Hello music lovers of steemit! Today I wanna talk about a very misunderstood genre of music, emo! When most people think of emo, they probably think of "scene kids" from the 2000s. Kids who go to Hot Topic and have hair covering their eyes. Well emo is a lot more than that! I feel like too many people dismiss this genre as just some bad fad from the 2000s and nothing more. The truth is, emo music goes all the way back to the 80s and has its roots in hardcore punk! And a lot of emo music is actually very good! If you're into rock music of any kind, please consider giving some of these albums a chance!
Emo-core
In the beginning, there was emo-core. The earliest form of emo was very much like the typical hardcore punk. So what made these songs be labelled as "emo-core"? The lyrics! While a lot of punk is very "in your face", emo-core had more "lamentable" lyrics, if you will. Here's a few albums from the emo-core era.
Rites Of Spring - End On End
Moss Icon - Lyburnum Wits End Liberation Fly Lp
Embrace - Embrace
Midwest Emo
Now we move on to the 90s, which brought us what is commonly known as Midwest Emo! During the 90s, emo sort of drifted apart from the hardcore punk sound, and the "core" from "emo-core" was removed. Some of these albums still had a punk feel to them, but what defined something as "emo" had expanded beyond just hardcore punk with sad lyrics. Here's a few very good picks to get you started on Midwest emo!
caP'n Jazz - Analphabetapolothology
The Get Up Kids - Something To Write Home About
I couldn't find an upload of the full album on youtube and the sound quality on some of the songs in this playlist isn't very good, so please give it a listen on spotify if you can!
American Football - American Football
(some of you might actually recognize this one, as it's become a bit of a meme recently!)
Bright Eyes - Letting Off The Happiness
Ones again, no upload of the full album!
The 2000s
Ah yes, we've finally arrived, the 2000s! Yes yes, despite what the music critics said, despite the negative image provided by all the scene kids, emo music from the 2000s is actually very good! Here's just a few emo albums from the 2000s to get you started!
My Chemical Romance
Ok, you might be a bit confused here. MCR is a band, not an album... So why am I not mentioning just a specific album? Because they're all good! (except for maybe Danger Days, but even that album is pretty good too). So if you've never listened to an MCR album... boy are you missing out! I recommend you start with "The Black Parade"! After that, listen to "Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge", then "I Brought You My Bullets, Your Brought Me Your Love" and then if you still need more MCR after that, give "Danger Days" a chance! Trust me, you won't regret it!
Simple Plan - Still Not Getting Any
Ones again, no full upload of the album... Also, this might be a bit of a controversial pick among the music critics... but I actually like Simple Plan! Their style of emo is a bit more "generic 2000s", but honestly, they do it well! This is what most people probably think of when they hear the word "emo". It might be a bit cheesy for some people, some might even find it cringy, but trust me, there are just some days when you NEED to listen to music like this!
Panic! At The Disco - A Fever You Can't Sweat Out
This might be another controversial pick among music critics. Panic! At The Disco essentially takes the concept of emo but turns it into pop. If you're not a fan of pop, you might not enjoy this one. Still, give it a chance!
AFI - Sing The Sorrow
Ah yes here it is, my favorite Emo album from the 2000s! This album just has so much character to it! It's a pop punk emo masterpiece with some dark, goth aesthetics thrown into the mix! But unfortunately, no full upload... So, you know the drill, search for it on spotify! Please trust me, this album is not one you want to miss out on! And just to give you a sneak peek, here's one song from the album!
And after you listen to Sing The Sorrow, please also consider giving Decemberunderground a chance! It's the follow up album to Sing The Sorrow and, although not as good in my opinion, it's still a very good album! Here's the most famous song from that album (and possibly from the band as a whole)
So there you have it! A very brief introduction to one of the most misunderstood genres of all time, emo!