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Posted: Nov 25 2009 08:20 pm

So I was surfing Youtube and decided to check out some old Everclear music videos, namely 'Wonderful', 'Father of Mine', and 'Santa Monica'. And this got me thinking, though emo music had existed for some years before, did Art Alexakis kinda write the formula for modern day emo music? Catchy, happy sounding pop hooks with some of the angstiest, angriest, saddest lyrics you can imagine.

And this goes for other bands of the time too, like Semisonic, Third Eye Blind, even some Weezer.

I dunno, what're your guys' opinions?

Posted: Nov 26 2009 01:33 am

Dude, emo's been around for years, just usually with better hooks and music than now.

Course, it's still emo...

Posted: Nov 26 2009 02:16 am

Dude, I said that over two years ago.

http://www.sydlexia.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=46494&highlight=everclear#46494

Joined: Apr 09 2008 Location: Pennsylvania Posts: 3112

Finally, another soapbox. Let's get classy:

Emo doesn't exist. It has never been created, and has never died. The best example I can give is by writing down a list of bands that I've heard people refer to as "emo":

Rites of Spring
The Cure
Bauhaus
Violent Femmes
Neutral Milk Hotel
Sunny Day Real Estate
Saves the Day
Weezer
Dashboard Confessional
Panic! At the Disco
My Chemical Romance
Fallout Boy

What do all of these bands have in common? There's nothing similar between all of them about their musical structure, keys, tempos, drumbeats, guitar stylings, or anything musical at all. The only thing in common is that they each write a large amount of lyrics dealing with emotional issues. Otherwise, the bands couldn't be more different.

Surely a 1980s hardcore band (Rites of Spring) was the first ever group of artists to ever speak about their emotions, just like how Rick Astley wrote the first love song of all time. The only reason Rites of Spring was called "emo" was that because all of the super-punks decided that the band did not live up to their manly standards, and dismissed it as "emo", their word for "puss music."

That remains the standard to this day. A male insecurity does not want to be viewed as some wussy little artist, so he dumps on anyone who can be viewed as such so he has a one-up on the man in the angel choir of manliness. Fall Out Boy, MCR, and Panic are all modified forms of Screeching Weasel, Neutral and Dashboard are a modern Simon and Garfunkel, and so on. That's it. Period.

Sorry to get all emo on everyone. I'll go cry into my Violent Femmes vinyls.

Posted: Nov 26 2009 05:13 am

K, how bout....do you think the Fueled By Ramen generation of musicians took any influence from Everclear?

Posted: Nov 26 2009 02:27 pm

Probably, but most musicians take influence from a lot of people.

I mean shit, two of the bands I listen to most are Metallica and blink-182

Posted: Nov 27 2009 11:20 am

Everclear is more pop punk than emo. Even though some of their lyrics are depressing, the music is too upbeat to be emo.

Posted: Nov 27 2009 12:05 pm

I would agree, actually. If anything, Everclear is in that rare microgenre of emo that you could call "Daddydoesntloveme-mo". I mean seriously, Art Alexakis just needs to go and have like three years of intensive therapy so I don't have to hear about how his father left him while I'm waiting for the Postal Service to come on the radio.

To be honest, though, I think Emo is just as crappy a term as things like Nu-Metal, Pop Rock or Electroclash. Admittedly, we're humans, and we categorize things, put labels on them. That's just what we do. It's how we try and make some sort of semblance of order out of a universe that's inherently fucked up and super scary. Emo might be the worst of the monikers, though, because I've never heard music that didn't rouse some kind of emotion out of me, even if that emotion was just mild dislike or apathy. Then again, I cry when I hear the Thundercats theme song, so maybe I'm TOO emotional to be objective about this.

Posted: Nov 27 2009 12:59 pm

I'm with Greg in that "emo" is not a valid musical genre. It's defined by brooding lyrics and little else. One of the biggest things songwriters write about are emotional problems like break-ups, death, and longing. Why suddenly are we putting a label on it as if My Chemical Romance were the first band to write about a guy dying in the hospital? Because they have black hair? Fucking Lou Reed had black hair in 1972 when he sung about walking on the wild side (i.e. how messed up society is). Is Lou Reed emo?

Oh, and Everclear is awesome. I met Art about 10 years ago and had a good chat with him. Really cool guy.

Posted: Nov 27 2009 02:48 pm

Iron Maiden is emo. Hallowed Be Thy Name? Totally emo. Also, the entirety of Seventh Son of a Seventh Son.

Posted: Nov 27 2009 03:52 pm

I've pretty much avoided MCR because the impression I've got from everyone is that they are a bunch of whiney little wimps and so on. I actually like their song Teenagers on Saints Row 2. I didn't even know it was them. When I found out, I was surprised because the impression that I got from everyone was that they were like Matt Noonan from Dead Man on Campus. I haven't really heard any of their other stuff other than Welcome to the Black Parade. So I really don't know what they are like. I just know I like that one song and its definitely not what I think of when I think of emo. But then again, the rest of their songs could sound like Words of My Sperm by Kiss My Ass and I wouldn't know because I haven't heard any of their other shit.

Posted: Nov 27 2009 04:05 pm

Nah, their stuff is pretty good scamrock. Good up-tempo music that's fun to listen to. I never understood why they are the prime example of "emo", whatever the fuck that is, or why that's a bad thing to most people. If you actually listen to one of their songs, most people say, "Hey, that's actually pretty good."

Their first two albums (they had one before but it's not really a commercial one), Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge and The Black Parade are both excellent albums that have a lot of great, catchy, and surprisingly deep tracks. MCR have been on my top 5 list for some time now and I'm anything but gothy, teeny, or emo that they've been unfairly associated with.

Posted: Nov 27 2009 07:10 pm

Sunny Day Real Estate is the only emo band.

Posted: Nov 27 2009 11:36 pm

Pandajuice wrote:

Nah, their stuff is pretty good scamrock. Good up-tempo music that's fun to listen to. I never understood why they are the prime example of "emo", whatever the fuck that is, or why that's a bad thing to most people. If you actually listen to one of their songs, most people say, "Hey, that's actually pretty good."

Their first two albums (they had one before but it's not really a commercial one), Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge and The Black Parade are both excellent albums that have a lot of great, catchy, and surprisingly deep tracks. MCR have been on my top 5 list for some time now and I'm anything but gothy, teeny, or emo that they've been unfairly associated with.

MCR's first underground album "I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love" was every bit as good as their two studio releases, only the sound is a bit rougher.

I was one of their first fans (I got into them before Three Cheers came out, and they started picking up their fanbase), and it saddens me to see that they are classified as "emo" by ignorant people who don't like them because they wear white makeup on stage.

You want emo? Listen to Simple Plan. That's the first band I think of when I hear "Emo". Basically, every song I've heard from them has to deal with "Woe is us, we're not good enough for girls/daddy/life!" It's very depressing music, while MCR (with the exception of "Cancer" from Black Parade) is anything but.

Rise Against is another band that doesn't deserve the "emo" label. They're more of a political band along the veins of System of a Down, only without the inherent lyrical strangeness that made System so endearing. But almost all of their songs are head-banging good times.

Posted: Nov 27 2009 11:41 pm

I'm pretty sure System of a Down is emo, because everytime I hear one of their songs I want to kill myself.

Posted: Nov 28 2009 12:35 am

Syd Lexia wrote:

I'm pretty sure System of a Down is emo, because everytime I hear one of their songs I want to kill myself.

They have therapy for that, you know.

Posted: Nov 28 2009 02:35 am

The Smiths would be a huge vote as the Grandfathers of such music.

With such uplifting songs as:
"Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now"
"How Soon Is Now?"
"Cemetry Gates"
"What Difference Does It Make?"
"Suffer Little Children"
"Never Had No One Ever"
"Girlfriend in a Coma"
"Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me"
"Unhappy Birthday"
"Death at One's Elbow"

I could go on.

Posted: Nov 28 2009 05:17 am

Syd Lexia wrote:

I'm pretty sure System of a Down is emo, because everytime I hear one of their songs I want to kill myself.

http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/HowTo:Write_Serj_Tankian_Lyrics

Posted: Nov 28 2009 07:12 pm

WHO THE FUCK CALLS RISE AGAINST EMO???

Joined: May 22 2008 Location: Goshen, VA Posts: 6544

They aren't Emo but I sure as fuck can't stand listening to that dudes voice. It's a shame because the music is fair, albeit a little repetitive. The music is catchy, fun to bounce to but I can't really listen to them for fun, only if I have to. Like when they opened for Bad Religion I didn't mind listening to them because I knew something better was coming up next.

Posted: Nov 28 2009 09:23 pm

Blackout wrote:

Syd Lexia wrote:

I'm pretty sure System of a Down is emo, because everytime I hear one of their songs I want to kill myself.

http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/HowTo:Write_Serj_Tankian_Lyrics

WIN.

Knyte wrote:

The Smiths would be a huge vote as the Grandfathers of such music.

More specifically, former Smiths frontman Morrissey is often cited as the godfather of emo. His song "Suedehead" pretty much set the gold standard for what people have decided to call emo.

Posted: Dec 05 2009 08:14 pm

Blackout wrote:

http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/HowTo:Write_Serj_Tankian_Lyrics

"Vicinity of obscenity in your eyes!
Terracotta terracotta terracotta PIE!"

Posted: Dec 06 2009 04:23 am

I like System of a Down, they're like angsty add queen for the Hot Topic crowd, it cracks me up.

Posted: Dec 07 2009 08:39 pm

SOAD pisses me off beyond belief!! Also, not so much a fan of Rise Against either. I'm not too into any of the radio rock these days. Kinda of sucks, because there literally is only a handful of bands out today that are worth a damn. Everything is a rehash of what has already been done before. It's like recycled-rock.

Posted: Dec 07 2009 08:51 pm

I don't care what anyone says, System of a Down is amazing.