affect me. try writing songs that help the listener deal with his/her own problems rather than just making them aware of yours.
2) GUITAR PRESENCE: hello? is there anybody out there? turn up your volume, i can't hear you! on most emo tracks that i've heard, the guitars are mixed so low that they serve only as a background effect rather than as a driving force. i suspect that this is partially done to hide the guitarists' lack of ability. but a lot of these bands have two or even three guitarists (e.g. hawthorne heights). why do you need three guitars to produce a background effect that most bands could produce with just one?!? it's entirely possible that the purpose of these superfluous guitarists is just for stage presence. it makes the bands appear more like rock bands and less like pop bands. if you want to be in a pop band, be in a pop band... that's your business. but don't give me a TRL-fucking-pop album and tell me it's rock.
and another thing about the way they mix the guitars... have you SEEN some of these guitars?!? PRS custom 24s, gibson firebirds, etc... hell, the lead singer of fallout boy plays a fucking 1967 SG custom re-issue (or at least i hope to god it's a re-issue). what's the point of bringing a $3,500 guitar on stage if nobody is gonna hear it? i guess you can say that it's an image thing but here's the bottom line: somebody much more talented than yourself spent a hell of a lot of time hand-building that guitar for you. turn up the fucking volume and give that instrument the respect that it deserves. the art that is created by gibson's custom shop is much more legit than the art that is created by any fucking pop band.
will somebody please correct me and tell me that his SG custom is actually an epiphone? i think it's a gibson but i really haven't looked that closely.
i do recognize the fact that not everyone reading this will be bothered by the guitar mixing as much as i am... again, personal opinion.
3) FURTHER BASTARDIZATION OF PUNK CULTURE: this is not necessarily an issue that specifically involves music. punk culture was created as a way to rebel against mainstream society, which is why i feel that "pop punk" is a completely contradictory term. emo is just another example of pop punk, and i refuse to recognize any attempt to reduce punk culture to a mainstream trend. obviously i understand that there's money involved, but any type of music that you put on TRL will automatically sell a million copies... so why mess with punk?
i apologize for my rant, but hopefully my points make a little bit of sense beyond just saying "FUCK EMO!!!!!!!!!!!!!" i guess it's really not necessary to say anything at all, since i can't imagine that emo will stand the test of time, but whatever... it is what it is...
exactly. not all emotional music is emo. b.b. king is not emo.
I think this person needs to watch a circa-1977 Kiss show and get set straight on theatrical rock.
At the drive in, Deftones, Korn, AFI ´´pre december´´ The used ´´self tittled album´´, Trivium, Sistem of a down, Glassjaw- worship and tribute
,Seether...
young people always try to get angry old people..... rebels? that´s their nature....
i've read it all and one person who wrote alot said something about the guitar volume and i agree. that is a huge factor for me. i need it loud and i need it clear. not just a low wall of sound. and the voice is probably most important aspect, well equal to the guitar, but most important is the whole package. lyrics don't really mean that much. i don't fuckin know i'm drunk at this wonderful point in time.
here is the main point:
at first i thought all this emo attitude was silly, i still think that, but i see all these hot emo chicks and i've always liked the dark, goth, punk look so its really turning me on. so now i'm hooking up with emo chicks and, yes, i still call them "nemo". they are great. i suggest you try some. just tell them whatever they want to hear, like in every situation.
What he said!!! I'm with you man...FUCK EMOS (not liturally unless there hot emo chicks, I dig that haha)
7/11/06, 8/11/06, 18/11/06
escape is never the safest plan...
i dont think they are emo ??
Good points.
naděje umírá poslední
i have thought about this too. my gf is into a lot of emo bands. some are ok, some atrocious, some good. but when i went to a show with her.... sweet chiba there was some fine looking tail in the room that night. made me wish id stayed single a little longer before checking out that scene. i do really well with the sad and needy girls.