What exactly constitutes "emo" music?

[KeithTalent]

Listening to 'Godspeed You! Black Emperor' and someone told me it was emo and I told him he was crazy. But I figured I should ask some experts.

So is it emo or not? If so, what makes it emo?

Thanks,
KT

 

[thecoolnessrune]

Does it matter? Don't feed the music elitist trolls and just listen to whatever the hell you feel like.

 

[Shawn]

Never heard of it.

 

[KeithTalent]

Originally posted by: thecoolnessrune
Does it matter? Don't feed the music elitist trolls and just listen to whatever the hell you feel like.

No it does not matter at all, I'm not going to stop listening to it, but I was just curious as to why it would be classified that way.

I though a band had to have some sort of sniveling, whiny vocalist to be considered emo.

KT

 

[KeithTalent]

Originally posted by: Shawn
Never heard of it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G...eed_You!_Black_Emperor

KT

 

[thecoolnessrune]

Emo music

 

[ShadowOfMyself]

Isnt emo music music inspired in teenage emo culture? Which means whiney "no one understands me" crap? READ: Linkin Park

 

[Shawn]

I prefer elmo music.

 

[eits]

godspeed is definitely not emo. that's called post-rock.

current definition of emo: any band you hear on the radio with the similar high-pitched male vocals where a majority or all band members have some kind of emo haircut and tattoos. maybe a lip ring here or there.

 

[KeithTalent]

Originally posted by: thecoolnessrune
Emo music

Hmm, maybe I'm emo; I have always been a massive Fugazi fan.

Originally posted by: Shawn
I prefer elmo music.

KT

 

[KeithTalent]

Originally posted by: eits
godspeed is definitely not emo. that's called post-rock.

current definition of emo: any band you hear on the radio with the similar high-pitched male vocals where a majority or all band members have some kind of emo haircut and tattoos. maybe a lip ring here or there.

See that's what I thought, same as something like EITS or Do Make Say Think would not be emo either, but something like Good Charlotte would be.

KT

 

[SagaLore]

Originally posted by: ShadowOfMyself
Isnt emo music music inspired in teenage emo culture? Which means whiney "no one understands me" crap? READ: Linkin Park

I listen to The Decemberists, and most of their songs definitely have a slightly morbid plot. They're basically sad stories. I love the Crane Wife and The Tain.

 

[eits]

Originally posted by: KeithTalent

Originally posted by: eits
godspeed is definitely not emo. that's called post-rock.

current definition of emo: any band you hear on the radio with the similar high-pitched male vocals where a majority or all band members have some kind of emo haircut and tattoos. maybe a lip ring here or there.

See that's what I thought, same as something like EITS or Do Make Say Think would not be emo either, but something like Good Charlotte would be.

KT

yessir. good charlotte, all american rejects, fallout boy, hawthorne heights, dashboard confessional, etc.

i really don't see how coheed and death cab are emo, though. death cab would fit under the older definition of emo (before it got bad), when emo and indie were somewhat synonymous. coheed is just rock sans sub-genre. if anything, it'd be comic book rock.

 

[KeithTalent]

Originally posted by: eits
<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: KeithTalent
<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: eits
godspeed is definitely not emo. that's called post-rock.

current definition of emo: any band you hear on the radio with the similar high-pitched male vocals where a majority or all band members have some kind of emo haircut and tattoos. maybe a lip ring here or there.</end quote></div>

See that's what I thought, same as something like EITS or Do Make Say Think would not be emo either, but something like Good Charlotte would be.

KT</end quote></div>

yessir. good charlotte, all american rejects, fallout boy, hawthorne heights, dashboard confessional, etc.

i really don't see how coheed and death cab are emo, though. death cab would fit under the older definition of emo (before it got bad), when emo and indie were somewhat synonymous. coheed is just rock sans sub-genre. if anything, it'd be comic book rock.

Good point. I only have heard of two of the bands in your first sentence, but they definitely seem to be emo.

Heh, comic book rock? What does that mean?

I am a big fan of C&C and old Death Cab, but I never think of them as emo either. Maybe I just don't consider anything I listen to to be emo.

KT

 

[Toonces]

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: eits
godspeed is definitely not emo. that's called post-rock.

current definition of emo: any band you hear on the radio with the similar high-pitched male vocals where a majority or all band members have some kind of emo haircut and tattoos. maybe a lip ring here or there.</end quote></div>

using the word you're trying to define in an explaination dosen't help

the vast majority of atot has no clue what is or is not "emo" music. Anyone suggesting bands like Linkin Park are remotely "emo" are clueless. It's just become a catch-all phrase do describe almost any band with a lyrical style that deals with emotions (read: almost everything).

Fugazi is emo; they defined a new direction of the genre during the mid-90's and I too enjoy their music. Jimmy Eat World and The Get Up Kids are two of my favourite bands who'd also be labled emo (correctly) however within the past 2-3 years emo has become more of a derogatory term than anything. Good Charlotte wouldn't be emo to me, they're a post-punk pop band. I actually enjoyed their debut album back in 2000.

 

[KeithTalent]

Originally posted by: toonces

I]Originally posted by: eits[/i]
godspeed is definitely not emo. that's called post-rock.

current definition of emo: any band you hear on the radio with the similar high-pitched male vocals where a majority or all band members have some kind of emo haircut and tattoos. maybe a lip ring here or there.

using the word you're trying to define in an explaination dosen't help

the vast majority of atot has no clue what is or is not "emo" music. Anyone suggesting bands like Linkin Park are remotely "emo" are clueless. It's just become a catch-all phrase do describe almost any band with a lyrical style that deals with emotions (read: almost everything).

Fugazi is emo; they defined a new direction of the genre during the mid-90's and I too enjoy their music. Jimmy Eat World and The Get Up Kids are two of my favourite bands who'd also be labled emo (correctly) however within the past 2-3 years emo has become more of a derogatory term than anything. Good Charlotte wouldn't be emo to me, they're a post-punk pop band. I actually enjoyed their debut album back in 2000.

I guess that is the problem, the definition of emo has not only gotten muddy, but is appears to have actually changed.

In my own definitions I always considered bands like Fugazi, Nation of Ulysses, Jawbreaker, J-Church, etc. to be pop-punk, not emo, while I did consider a band like Sunny Day Real Estate to be emo.

I think for me, I would classify many bands as emo, just because I did not really like them, but other bands considered emo by many that I did like I would think were post-punk.

For some reason emo always had some sort of stigma attached to it in my eyes, not that I really, truly care when it comes right down to it because I just listen to what I like.

KT

 

[Regs]

Music about death and depression. The opposite of ferry music, like justin timberlake and his disco trans music.

 

[Kadarin]

Mentally, I equate "emo" music with that annoying whiny alternacrap we tend to hear all the time now.

 

[UglyCasanova]

Sunny Day Real Estate is old school emo, which is way different than new emo. Death Cab is just crappy, not really emo but emo people listen to it so sure.

Godspeed is post rock. Completely not emo at all.

 

[homercles337]

The ignorance in this thread is strong.

Im not going to get started but i have "been in the scene" (what ever that is) before emocore even started. I know all its manifestations and can say that there is no "emo" anymore. I have disowned the label, where i used to be intimate with it. Its bullshit, its not a "sound" anymore its marketing. Marketing is bullshit and i listen to what i like. The "emo" sound is dead to me, its marketing and i have TONS of shit that no one knows about. But if someone likes the "emo" sound they should hear all the shit i have been exposed to in my years.

 

[Rockinacoustic]

Today's 'emo' is just mainstream pop-punk BS fueled by MTV/top-40 moguls. No originality. I try to get into these new bands, but they all just sound the same. :roll:

 

[KeithTalent]

Originally posted by: Rockinacoustic
Today's 'emo' is just mainstream pop-punk BS fueled by MTV/top-40 moguls. No originality. I try to get into these new bands, but they all just sound the same. :roll:

I agree with that. I can't even listen to the radio today, it just sounds like one long song with frequent interruptions for commercials and inane DJ chatter. :thumbsdown:

KT

 

[KeithTalent]

Someone (different guy) also recently told me Avenged Sevenfold is emo..WTF??

KT

 

[cKGunslinger]

I like 30 Seconds to Mars.

Fvck you.