The 40 Greatest Emo Albums of All Time
March 4, 2016 6:00 AM Subscribe
Paramore has been hitting hard on a local radio station and I've had "Misery Business" stuck in my head for a while now. This didn't help. (I mean I kinda like it but it's really really repetitive.)
posted by graymouser at 6:19 AM on March 4, 2016
posted by graymouser at 6:19 AM on March 4, 2016
Only one Saddle Creek band represented here. /smug
posted by pxe2000 at 6:35 AM on March 4, 2016 [4 favorites]
posted by pxe2000 at 6:35 AM on March 4, 2016 [4 favorites]
See also: What the heck *is* emo, anyway?
posted by DaDaDaDave at 6:58 AM on March 4, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by DaDaDaDave at 6:58 AM on March 4, 2016 [2 favorites]
My students just taught me that Screamo is a thing.
posted by Beardman at 7:01 AM on March 4, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Beardman at 7:01 AM on March 4, 2016 [1 favorite]
Includes zero amounts of classic Life of Agony. A tragic oversight... "Got the razor 'gainst my wrist cuz I can't resist..."
posted by FatherDagon at 7:03 AM on March 4, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by FatherDagon at 7:03 AM on March 4, 2016 [1 favorite]
Excited by the Promise Ring and Braid rankings.
posted by drezdn at 7:05 AM on March 4, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by drezdn at 7:05 AM on March 4, 2016 [1 favorite]
I was going along mostly happy with the rankings until I saw that they ranked Bleed American higher than Clarity. I don't trust anyone who thinks that should be true.
posted by LizBoBiz at 7:13 AM on March 4, 2016 [4 favorites]
posted by LizBoBiz at 7:13 AM on March 4, 2016 [4 favorites]
40 The Used, 'In Love and Death' (2004)
And i stopped right there.
posted by bigendian at 7:27 AM on March 4, 2016 [1 favorite]
And i stopped right there.
posted by bigendian at 7:27 AM on March 4, 2016 [1 favorite]
I recognised 5 out of the 40 bands. None of the Albums. And I honestly had no idea that Emo was a type of music. I thought that Emo was just a description for that sulky stage all teenagers seem to go through nowadays.
I've gone from being the fount of knowledge of all things NME, to culturally dead. All in the span of 20 short years.
posted by veedubya at 7:29 AM on March 4, 2016 [6 favorites]
I've gone from being the fount of knowledge of all things NME, to culturally dead. All in the span of 20 short years.
posted by veedubya at 7:29 AM on March 4, 2016 [6 favorites]
I would read this, but I can't get my hair out of my eyes.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 7:30 AM on March 4, 2016 [8 favorites]
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 7:30 AM on March 4, 2016 [8 favorites]
I was already too old for emo when it rebranded pop-punk in the late 90s and had little interest in it even when I dated the guy with the Indian Summer patches on his jacket back in my college years. But seriously people, if you have to put one Jawbreaker album on a list, that albums should always be 24 Hour Revenge Therapy.
posted by thivaia at 7:35 AM on March 4, 2016 [4 favorites]
posted by thivaia at 7:35 AM on March 4, 2016 [4 favorites]
And it turned out my teenage daughter has opinions on all these albums. Emo lives people.
posted by GuyZero at 7:39 AM on March 4, 2016 [4 favorites]
posted by GuyZero at 7:39 AM on March 4, 2016 [4 favorites]
Huh. I really loved Embrace, Rites of Spring and Dag Nasty in high school, although I had to kind of hide my love of Dag Nasty because it was officially uncool. I guess I was proto-emo!
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 8:00 AM on March 4, 2016 [4 favorites]
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 8:00 AM on March 4, 2016 [4 favorites]
Emo is not a real genre!
But, if it is, at least all these 40 LPs move it away from other, alternative genres it maybe confused with.
posted by Mezentian at 8:04 AM on March 4, 2016
But, if it is, at least all these 40 LPs move it away from other, alternative genres it maybe confused with.
posted by Mezentian at 8:04 AM on March 4, 2016
Misread as 40 greatest Eno albums, was disappointed.
posted by Daily Alice at 8:15 AM on March 4, 2016 [8 favorites]
posted by Daily Alice at 8:15 AM on March 4, 2016 [8 favorites]
Misread as 40 greatest Elmo albums, was relieved.
posted by ZeusHumms at 8:23 AM on March 4, 2016 [9 favorites]
posted by ZeusHumms at 8:23 AM on March 4, 2016 [9 favorites]
I was about to flip my shit at the utter lack of 90s albums
I don't know if the music changed or if I just grew up, but all the 90s albums are completely (and in some cases uncomfortably) familiar to me, but everything after that is pretty much unknown. There are a couple fringe cases in 2000/2001 where I'm familiar with the bands, but either wasn't really into them (Thursday) or actively sneering at them (Dashboard Confessional). Groups like Texas is the Reason, Mineral, and the Promise Ring though? Just those names are enough to transport me back to high school, driving around aimless at night with the windows down and the music up, occasionally stopping in to get cigarettes from the dispensers that used to be ubiquitous in Waffle Houses.
I can, in fact, pinpoint the exact date when I hit Peak Emo. November, 11 1998, I saw Sunny Day Real Estate in concert, this concert to be exact. The show was just as amazing and emo-y as that article makes it out to be. They told us there would be no moshing, so the whole crowd (or late teen/early 20s white dudes in various styles of "alternative") all just crushed up as close to the stage as possible till we were basically on top of each other. And when the final solo drumming of "The Days Were Golden" ended and the lights came up, the skinhead dude in the doc martens and suspenders with SHARPs buttons next to me gave me a hug. It was Peak Emo, and it was glorious.
posted by Panjandrum at 8:24 AM on March 4, 2016 [9 favorites]
I don't know if the music changed or if I just grew up, but all the 90s albums are completely (and in some cases uncomfortably) familiar to me, but everything after that is pretty much unknown. There are a couple fringe cases in 2000/2001 where I'm familiar with the bands, but either wasn't really into them (Thursday) or actively sneering at them (Dashboard Confessional). Groups like Texas is the Reason, Mineral, and the Promise Ring though? Just those names are enough to transport me back to high school, driving around aimless at night with the windows down and the music up, occasionally stopping in to get cigarettes from the dispensers that used to be ubiquitous in Waffle Houses.
I can, in fact, pinpoint the exact date when I hit Peak Emo. November, 11 1998, I saw Sunny Day Real Estate in concert, this concert to be exact. The show was just as amazing and emo-y as that article makes it out to be. They told us there would be no moshing, so the whole crowd (or late teen/early 20s white dudes in various styles of "alternative") all just crushed up as close to the stage as possible till we were basically on top of each other. And when the final solo drumming of "The Days Were Golden" ended and the lights came up, the skinhead dude in the doc martens and suspenders with SHARPs buttons next to me gave me a hug. It was Peak Emo, and it was glorious.
posted by Panjandrum at 8:24 AM on March 4, 2016 [9 favorites]
had little interest in it even when I dated the guy with the Indian Summer patches on his jacket back in my college years
My favorite Indian Summer story was told to me by a friend. He had gone to see them play and he said during one song the singer started crying, and then he noticed the bass player and the drummer crying, and then the ROADIE crying. Now THAT'S emo.
I was in emo bands back in the day and we even had a song where the chorus was "I'm sorry.".
Perhaps you'd like to see what josher71 was up to in 1995?
posted by josher71 at 8:51 AM on March 4, 2016 [7 favorites]
My favorite Indian Summer story was told to me by a friend. He had gone to see them play and he said during one song the singer started crying, and then he noticed the bass player and the drummer crying, and then the ROADIE crying. Now THAT'S emo.
I was in emo bands back in the day and we even had a song where the chorus was "I'm sorry.".
Perhaps you'd like to see what josher71 was up to in 1995?
posted by josher71 at 8:51 AM on March 4, 2016 [7 favorites]
Does Shudder To Think not fit the genre? Because Pony Express Record is about the best album I've ever heard out of DC.
posted by Devils Rancher at 9:21 AM on March 4, 2016 [7 favorites]
posted by Devils Rancher at 9:21 AM on March 4, 2016 [7 favorites]
Feel like Shudder to Think might be a little too arty.
posted by josher71 at 9:23 AM on March 4, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by josher71 at 9:23 AM on March 4, 2016 [2 favorites]
Cap'n Jazz Owls Rainer Maria American Football I'm happy with this list.
posted by wemayfreeze at 9:37 AM on March 4, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by wemayfreeze at 9:37 AM on March 4, 2016 [1 favorite]
Did Brian Eno play on these or just produce them? I had no idea Eno had been this prolific these last two decades.
In all seriousness, I managed to follow music very closely and totally missed Emo by choice. I regret that choice. If one of you would create a Playlist of the "don't miss" Emo tracks, I would buy every one of them.
Also I've sung Screamo and that's a super fun thing to do.
posted by Joey Michaels at 9:46 AM on March 4, 2016
In all seriousness, I managed to follow music very closely and totally missed Emo by choice. I regret that choice. If one of you would create a Playlist of the "don't miss" Emo tracks, I would buy every one of them.
Also I've sung Screamo and that's a super fun thing to do.
posted by Joey Michaels at 9:46 AM on March 4, 2016
Only heard of 6 of the bands on this list, and am not surprised by that at all. And I don't care. Does that make me Emo?
posted by Chuffy at 9:55 AM on March 4, 2016
posted by Chuffy at 9:55 AM on March 4, 2016
And they obviously missed the most important Emo album of all time.
posted by Chuffy at 9:58 AM on March 4, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by Chuffy at 9:58 AM on March 4, 2016 [3 favorites]
Does Shudder To Think not fit the genre?
Heck no. Not only too arty, but waaaaaay too ironically self-aware. Emo is sincere.
posted by soundguy99 at 10:28 AM on March 4, 2016 [1 favorite]
Heck no. Not only too arty, but waaaaaay too ironically self-aware. Emo is sincere.
posted by soundguy99 at 10:28 AM on March 4, 2016 [1 favorite]
Moss Icon should be higher on the list.
Weezer shouldn't be on it all. Possible replacements (for its spot on the list, not its ranking): i hate myself - 10 Songs or Circle Takes the Square - As the Roots Undo. La Dispute - Wildlife and Touche Amore - Is Survived By also make my personal list but are maybe too recent for a "of all time list", they need to marinate a while longer first.
posted by vibratory manner of working at 10:35 AM on March 4, 2016 [2 favorites]
Weezer shouldn't be on it all. Possible replacements (for its spot on the list, not its ranking): i hate myself - 10 Songs or Circle Takes the Square - As the Roots Undo. La Dispute - Wildlife and Touche Amore - Is Survived By also make my personal list but are maybe too recent for a "of all time list", they need to marinate a while longer first.
posted by vibratory manner of working at 10:35 AM on March 4, 2016 [2 favorites]
If you're going to put Weezer on this list, (and they definitely were described as Emo when they first came out, even though it means something different now) the Blue Album should be in first place.
They're touring with Panic! at the Disco this summer. I think this means Panic's complete transformation from Emo to alt-pop is complete.
posted by Ruki at 10:42 AM on March 4, 2016
They're touring with Panic! at the Disco this summer. I think this means Panic's complete transformation from Emo to alt-pop is complete.
posted by Ruki at 10:42 AM on March 4, 2016
To my old (36) brain it makes no sense to put the quite amazing Sunny Day Real Estate in with My Chemical Romance and Say Anything.
I always see this genre/era as kind of a lost era. I don't know many people over the age of 30 who can stomach Say Anything, MCR, etc.... No one really talks about this stuff. A lot of it was going on the same time as the Arcade Fire, Strokes, Spoon, Decemberists, Sufjan, and the like were rising up. That's all anyone I knew talked about.
I have a friend who sincerely loves this stuff and tries to sell me on it constantly. He is 29. I just can't do it. Those voices! Those sincere, teen journal lyrics. ouch.
These are the same people who love Blink 182. Just let that sink in.
posted by prozak at 10:44 AM on March 4, 2016 [3 favorites]
I always see this genre/era as kind of a lost era. I don't know many people over the age of 30 who can stomach Say Anything, MCR, etc.... No one really talks about this stuff. A lot of it was going on the same time as the Arcade Fire, Strokes, Spoon, Decemberists, Sufjan, and the like were rising up. That's all anyone I knew talked about.
I have a friend who sincerely loves this stuff and tries to sell me on it constantly. He is 29. I just can't do it. Those voices! Those sincere, teen journal lyrics. ouch.
These are the same people who love Blink 182. Just let that sink in.
posted by prozak at 10:44 AM on March 4, 2016 [3 favorites]
To my old (36) brain it makes no sense to put the quite amazing Sunny Day Real Estate in with My Chemical Romance and Say Anything.
I'm the same way, 90s emo to me is completely different than 00s emo.
posted by entropicamericana at 11:06 AM on March 4, 2016 [7 favorites]
I'm the same way, 90s emo to me is completely different than 00s emo.
posted by entropicamericana at 11:06 AM on March 4, 2016 [7 favorites]
Does everybody still hate "Very Emergency" by the Promise Ring? Am I the only one who likes it?
posted by kevinbelt at 11:08 AM on March 4, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by kevinbelt at 11:08 AM on March 4, 2016 [3 favorites]
Once emo evolved into its more glam incarnation, we should have renamed the separate genres, as shown in Yourscenesucks' perceptive identification of thePrehistoric Emo as a completely different beast from Generic Emo Boy. A visit to is this band emo? may help straighten out a few misconceptions that this Rolling Stone list has unfortunately fallen prey to.
Still, here we are, with a list of emo albums sans Bright Eyes and Pedro the Lion. Where is the melancholy? Where are the gently ripped cardigans?
posted by redsparkler at 11:10 AM on March 4, 2016 [4 favorites]
Still, here we are, with a list of emo albums sans Bright Eyes and Pedro the Lion. Where is the melancholy? Where are the gently ripped cardigans?
posted by redsparkler at 11:10 AM on March 4, 2016 [4 favorites]
I've always thought of emo as What Came After Green Day.
posted by grumpybear69 at 11:10 AM on March 4, 2016
posted by grumpybear69 at 11:10 AM on March 4, 2016
This is one genre I can say that I definitely don't like, some of these bands I actively dislike. Much to my surprise, the #1 album is one I've always loved! Weird.
posted by cell divide at 11:18 AM on March 4, 2016
posted by cell divide at 11:18 AM on March 4, 2016
A visit to is this band emo? may help straighten out a few misconceptions that this Rolling Stone list has unfortunately fallen prey to.
According to that site, of the 39 bands on the list (Jimmy Eat World has two albums here), 31 are considered emo and 8 not (The Used, Panic! at the Disco, Coheed and Cambria, Paramore, Dag Nasty, Weezer, My Chemical Romance, and Fall Out Boy are the nots). That's not a terrible ratio, all things considered.
the sister site "is this band indie" is very strange, I can't seem to find any band it says yes to. Neutral Milk Hotel aren't an indie band? Really?
posted by vibratory manner of working at 11:49 AM on March 4, 2016 [1 favorite]
According to that site, of the 39 bands on the list (Jimmy Eat World has two albums here), 31 are considered emo and 8 not (The Used, Panic! at the Disco, Coheed and Cambria, Paramore, Dag Nasty, Weezer, My Chemical Romance, and Fall Out Boy are the nots). That's not a terrible ratio, all things considered.
the sister site "is this band indie" is very strange, I can't seem to find any band it says yes to. Neutral Milk Hotel aren't an indie band? Really?
posted by vibratory manner of working at 11:49 AM on March 4, 2016 [1 favorite]
This is a pretty decent list, but most anyone who has dove into the genre has heard all of these.
I'm shocked that Slint's Spiderland didn't make it onto the list. I think that album is influential but totally overrated, and if a list is going to name Orchid or Drive Like Jehu it's almost guaranteed they're going to drop Slint's name.
I'm not shocked that one of the most underrated emo albums by one of the best emo bands ever wasn't on there. Boys Life "Departures and Landfalls" Did everything Spiderland did but better. I've been listening to this album since an internet friend showed it to me in 2004 and to this day it is the definitive sound of the mid-west, and I cannot help but think of it when I hear the train horn in the distance here in Portland. So many nights as a teenager listening to this on repeat. I love Mineral (just saw them with Hum at the end of last year. Cried in front of my ex-girlfriend when Chris Simpson sang "will you ever know how much I love you?" THAT'S some real emo shit), and I love SDRE, I love Drive Like Jehu, Still Life, Indian Summer (including Marc Bianchi's stuff as Her Space Holiday), Heroin, Swing Kids (who did an awesome screamo cover of Warsaw by Joy Division), Portraits of Past, The Promise Ring, Braid, Jawbreaker, and Christie Front Drive (also sorely underrated), but Boys Life takes the cake for me. The vocals, the guitar, the drums, the sound of trains and people murmuring, the quality of the recording and the feelings of space and emptiness in the face of their loud-soft dynamics, they had it all. That album oozes emotion in ways that most bands can't do. Simply incredible and they'll always be my favorite emo band.
Everyone should try to find the Crank! Records compilation "Don't Forget To Breathe", it's easily my favorite comp of that era. Ebulittion also put out some great comps with more screamo oriented stuff.
posted by gucci mane at 11:55 AM on March 4, 2016 [3 favorites]
I'm shocked that Slint's Spiderland didn't make it onto the list. I think that album is influential but totally overrated, and if a list is going to name Orchid or Drive Like Jehu it's almost guaranteed they're going to drop Slint's name.
I'm not shocked that one of the most underrated emo albums by one of the best emo bands ever wasn't on there. Boys Life "Departures and Landfalls" Did everything Spiderland did but better. I've been listening to this album since an internet friend showed it to me in 2004 and to this day it is the definitive sound of the mid-west, and I cannot help but think of it when I hear the train horn in the distance here in Portland. So many nights as a teenager listening to this on repeat. I love Mineral (just saw them with Hum at the end of last year. Cried in front of my ex-girlfriend when Chris Simpson sang "will you ever know how much I love you?" THAT'S some real emo shit), and I love SDRE, I love Drive Like Jehu, Still Life, Indian Summer (including Marc Bianchi's stuff as Her Space Holiday), Heroin, Swing Kids (who did an awesome screamo cover of Warsaw by Joy Division), Portraits of Past, The Promise Ring, Braid, Jawbreaker, and Christie Front Drive (also sorely underrated), but Boys Life takes the cake for me. The vocals, the guitar, the drums, the sound of trains and people murmuring, the quality of the recording and the feelings of space and emptiness in the face of their loud-soft dynamics, they had it all. That album oozes emotion in ways that most bands can't do. Simply incredible and they'll always be my favorite emo band.
Everyone should try to find the Crank! Records compilation "Don't Forget To Breathe", it's easily my favorite comp of that era. Ebulittion also put out some great comps with more screamo oriented stuff.
posted by gucci mane at 11:55 AM on March 4, 2016 [3 favorites]
thivaia: "But seriously people, if you have to put one Jawbreaker album on a list, that albums should always be 24 Hour Revenge Therapy."
You seem to have misspelled Bivouac.
posted by namewithoutwords at 11:56 AM on March 4, 2016 [1 favorite]
You seem to have misspelled Bivouac.
posted by namewithoutwords at 11:56 AM on March 4, 2016 [1 favorite]
Also, as for the emo revival stuff, I'm quite partial to The Hotelier and Joie de Vivre. Title Fight is one of my favorite bands and they've gotten a lot less "punk" with their latest releases, with Hyperview being basically a shoegaze album (and awesome!!), but I wouldn't exactly place them in that category.
posted by gucci mane at 12:00 PM on March 4, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by gucci mane at 12:00 PM on March 4, 2016 [1 favorite]
My friend Tim was in Jazz June for a couple of albums and played guitar on the one listed here. He's no longer a professional musician but I told him he should feel extremely proud to make it to a list like this, no matter how flawed.
posted by spicynuts at 12:03 PM on March 4, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by spicynuts at 12:03 PM on March 4, 2016 [2 favorites]
I believe Brand New also has 2 albums on the list.
My absolute favorite emo album is The Velvet Teen's Out of the Fierce Parade (here's Penning the Penultimate-so emo!) so I'm pretty sad it didn't make the cut.
I'm kind of surprised Death Cab for Cutie didn't make the list.
posted by LizBoBiz at 12:04 PM on March 4, 2016
My absolute favorite emo album is The Velvet Teen's Out of the Fierce Parade (here's Penning the Penultimate-so emo!) so I'm pretty sad it didn't make the cut.
I'm kind of surprised Death Cab for Cutie didn't make the list.
posted by LizBoBiz at 12:04 PM on March 4, 2016
You're correct! 30 yes, 8 no then.
posted by vibratory manner of working at 12:06 PM on March 4, 2016
posted by vibratory manner of working at 12:06 PM on March 4, 2016
vibratory manner of working: of the 39 bands on the list (Jimmy Eat World has two albums here), 31 are considered emo and 8 not (The Used, Panic! at the Disco, Coheed and Cambria, Paramore, Dag Nasty, Weezer, My Chemical Romance, and Fall Out Boy are the nots). That's not a terrible ratio, all things considered.
All of those bands (minus Dag Nasty) came up in the big early-2000's pop-punk wave, which is probably why they aren't considered "emo". I think Dag Nasty is an emo band, with a rawer sound more akin to early pop-punk like 90's NOFX and such. Travis Barker from Blink-182 has a Dag Nasty tattoo on his chest, which is how I initially got into them, back in 5th and 6th grade. Most of those other bands took pieces from bands like The Get-Up Kids and The Promise Ring but also from early Green Day albums, and other influences. My Chemical Romance's first two releases really stand out for me and they wear their influences on their sleeves. A lot of the guys in Fall Out Boy use to be in hardcore bands so it doesn't surprise me that their first released sound the way they do. Pete Wentz was in a band called Racetraitor, which Botch wrote a song about.
posted by gucci mane at 12:06 PM on March 4, 2016 [3 favorites]
All of those bands (minus Dag Nasty) came up in the big early-2000's pop-punk wave, which is probably why they aren't considered "emo". I think Dag Nasty is an emo band, with a rawer sound more akin to early pop-punk like 90's NOFX and such. Travis Barker from Blink-182 has a Dag Nasty tattoo on his chest, which is how I initially got into them, back in 5th and 6th grade. Most of those other bands took pieces from bands like The Get-Up Kids and The Promise Ring but also from early Green Day albums, and other influences. My Chemical Romance's first two releases really stand out for me and they wear their influences on their sleeves. A lot of the guys in Fall Out Boy use to be in hardcore bands so it doesn't surprise me that their first released sound the way they do. Pete Wentz was in a band called Racetraitor, which Botch wrote a song about.
posted by gucci mane at 12:06 PM on March 4, 2016 [3 favorites]
kevinbelt: "Does everybody still hate "Very Emergency" by the Promise Ring? Am I the only one who likes it?"
Nope, I unabashedly love it, maybe even more than Nothing Feels Good.
Also, Jawbox - For Your Own Special Sweetheart deserves to be on this list.
And where is The Wedding Present - Seamonsters? I'd put it on this list, although that might be controversial too.
And what about The Ataris - Blue Skies, Broken Hearts...Next 12 Exits? Surely that cracks the top 40...much more so than At The Drive-In who (while amazing) I don't know that I would call emo...
in short, I have OPINIONS.
posted by namewithoutwords at 12:10 PM on March 4, 2016 [4 favorites]
Nope, I unabashedly love it, maybe even more than Nothing Feels Good.
Also, Jawbox - For Your Own Special Sweetheart deserves to be on this list.
And where is The Wedding Present - Seamonsters? I'd put it on this list, although that might be controversial too.
And what about The Ataris - Blue Skies, Broken Hearts...Next 12 Exits? Surely that cracks the top 40...much more so than At The Drive-In who (while amazing) I don't know that I would call emo...
in short, I have OPINIONS.
posted by namewithoutwords at 12:10 PM on March 4, 2016 [4 favorites]
I'm surprised Texas Is The Reason wasn't on it. They're almost always mentioned alongside The Promise Ring.
posted by gucci mane at 12:13 PM on March 4, 2016
posted by gucci mane at 12:13 PM on March 4, 2016
Whoops, must have missed them then!
posted by gucci mane at 12:26 PM on March 4, 2016
posted by gucci mane at 12:26 PM on March 4, 2016
LizBoBiz: I'm surprised, too. This may be the first time I've commented on a music list omission on the internet, and I've definitely read my fair share of them.
I have shockingly few qualms with the rest of the list. I'd be okay with it skewing more 90s (and only "Deja Entendu" from Brand New), but I think they have most of the major bases covered. That's all I can really ask for from something like this.
And as Eric Elbogen sings on Say Hi to Your Mom's "Pop Music of the Future", "it's all been downhill since Sunny Day Real Estate's first record."
posted by Jeff Morris at 12:44 PM on March 4, 2016 [1 favorite]
I have shockingly few qualms with the rest of the list. I'd be okay with it skewing more 90s (and only "Deja Entendu" from Brand New), but I think they have most of the major bases covered. That's all I can really ask for from something like this.
And as Eric Elbogen sings on Say Hi to Your Mom's "Pop Music of the Future", "it's all been downhill since Sunny Day Real Estate's first record."
posted by Jeff Morris at 12:44 PM on March 4, 2016 [1 favorite]
I'm too old to understand any of this.
(queues up Black Celebration)
posted by JoeZydeco at 12:48 PM on March 4, 2016 [3 favorites]
(queues up Black Celebration)
posted by JoeZydeco at 12:48 PM on March 4, 2016 [3 favorites]
Glad to see: Rainer Maria, Cursive, Mineral, "Clarity", American Football, "Through Being Cool"
Conspicuously missing: "Blue Skies, Broken Hearts...", "Low Level Owl", Q and not U, early Death Cab, The Walkmen
WTF: MCR, Fall Out Boy
I'm into The Hotelier and Cloud Nothings being the current wave more than Panic! at the Disco, or any Weezer after Green Album.
posted by a halcyon day at 1:06 PM on March 4, 2016 [1 favorite]
Conspicuously missing: "Blue Skies, Broken Hearts...", "Low Level Owl", Q and not U, early Death Cab, The Walkmen
WTF: MCR, Fall Out Boy
I'm into The Hotelier and Cloud Nothings being the current wave more than Panic! at the Disco, or any Weezer after Green Album.
posted by a halcyon day at 1:06 PM on March 4, 2016 [1 favorite]
I feel like I'm out of step with Metafilter because this list seems like a comprehensive, fairly safe "Greatest Hits of Emo" (at least for a person who DJed college radio in the Midwest in the early 2000s and thought Connor Oberst was Very Deep, and that smoking clove cigarettes somehow made you interesting.)
Braid, American Football, At the Drive In, Cursive and Promise Ring were huge in that little corner of music at the time. My only gripe is the relative lack of Saddle Creek bands, which I attribute to some sort of arbitrary line-drawing. And Fall Out Boy is a pretty far stretch IMO.
American Football and Rainer Maria are both great starting points, if yer curious.
posted by joechip at 1:11 PM on March 4, 2016 [2 favorites]
Braid, American Football, At the Drive In, Cursive and Promise Ring were huge in that little corner of music at the time. My only gripe is the relative lack of Saddle Creek bands, which I attribute to some sort of arbitrary line-drawing. And Fall Out Boy is a pretty far stretch IMO.
American Football and Rainer Maria are both great starting points, if yer curious.
posted by joechip at 1:11 PM on March 4, 2016 [2 favorites]
I'm old, so some of the post 2k stuff I don't know as well. But, there were a few things that bugged me.
How does Saves The Day make it, but Lifetime, the band they lifted their sound from does not?
Dag Nasty - Can I Say is harder to pin down. I'd say it's really early post hardcore. Melodic at times, but mainly simple and straight forward. Sound was not like what was considered emo during this period. (See Rites of Spring, Egg Hunt etc...)
I would have chosen Something to Write Home About, over 4 Minute Mile for the Get Up Kids. Both are good, but Something to Write Home About was really their peak of poppy, melodic rock goodness.
Two Bands I would have added are:
Rival Schools - United By Fate - Singer/Guitarist Walter Schreifels was in NYHC Legends Gorrilla Biscuits, and the great post hardcore band Quicksand. His projects always seemed on the verge of breaking big, but never would. United By Fate is a great album where after you listen you think "damn these guys are going to be huge". But, like his other projects it gets released on a major, gets no push and forgotten.
65 Film Show - Breathing Will Be Assisted - Not a very well know band from Norfolk Va. only around for an briefly in the late 90's. But, their debut (and I think only album) is great. Great live band as well.
posted by remo at 1:12 PM on March 4, 2016 [1 favorite]
How does Saves The Day make it, but Lifetime, the band they lifted their sound from does not?
Dag Nasty - Can I Say is harder to pin down. I'd say it's really early post hardcore. Melodic at times, but mainly simple and straight forward. Sound was not like what was considered emo during this period. (See Rites of Spring, Egg Hunt etc...)
I would have chosen Something to Write Home About, over 4 Minute Mile for the Get Up Kids. Both are good, but Something to Write Home About was really their peak of poppy, melodic rock goodness.
Two Bands I would have added are:
Rival Schools - United By Fate - Singer/Guitarist Walter Schreifels was in NYHC Legends Gorrilla Biscuits, and the great post hardcore band Quicksand. His projects always seemed on the verge of breaking big, but never would. United By Fate is a great album where after you listen you think "damn these guys are going to be huge". But, like his other projects it gets released on a major, gets no push and forgotten.
65 Film Show - Breathing Will Be Assisted - Not a very well know band from Norfolk Va. only around for an briefly in the late 90's. But, their debut (and I think only album) is great. Great live band as well.
posted by remo at 1:12 PM on March 4, 2016 [1 favorite]
Not sure where I'd rank them, but I'd have included Far and Knapsack.
thivaia: "But seriously people, if you have to put one Jawbreaker album on a list, that albums should always be 24 Hour Revenge Therapy. "
You seem to have misspelled Bivouac.
You are both correct. Unfun would have been acceptable as well.
posted by eyeballkid at 1:14 PM on March 4, 2016
thivaia: "But seriously people, if you have to put one Jawbreaker album on a list, that albums should always be 24 Hour Revenge Therapy. "
You seem to have misspelled Bivouac.
You are both correct. Unfun would have been acceptable as well.
posted by eyeballkid at 1:14 PM on March 4, 2016
Oh and there's no Jawbox either.
posted by eyeballkid at 1:17 PM on March 4, 2016
posted by eyeballkid at 1:17 PM on March 4, 2016
Every time I think I know what constitutes emo, it turns out I don't. Like, what makes Drive Like Jehu emo? And now I see that some people consider Jawbox emo, and according to the website I linked above, Nation of Ulysses are emo, too! Is emo just anything where the singer used to go to hardcore shows and the guitarist can play minor chords? Are Girls Against Boys emo? (Arrogance and self-loathing are emotions, right?)
posted by DaDaDaDave at 1:24 PM on March 4, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by DaDaDaDave at 1:24 PM on March 4, 2016 [3 favorites]
Is emo just anything where the singer used to go to hardcore shows and the guitarist can play minor chords?
Many people have put forth worse definitions.
posted by vibratory manner of working at 1:42 PM on March 4, 2016 [6 favorites]
Many people have put forth worse definitions.
posted by vibratory manner of working at 1:42 PM on March 4, 2016 [6 favorites]
I'm too old to understand any of this.
(queues up Black Celebration)
I'm too old to understand any of this
(queues up Pornography)
posted by Chuffy at 1:48 PM on March 4, 2016 [4 favorites]
(queues up Black Celebration)
I'm too old to understand any of this
(queues up Pornography)
posted by Chuffy at 1:48 PM on March 4, 2016 [4 favorites]
This entire thread makes me all nostalgic for my very first office job (98-99ish) and the amount of time I wasted on the Jawbreaker mailing list,* a significant portion of which was comprised of people arguing in self-consciously ovewrought language about the definition of emo.
*(I was also on the Royal Trux list and the Elephant 6 list-. I mean, I was a twenty-two year old of diverse tastes)
posted by thivaia at 2:25 PM on March 4, 2016
*(I was also on the Royal Trux list and the Elephant 6 list-. I mean, I was a twenty-two year old of diverse tastes)
posted by thivaia at 2:25 PM on March 4, 2016
Just echoing that this list has serious confusion between "pop punk" and "emo". And I'm not the genre police, but there is a significant difference! No one had this confusion in the 90s, but in the 00s apparently everything mixed together enough that the names became meaningless. I personally blame My Chemical Romance for the mixup (a very good band, but not really emo OR pop punk! they're kinda glam / T-Rexish)
posted by naju at 2:48 PM on March 4, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by naju at 2:48 PM on March 4, 2016 [1 favorite]
Rolling Stone's top emo tracks
3. Plain White T's - Hey There Delilah
2. Foo Fighters - Best Of You
1. Counting Crows - A Long December
posted by naju at 5:09 PM on March 4, 2016 [4 favorites]
3. Plain White T's - Hey There Delilah
2. Foo Fighters - Best Of You
1. Counting Crows - A Long December
posted by naju at 5:09 PM on March 4, 2016 [4 favorites]
This thread is giving me life. I have been on such a new emo/melodic-post-rock with-vocals kick lately. Rainer Maria was so good. Eyeballkid, totally agree on Knapsack. Oh, and the multiple mentions of The Hotelier, I have been listening to Home, Like No Place is There on repeat this week.
I would have liked to see my favorite emo band of all time, Sarge, on the list. Sarge was the soundtrack to my college life. Also, there's this gem of emo perfection Elliott.
Old-school emo is totally making a comeback, I harp on them on here all the time, but The World is a Beautiful Place and I am No Longer Afraid to Die are putting out songs that just keep getting better and better. And there's a little Scottish band, Terrafraid, that should be huger than they are.
posted by banjo_and_the_pork at 6:27 PM on March 4, 2016 [2 favorites]
I would have liked to see my favorite emo band of all time, Sarge, on the list. Sarge was the soundtrack to my college life. Also, there's this gem of emo perfection Elliott.
Old-school emo is totally making a comeback, I harp on them on here all the time, but The World is a Beautiful Place and I am No Longer Afraid to Die are putting out songs that just keep getting better and better. And there's a little Scottish band, Terrafraid, that should be huger than they are.
posted by banjo_and_the_pork at 6:27 PM on March 4, 2016 [2 favorites]
No J Church ... Not exactly a surprise, but they were one of the most smart and exciting and intelligent and funny proto-emo bands of the era. So many classic records in a hyper-prolific career, but Arbor Vitae was my life. RIP Lance.
posted by mykescipark at 6:35 PM on March 4, 2016
posted by mykescipark at 6:35 PM on March 4, 2016
recognize some of the band names, not a single song title. I guess I have no idea what Emo is.
posted by philip-random at 10:01 PM on March 4, 2016
posted by philip-random at 10:01 PM on March 4, 2016
Where does Life Without Buildings, Any Other City fit into this? Serious question.
posted by Sonny Jim at 1:54 AM on March 5, 2016
posted by Sonny Jim at 1:54 AM on March 5, 2016
Oh man, 90s emo is the soundtrack for such a defining period in my life. The stuff that came after really isn't the same genre. (And no, article authors, pop punk /= emo)
Anyway, just came in to plug my favorite emo album ever, which is Hand Me Down by Falling Forward. Totally overlooked and underappreciated in my view. If you're feeling nostalgic I highly recommend it.
posted by AV at 3:20 AM on March 5, 2016
Anyway, just came in to plug my favorite emo album ever, which is Hand Me Down by Falling Forward. Totally overlooked and underappreciated in my view. If you're feeling nostalgic I highly recommend it.
posted by AV at 3:20 AM on March 5, 2016
(queues up Pornography)
*ponders UK Decay, Sex Gang Children and Gloria Mundi, but plays Bauhaus*
posted by Mezentian at 7:05 AM on March 5, 2016 [1 favorite]
*ponders UK Decay, Sex Gang Children and Gloria Mundi, but plays Bauhaus*
posted by Mezentian at 7:05 AM on March 5, 2016 [1 favorite]
Because of this thread, plus the fact that apparently my guy had never heard (!) Saves the Day, Through Being Cool is now our road-trip soundtrack. The whole album - as well as Stay As You Are - are on youtube!
Ah, memories. Also whatever they are still good.
posted by likeatoaster at 7:25 AM on March 5, 2016 [1 favorite]
Ah, memories. Also whatever they are still good.
posted by likeatoaster at 7:25 AM on March 5, 2016 [1 favorite]
Like 95% of this list is composed of albums/artists that I feel like are more or less agreed upon to be emo or tangentially emo at some point in their careers, but the remaining 5% is just utterly baffling. I'm definitely from the Myspace generation, but even I don't know how anyone can listen to Panic! At the Disco's first release objectively and then categorize it as being anywhere remotely in the vein of Texas is the Reason, Cursive, Sunny Day Real Estate, etc. I remember being a sad kid on the internet in 2006 when emo took on a completely separate persona, weirdly removed from a cohesive music genre and more focused on aesthetics...but if it was able to be broadly characterized as a music genre, it was usually very blatant pop-punk cashing in on teen angst. I'm all for genres expanding, but some of these are a real, real big stretch. However, I do see the list was composed by six people, who seem to have pretty differing opinions. The endless debate continues.
posted by giizhik at 1:19 PM on March 5, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by giizhik at 1:19 PM on March 5, 2016 [2 favorites]
I think it's because a lot of pop-punk bands in the early-mid 2000's took so much from the late 90's emo bands, mostly the poppier elements. I mean, Clarity and Bleed American by Jimmy Eat World are poppy as hell, but hardly anyone disagrees with them being called emo. I personally think My Chemical Romance's first two albums can fit into the emo category, as much as I still consider them a pop-punk band. Crossovers exist, look at thrash and hardcore punk. Idk if people had by debates about whether a band was thrash metal or a hardcore punk band, but I'm going to assume people did. Whether a band was emo or not has been a fight since Livejournal communities cropped up with teens wearing dyed black hair parted over their eyes with the backs spiked up, angled selfies and high contrast photos and white studded belts and youth medium Threadless shirts. I remember being 13 years old and going on those LJ groups to loudly defend "real emo" against what I considered a bunch of posers, but as I've gotten older I've recognized the similarities between an album like Something To Write Home About and Take This To Your Grave. (Dead On Arrival or Grand Theft Autumn could have easily been Jimmy Eat World songs tbh)
posted by gucci mane at 7:26 PM on March 7, 2016
posted by gucci mane at 7:26 PM on March 7, 2016
Also, Saves The Day's first 4 releases are my favorite albums. I have a Through Being Cool tattoo, which Chris Conley himself told me was his favorite one. I have the very first Saves The Day shirt ever printed, from when they were teenagers. It says "Insert Knife Here" on the back.
posted by gucci mane at 7:28 PM on March 7, 2016
posted by gucci mane at 7:28 PM on March 7, 2016
« Older UWP needs some friends these days | The new media and the editorial wall Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
posted by entropicamericana at 6:12 AM on March 4, 2016