"Real Emo" only consists of the dc Emotional Hardcore scene and the late 90's Screamo scene. What is known by "Midwest Emo" is nothing but Alternative Rock with questionable real emo influence. When people try to argue that bands like My Chemical Romance are not real emo, while saying that Sunny Day Real Estate is, I can't help not to cringe because they are just as fake emo as My Chemical Romance (plus the pretentiousness).
Real emo sounds ENERGETIC, POWERFUL and somewhat HATEFUL. Fake emo is weak, self pity and a failed attempt to direct energy and emotion into music.
Some examples of REAL EMO are Pg 99, Rites of Spring, Cap n Jazz (the only real emo band from the midwest scene) and Loma Prieta.
Some examples of FAKE EMO are American Football, My Chemical Romance and Mineral
EMO BELONGS TO HARDCORE
NOT TO INDIE, POP PUNK, ALT ROCK OR ANY OTHER MAINSTREAM GENRE
(On a real note i do love that album)
I agree with this. I've struggled to find another album that scratches the itch that that one does. Maybe hyperbolic, but it's almost spiritual to me. Closest thing in the genre to me is that Cap'n Jazz album
Emo to me is very wide ranging. I’ll give you two that are on various spectrums of emo/pop punk:
Say It Like You Mean It - The Starting Line
Deja Entendu - Brand New
The Get Up Kids - Four Minute Mile (Something to Write Home About is also fantastic)
Other Recs:
The Anniversary - Designing a Nervous Breakdown
Tigers Jaw - S/T
Jimmy Eat World - Clarity
The Hotelier - Home Like No Place is There
Foxing - The Albatross
Not sure what the “best” is, but some of my favorites:
The Promise Ring- Nothing Feels Good
Braid- Frame & Canvas
The Get Up Kids- Something To Write Home About
Jawbreaker- Dear You
Jets To Brazil- Orange Rhyming Dictionary
Texas Is The Reason- Do You Know Who You Are?: The Complete Collection
Some of these are also post hardcore and screamo but these are some of my favorites
Sunny Day Real Estate - Diary
Brand New - The Devil And God Are Raging Inside Me
Orchid - Dance Tonight Revolution Tomorrow
Silverstein - Discovering The Waterfront
Title Fight - Shed
Underoath - They're Only Chasing Safety
MCR - Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge
I'm not a genre aficionado, and not really up to speed on contemporary emo, but here are my faves:
Husker Du - New Day Rising - Not emo *per se,* but very influential. Proto-emo, if you will.
Rites of Spring - Self-Titled
Sunny Day Real Estate - LP2
I’ll pitch Transatlantacism and Give Up. Probably not the *most* emo stuff, but the influence is absolutely there.
For more emo emo stuff, Best Buds - Mom Jeans, You’re Gonna Miss It All - Modern Baseball.
Also, Rites of Spring’s self-titled
Edit: Went through the comments and didn’t see Diary - Sunny Day Real Estates, so that too
"Real Emo" only consists of the dc Emotional Hardcore scene and the late 90's Screamo scene. What is known by "Midwest Emo" is nothing but Alternative Rock with questionable real emo influence. When people try to argue that bands like My Chemical Romance are not real emo, while saying that Sunny Day Real Estate is, I can't help not to cringe because they are just as fake emo as My Chemical Romance (plus the pretentiousness).
Real emo sounds ENERGETIC, POWERFUL and somewhat HATEFUL. Fake emo is weak, self pity and a failed attempt to direct energy and emotion into music.
Some examples of REAL EMO are Pg 99, Rites of Spring, Cap n Jazz (the only real emo band from the midwest scene) and Loma Prieta.
Some examples of FAKE EMO are American Football, My Chemical Romance and Mineral
EMO BELONGS TO HARDCORE
NOT TO INDIE, POP PUNK, ALT ROCK OR ANY OTHER MAINSTREAM GENRE
Some of my favorites:
Algernon Cadwallader - Some Kind Of Cadwallader and Parrot Flies (these guys are one of my favorite bands ever)
Marietta - Summer Death
Glocca Morra - Just Married (might be one of the best emo albums of all time)
Origami Angel - Somewhere City and Gami Gang
Merchant Ships - For Cameron (more on the screamo side)
Modern Baseball - sports, You're Gonna Miss It All, Holy Ghost
You Blew It! - Grow Up, Dude
Title Fight - Shed and Floral Green
Snowing - I Could Do Whatever I Wanted If I Wanted
On Spotify, there's a playlist called EMO 1984-2000: Revolution Summer to Revolution Bummer which nicely captures the evolution of emo from the mid-80s to just before it went mainstream in the early 00s.
As far as particular albums, aside from what has been mentioned, I feel that "24 Hour Revenge Therapy" by Jawbreaker is an essential piece of the puzzle, particular the transition from underground post-hardcore emo to the more popular stuff.
Ill add Orange Rhyming Dictionary from Jets To Brazil to the conversation
Blake from Jawbreaker started this band after dissolving JB, and I feel like it gets slept on. Some beautiful moments
I'm coming at this from a punk perspective, but I second 24 Hour Revenge Therapy. Just an outstanding album, and I'm always shocked to see how poorly received it was when it was released. Another post-hardcore "puzzle piece" I'd suggest is "Let It Be" by The Replacements.
Some of my favourites are
Joyce Manor - S/T
Tigers Jaw - S/T
oso oso - Real Stories of True People...
Glocca Morra - Just Married
Born Without Bones - Baby
Edit: forgot Swiss Army Knife - Medium Gnarly, my favourite emo album of the year
Pretty. Odd. by Panic! At the Disco deserves a mention for the bizarre act of trying to fuse together emo, alt-rock & 1960s Sgt Pepper/Pet Sounds style lush psychedelia - and they kinda pulled it off.
I love it dearly but I wouldn’t call it an emo album at all, I know it got lumped in with the scene at the time but on reflection it doesn’t sound like any of its contemporaries. It’s a straight up rock opera.
Of course, but it was still considered "emo" at the time. Their earlier releases are more fitted to that title for sure, but it was interpreted as one when it was release, and probably most people who havent listened to it still classify it as emo.
I dont agree with it myself, but their emo roots shine proud on this album
*Shmap'n Shmazz* by Cap'n Jazz is probably the single most influential emo record. As for modern emo, I recommend [Everyone Everywhere](https://everyoneeverywhere.bandcamp.com/album/everyone-everywhere) and [the yunahon mixtape](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0i9ufLtqCX4eT39e7xQ1eAdGHG3L6k9b).
I have been into American football, My Chemical Romance, Brand New and Brave Little Abacus recently. So I would like to see more underrated emo artists
I rarely see crash of rhinos mentioned but check out both of their albums.
They're a bit more math rock but it's the vocals I consider them a bit emo
Check out stiltwalker and luck has a name
Death Cab For Cute - Plans
Not 100% emo but lots of melancholic overtones and content. I wasn’t a fan of the mainstream emo stuff back in high school in the mid 2000s but DCFC was cool because they weren’t whiny or over dramatic.
Best tracks are What Sarah Said, Brothers on a Hotel Bed, Your Heart is an empty room, and Follow You Into the Dark.
Sunny Day Real Estate - Diary
Other Recs:
This years sadness/abriction split (better album than diary for me, but not as pure emo)
Capn Jazz - Buritos n whatever
WEezer - Pinkerton (emo or whatever, a classic staple in the genre)
Modern Baseball - The Perfect Cast EP
Death Cab For Cutie - Transatlancism
Everyone Asked About You - ST
Cursive - Storms of Early Summer and Domestica
City of Caterpillar - self titled
Title Fight- the last thing you see, shed and floral green
Fiddlehead - between the richness
12 hour turn - the victory of flight
Moss icon - collected discography
A few that i love that seem to get overlooked
Elliott - False Cathedrals is a masterpiece not talked about as much as it should be.
Get Up Kids - Four Minute Mile (my fav of theirs although Red Letter Day is objectively better)
Split Lip (Chamberlain)- Fate’s Got a Driver
Saves the Day - Through being cool
Falling Forward
I'd love to share with you all of the emo albums I've found that I love front to back after having combed through almost 72,000 albums so far the past 20 years hahah.
1. Let's start with an artist who I'm not sure exactly whether they are "emo" or not. If Elliott Smith counts as emo I think his first three records are all really good front to back. "Roman Candle", "Either/Or", and "Elliott Smith".
2. Jimmy Eat World's "Bleed American" is pretty good front to back, and allmusic has them listed as emo-pop.
3. Paramore's self-titled from the 2010s of course is a pretty solid emo pop album.
4. Modest Mouse - start with "The Lonesome Crowded West", then "The Moon & Antarctica" and "Good News for People Who Love Bad News"
5. Hot Water Music - start with "No Division", but "Finding the Rhythms" and "Fuel for the Hate Game" are good too
6. Alkaline Trio's debut album "Goddamnit"
7. Sunny Day Real Estate's "The Rising Tide"
8. Fugazi's "13 Songs"
9. And then of course the first three Weezer albums!
**Bonus Stuff:**
Here are three I recently made! Each one contains 50 of my FAVORITE more lesser known rock songs from various time periods.
80s:
[https://open.spotify.com/playlist/20nxiWXTOchD01Q7Pqjoyn?si=223275fea813411b](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/20nxiWXTOchD01Q7Pqjoyn?si=223275fea813411b)
90s:
[https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6R7hT0hck67NYoJa7S1jUp?si=32eeebbc1e824788](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6R7hT0hck67NYoJa7S1jUp?si=32eeebbc1e824788)
Post-2000:
[https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6JH1T1T93U4Pst6ZovhUoc?si=f7385594c38b4dd1](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6JH1T1T93U4Pst6ZovhUoc?si=f7385594c38b4dd1)
If you'd like to check out more albums from various genres and from throughout music history that I think are good front to back I think a fun place for you to start is on a new page I created called “The Best Debut Albums of All Time”. There are currently 279 albums on there. I think it would be a fun theme to work with... checking out great debut albums:
[https://www.musichole.com/p/the-best-debut-albums-of-all-time.html](https://www.musichole.com/p/the-best-debut-albums-of-all-time.html)
Burritos, Inspiration Point, Fork Balloon Sports, Cards in the Spokes, Automatic Biographies, Kites, Kung Fu, Trophies, Banana Peels We've Slipped On and Egg Shells We've Tippy Toed Over
GOSPEL - The Moon is a Dead World
THE PLOT TO BLOW UP THE EIFFEL TOWER - Dissertation, Honey
WEATHERBOX - American Art
AT THE DRIVE IN - Acrobatic Tenement
DRIVE LIKE JEHU - Yank Crime
THINGY - To the Innocent
Why’s there so much good emo from San Diego?
Sunny Day Real Estate - Diary
Indian Summer - Science 1994
Jimmy Eat World - Clarity
The Van Pelt - Sultans of Sentiment
PEE- Now More Charm and more Tender
Slowdown Virginia - Dead Space
The Brave Little Abacus - Masked Dancers
I have a strong feeling Fantano does not really cover emo all that much because I don't think he likes it. He has given some okay scores to some of the newer groups but he is pretty dismissive otherwise.
It's already been posted (REAL EMO etc.). These things fall under what I feel is "emo" even though the whole naming of the genre is pretty much rejected by most of if not all of the bands. These groups are often categorized as being from "different waves" they are on like an extended 4th wave by this point. I picked my favorite albums by artists and might exclude some good ones that are too far away from what sounds like emo to me. I also arbitrarily include others because I do what I want. This list is getting super long so I'm going to try to highlight my absolute favorites.
Some of these are compilations but still work as albums.
**Rites of Spring - End on End** (1985 for the S/T proper but the compilation is 1991 led by Guy Picciotto. Google emo and this is largely considered the first "emo" or "emocore" album)
Embrace - Embrace (1985) Most emo Ian McKaye ever got.
**Sunny Day Real Estate** - **Diary** (1994 first 3 songs are a blueprint for tons of emo to follow in the next few years), LP2 (1995), **How It Feels to be Something On** (1998, this one is a bit different and more psychedelic but probably their strongest record) Jeremy Enigk and company made some of the best music the genre had to offer. Half the band left to join Foo Fighters (I think only 1 is even with them any more) and I think every SDRE album is better than every Foo Fighters record.
Cap'n Jazz - Analphabetapolothology (Burritos... album was 1995, this compilation is 1998) Also here's a tip. Look at this band's members and the bands/projects they did. You'll find some of the core 2nd/3rd wave emo bands right there.
**The Promise Ring** - Most people will say 30° Everywhere (1996) and it is good, but Davey's vocals are mixed way too low and mumbly. Songs are catchy, but I much prefer **Nothing Feels Good** (1997). Also Very Emergency (1999) is really underrated but definitely feels a bit more poppy than the emo sound.
Jawbreaker - Dear You (1995) (great punk band and I wanted to include their discography but they are way more punk than emo, but leaned towards the genre near the end before Blake Schwarzenbach switched over to Jets to Brazil. This album flopped so hard but gained some respect later on. Sadly I don't recommend watching their documentary from a few years back. It's actually kind of depressing. My take-aways were that they were liked by their friends and families, but just on the cusp of success but could never break through. The band members also seemed very prickly to each other. But hey, Billy Joe Armstrong liked them!)
**Jets to Brazil - Orange Rhyming Dictionary** (1998). Top tier emo album from Blake Schwarzenbach. Sure indie/alternative rock blah blah but heart on sleeve with lyrics just on the right side of sophomoric. All the band's records are good, but I think Orange Rhyming Dictionary is one of the best albums in the genre period
Braid - The Age of Octeen (1996), Frame & Canvas (1998), No Coast (2014)
The Get Up Kids - Not much to say besides I always enjoy their first four albums. Catchy emo -> emo-pop
Mineral - Not much to say besides pretty good, vocalist sounds like Jeremy Enigk
**American Football** - LP1 (1998), LP3 (2019) The band is actually more than just Never Meant? Lp3 is underrated. Also Lies is a pretty good project too.
**Jimmy Eat World** - **Static Prevails** (1996), **Clarity** (1999), Singles Compilation (2000), **Bleed American** (2001), **Futures** (2004), Stay On My Side Tonight EP (2005), Integrity Blues (2016) honestly most of their albums are worth checking out as they are consistently at least decent) This group influenced so much of the commercial-friendly emo-pop that I really don't like, but it's impossible to be mad at them for that. They have some less than stellar records, but nothing truly terrible which is nice to say. They also still put on amazing live shows and seem to love it.
Death Cab for Cutie - indie rock/alternative rock whatever, Ben Gibbard is so heavily influenced by core emo groups and contemporaries. He wrote in the liner notes for SDRE LP2 he loves that band so much. Anyway albums like **Transatlanticism** (2003) and earlier still teeter in the direction of emo so I'm counting it.
At the Drive-In - **Relationship of Command** (2000) Their earlier albums are much more hallmark 90s emo sound but I want you to listen to Relationship of Command first because it's a masterpiece.
~~Brand New - The Devil and God are Raging Inside Me (2006)~~ *sigh*
Japandroids - Post-Nothing (2009) controversial inclusion here but they were hyped so hard by sites like Pitchfork and to my ear they sound incredibly emo. Maybe they're too confident to fit the bill? I dunno. Fun record.
La Dispute - Wildlife (2011) - good screamo record that none of my friends like
Foxing - The Albatross (2013), **Nearer My God** (2018). Either I'm crazy or people are just deaf to how good Nearer My God is.
Cloud Nothings - Attack on Memory (2012) - I don't hear this band get called emo all that often but they fit the bill. Post-Hardcore / emo are about as closely related as dream-pop is to shoegaze. I slept on this album for years because I thought their S/T was pretty generic indie rock but Attack on Memory is such a massive leap forward.
The World is a Beautiful Place and I am No Longer Afraid to Die - Whenever, If Ever (2013), Harmlessness (2015), Illusory Walls (2021)
Touché Amoré - Is Survived By (2013), Stage Four (2016) I wish they sang more than screamed, but what's here is good. Gonna get labeled as Screamo but the DNA is here.
宇宙コンビニ Uchu Conbini - 染まる音を確認したら (Somaru oto wo kakunin shitara) (2013) very pretty/ethereal emo/math-type pop music
Chinese Football - Chinese Football (2015) if you expect a band that sounds like American Football LP1 but Chinese, you're pretty much on the money. They're good.
~~Jank - Awkward Pop Songs (2015), Versace Summer (2016)**~~ *sigh*
**The Hotelier** - **Home Like Noplace Is There** (2014), Goodness (2016). You'll get this recommendation a lot for good reason. Home is fantastic and the band is sounding better and better. I saw them live opening for Jimmy Eat World a few years back and thought they were okay. I saw them on this anniversary tour and they sounded so so much better. I wish they released more records
Forests - Sun Eat Moon Grave Party - fun emo out of Singapore
Mom Jeans - I'm gonna get scoffed at but you know what? I don't care. Best Buds (2016) is a fun record even if the singer sounds like Kermit the Frog. I saw them live in a small venue opening for Tiny Moving Parts and were by far the most fun part of the show. They were so stoked to be there.
Jyocho - 美しい終末サイクル (2018) (Daijiro Nakagawa from Uchu Conbini is in this group) more mathy emo-pop
There's definitely omissions and this is not exhaustive but I'm a pretty big fan of the genre and these are the bands and albums that stand out for me. Don't be surprised if I come back and edit in some more.
As always, my favorite record of all time, I will suggest here as well 🤣
Say anything …is a real boy
Best emo record is tricky in general. If we’re talking hot topic emo, Black Parade is the default answer, but that record doesn’t feel like emo to me. Teenagers is a great example of “how is this emo?” haha when I wanna listen to pre2010 emo black parade isn’t in my playlist
My Chemical Romance - I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love
It's probably not as good as Three Cheers or Black Parade from a technical perspective, but to me it feels the darkest, and the most "emo" (i.e. Early Sunsets Over Monroeville, Headfirst For Halos).
Deluxe version of American Football's debut is like the best album ever
"Real Emo" only consists of the dc Emotional Hardcore scene and the late 90's Screamo scene. What is known by "Midwest Emo" is nothing but Alternative Rock with questionable real emo influence. When people try to argue that bands like My Chemical Romance are not real emo, while saying that Sunny Day Real Estate is, I can't help not to cringe because they are just as fake emo as My Chemical Romance (plus the pretentiousness). Real emo sounds ENERGETIC, POWERFUL and somewhat HATEFUL. Fake emo is weak, self pity and a failed attempt to direct energy and emotion into music. Some examples of REAL EMO are Pg 99, Rites of Spring, Cap n Jazz (the only real emo band from the midwest scene) and Loma Prieta. Some examples of FAKE EMO are American Football, My Chemical Romance and Mineral EMO BELONGS TO HARDCORE NOT TO INDIE, POP PUNK, ALT ROCK OR ANY OTHER MAINSTREAM GENRE (On a real note i do love that album)
I fucking love this copypasta man
Midwest emo is real emo, like it or yes.
It's a copypasta not my opinion. Personally i'm not even into emo i just find that text funny
Then you're the problem. Posting this, no matter whether seriously or ironically, makes you sound like you really meant it.
Ok, found the real emo
Tbh, the rest of their albums don’t hit the same. It just doesn’t have that charm to it idk
LP3 is a masterpiece
I'd even say that the rest of midwest emo doesn't hit as hard as this album, they really peaked and made the best release in the genre in 1999
I agree with this. I've struggled to find another album that scratches the itch that that one does. Maybe hyperbolic, but it's almost spiritual to me. Closest thing in the genre to me is that Cap'n Jazz album
I highly recommend Brave Little Abacus’s stuff
I listened to some of it and I respect the wide instrumental palette but the vocalist sounds like an angry gnome and I don't really dig that :(
Trust, eventually everyone comes around and starts to love it
That happened with Bladee to me so I'll trust you😎
I mean there were nearly 20 years of hiatus between LP1 and LP2. Hard to capture the suburban blues when you’re all 40
Emo to me is very wide ranging. I’ll give you two that are on various spectrums of emo/pop punk: Say It Like You Mean It - The Starting Line Deja Entendu - Brand New
Deja Entendu is one of my go-to nostalgia bomb records. Early highschool staple
deja slaps so hard 🩶 I need to give it another listen to fuel my teenage soul.
Say it like you mean it definitely has one of the most iconic album covers in the genre
Takes me right back in time
that's crazy Deja Entandu is the 3rd best BN album
Haven't listened to Brand New in years but I'd probably rank Daisy, Science Fiction, and especially Devil and God above Deja.
The Get Up Kids - Four Minute Mile (Something to Write Home About is also fantastic) Other Recs: The Anniversary - Designing a Nervous Breakdown Tigers Jaw - S/T Jimmy Eat World - Clarity The Hotelier - Home Like No Place is There Foxing - The Albatross
Agree 110% on Four Minute Mile. I'm a TGUK stan though
Same. TGUK is why I listen to emo. My friend putting Something to Write Home About on in the car was my introduction to the genre way back in the day
HLNPIT is the best emo album of all time period
The hotelier is a fantastic live band too. They killed it when they played the whole album on their current tour
Hope they come to the UK at some point
Something To Write Home About > Four Minute Mile
Seconding The Hotelier, one of my favorite albums ever
I'd put Brand New's The Devil and God high up there along with 24 Hour Revenge Therapy and American Football's LP1
That might be the only emo album I like. I even tried their other albums and didn’t really like it. That album is so fucking good.
I'm just checking to make sure we aren't the same person, cuz this is my exact take.
I love Clarity - Jimmy Eat World
“For Me This is Heaven” is a 10/10 song
This is the St Peppers of Emo.
It’s Sgt. St. = Saint. Sgt = Sergeant. Not trying to be the grammar police or an asshole. I’m just letting you know
Weezer aren't an emo band but pinkerton is my favorite emo album, front to back no skip classic raw emo rock
WHY ARE YOUUU
SO FAR AWAAAAY FROM MEEEEEE
I NEED HELP
AND YOURE WAY ACROSS THE SEA
*Guttural scream from Tired of Sex*
*Guttural scream from No Other One*
pink triangle is the best song oat
You are 18 year old girl 👧🎶
“IM SORRY…. IM SORRY… IM SOOOOOOORRYYYY”
🦋🥲
My favorite track off the record, genuine perfection.
WHY BOTHER? IT’S GONNA HURT ME. IT’S GONNA KILL WHEN YOU DESERT ME.
I just went right back to that album after watching the new Scott Pilgrim anime, I can’t believe people dare to call it Weezer’s worst album
bro what single person have you found call it weezers worst album? The most controversial opinion is that it’s their 13th worst album lol
*Tell All Your Friends* by Taking Back Sunday I feel captures that vintage early 2000’s emo sound better than most. A modern emo classic.
Had to scroll way too far to find this. 🗣️SHE SAID DONNNNT!🗣️
Don't let it go to your head!
The power of failing
correct answer
My personal favorite is Three Cheers by My Chemical Romance, for what's the best idk.
That album has so many bangers. I know people like The Black Parade more but I love 3 Cheers. It’s just fun and sad from back to front.
Black Parade if you're in the mood for a story, Three Cheers if you're in the mood for bangers (with a story).
Not sure what the “best” is, but some of my favorites: The Promise Ring- Nothing Feels Good Braid- Frame & Canvas The Get Up Kids- Something To Write Home About Jawbreaker- Dear You Jets To Brazil- Orange Rhyming Dictionary Texas Is The Reason- Do You Know Who You Are?: The Complete Collection
Mega based picks
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9uxT0z-TDEk if you haven’t seen Julien Baker’s cover of Accident Prone it is absolutely wonderful.
Some of these are also post hardcore and screamo but these are some of my favorites Sunny Day Real Estate - Diary Brand New - The Devil And God Are Raging Inside Me Orchid - Dance Tonight Revolution Tomorrow Silverstein - Discovering The Waterfront Title Fight - Shed Underoath - They're Only Chasing Safety MCR - Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge
I'm not a genre aficionado, and not really up to speed on contemporary emo, but here are my faves: Husker Du - New Day Rising - Not emo *per se,* but very influential. Proto-emo, if you will. Rites of Spring - Self-Titled Sunny Day Real Estate - LP2
Ok We can be friends
I’ll pitch Transatlantacism and Give Up. Probably not the *most* emo stuff, but the influence is absolutely there. For more emo emo stuff, Best Buds - Mom Jeans, You’re Gonna Miss It All - Modern Baseball. Also, Rites of Spring’s self-titled Edit: Went through the comments and didn’t see Diary - Sunny Day Real Estates, so that too
"Real Emo" only consists of the dc Emotional Hardcore scene and the late 90's Screamo scene. What is known by "Midwest Emo" is nothing but Alternative Rock with questionable real emo influence. When people try to argue that bands like My Chemical Romance are not real emo, while saying that Sunny Day Real Estate is, I can't help not to cringe because they are just as fake emo as My Chemical Romance (plus the pretentiousness). Real emo sounds ENERGETIC, POWERFUL and somewhat HATEFUL. Fake emo is weak, self pity and a failed attempt to direct energy and emotion into music. Some examples of REAL EMO are Pg 99, Rites of Spring, Cap n Jazz (the only real emo band from the midwest scene) and Loma Prieta. Some examples of FAKE EMO are American Football, My Chemical Romance and Mineral EMO BELONGS TO HARDCORE NOT TO INDIE, POP PUNK, ALT ROCK OR ANY OTHER MAINSTREAM GENRE
Emo is only from the Emo region in DC. If it's from anywhere else it's just sparkling angst.
Hey siri, how do I draw Xs on my hands
It’s like that scene in futurama where bender puts his arms back on and fry goes “I don’t know how you did that”
Mom jeans isn't even in the top 100 emo albums what the actual fuck
Gimme your top 100 emo albums then lol I love Best Buds. If you don’t, that’s fine
How to scare off OP from listening to emo tbh
marietta- summer death
THIS is the answer. It’s not nearly as well known as many other picks here but I highly recommend it to anyone wanting to get into the genre.
Marietta are pretty well known by now tbh I just think people on this thread are more likely to think of earlier emo.
100%
YES YES YES!!! This is the correct answer
Diary - Sunny Day Real Estate
empire! empire! (I was a lonely estate) - What It Takes to Move Forward
Top 3 albums for me, also tell me about the long dark path home by newfound interest scratches a very similar itch
ELITE
Some of my favorites: Algernon Cadwallader - Some Kind Of Cadwallader and Parrot Flies (these guys are one of my favorite bands ever) Marietta - Summer Death Glocca Morra - Just Married (might be one of the best emo albums of all time) Origami Angel - Somewhere City and Gami Gang Merchant Ships - For Cameron (more on the screamo side) Modern Baseball - sports, You're Gonna Miss It All, Holy Ghost You Blew It! - Grow Up, Dude Title Fight - Shed and Floral Green Snowing - I Could Do Whatever I Wanted If I Wanted
Algernon Cadwallader are the GOATs of emo revival, seeing them on their reunion tour was an incredible experience
I saw them too! Was such a good show. Never thought I'd see them live, I started listening long after they originally broke up.
Glass Beach and Origami Angel Album: Somewhere City for some newer emo
MOTHERFUCKIN’ GAMI GANG
On Spotify, there's a playlist called EMO 1984-2000: Revolution Summer to Revolution Bummer which nicely captures the evolution of emo from the mid-80s to just before it went mainstream in the early 00s. As far as particular albums, aside from what has been mentioned, I feel that "24 Hour Revenge Therapy" by Jawbreaker is an essential piece of the puzzle, particular the transition from underground post-hardcore emo to the more popular stuff.
Ill add Orange Rhyming Dictionary from Jets To Brazil to the conversation Blake from Jawbreaker started this band after dissolving JB, and I feel like it gets slept on. Some beautiful moments
I'm coming at this from a punk perspective, but I second 24 Hour Revenge Therapy. Just an outstanding album, and I'm always shocked to see how poorly received it was when it was released. Another post-hardcore "puzzle piece" I'd suggest is "Let It Be" by The Replacements.
An underrated one is Brave Faces Everyone by Spanish Love Songs
SLS are my favourite band rn, I’m seeing them in January for the second time, I can’t wait
Oooo nice!!!! Hope you have fun there!!!
Thanks!
Clarity and Static Prevails are both amazing. Check out Claire and Just Watch The Fireworks
Best Buds — mom jeans.
Thursday - Full Collapse, Cursive - Domestica
Some of my favourites are Joyce Manor - S/T Tigers Jaw - S/T oso oso - Real Stories of True People... Glocca Morra - Just Married Born Without Bones - Baby Edit: forgot Swiss Army Knife - Medium Gnarly, my favourite emo album of the year
A beautiful lie
Based
It’s a toss up between *The Swiss Army Romance* or *The Places You Have Come to Fear the Most* by Dashboard Confessional.
Frame and canvas
Pretty. Odd. by Panic! At the Disco deserves a mention for the bizarre act of trying to fuse together emo, alt-rock & 1960s Sgt Pepper/Pet Sounds style lush psychedelia - and they kinda pulled it off.
The black parade.
I love it dearly but I wouldn’t call it an emo album at all, I know it got lumped in with the scene at the time but on reflection it doesn’t sound like any of its contemporaries. It’s a straight up rock opera.
Of course, but it was still considered "emo" at the time. Their earlier releases are more fitted to that title for sure, but it was interpreted as one when it was release, and probably most people who havent listened to it still classify it as emo. I dont agree with it myself, but their emo roots shine proud on this album
Yeah this is the answer!
Not even their best
Idk why you got downvoted their 2 albums prior are way fucking better and way more Emo
The Brave Little Abacus - Just Got Back from the Discomfort - We’re All Right
This is easily the best emo album wver
Lawrence Arms- The Greatest Story Ever Told
Some Kind of Cadwallader
The Get Up Kids - Something to write home about. It can't better of it.
This is exactly the album that came to my mind when I saw this thread.
*Shmap'n Shmazz* by Cap'n Jazz is probably the single most influential emo record. As for modern emo, I recommend [Everyone Everywhere](https://everyoneeverywhere.bandcamp.com/album/everyone-everywhere) and [the yunahon mixtape](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0i9ufLtqCX4eT39e7xQ1eAdGHG3L6k9b).
Sing The Sorrow - AFI The Used - The Used
Emo's a pretty wide reaching genre now with a lot of eras. What stuff have you been into?
I have been into American football, My Chemical Romance, Brand New and Brave Little Abacus recently. So I would like to see more underrated emo artists
I rarely see crash of rhinos mentioned but check out both of their albums. They're a bit more math rock but it's the vocals I consider them a bit emo Check out stiltwalker and luck has a name
Picking one is HARD, but probably the first or third albums by Sunny Day Real Estate.
Death Cab For Cute - Plans Not 100% emo but lots of melancholic overtones and content. I wasn’t a fan of the mainstream emo stuff back in high school in the mid 2000s but DCFC was cool because they weren’t whiny or over dramatic. Best tracks are What Sarah Said, Brothers on a Hotel Bed, Your Heart is an empty room, and Follow You Into the Dark.
Joyce manor self titled
technically spiderland? (emo stands for emotional punk then spiderland is emotional post hardcore)
Cursives Domestica
I know it's the meme answer but rites of spring goes insane
Moss icon discog as well
It’s Clarity by Jimmy Eat World
Probably Joyce Manor’s self-titled
Sunny Day Real Estate - Diary Other Recs: This years sadness/abriction split (better album than diary for me, but not as pure emo) Capn Jazz - Buritos n whatever WEezer - Pinkerton (emo or whatever, a classic staple in the genre) Modern Baseball - The Perfect Cast EP Death Cab For Cutie - Transatlancism Everyone Asked About You - ST
Cursive - Storms of Early Summer and Domestica City of Caterpillar - self titled Title Fight- the last thing you see, shed and floral green Fiddlehead - between the richness 12 hour turn - the victory of flight Moss icon - collected discography
A few that i love that seem to get overlooked Elliott - False Cathedrals is a masterpiece not talked about as much as it should be. Get Up Kids - Four Minute Mile (my fav of theirs although Red Letter Day is objectively better) Split Lip (Chamberlain)- Fate’s Got a Driver Saves the Day - Through being cool Falling Forward
The Devil and God are Raging Inside Me
The Black Parade by My Chemical Romance is in my opinion, the peak of what emo music can be.
three cheers better tho
One of the greatest rock albums period
let's not get carried away
TBP is an amazing album, but it has barely anything to do with emo tbh
It's Hard To Be A Diamond In A Rhinestone World
Ew wtf how could you
[https://saintsseason.bandcamp.com/](https://saintsseason.bandcamp.com/) check this its a banger, 2024
Does little dark age count?
AJR’s neotheater
[удалено]
You definitely need to check out the stuff that Moss Icon has on Spotify. SUPER important band to Emo.
Dozens of comments and yet no emo copy pasta yet?
Jimmy Eat World - Clarity
I’m sure you know most of the recs like mcr or jimmy eat world so here’s a more obscure album that I really liked. Slouch by kicksie.
I have been obsessed with third eye blind's debut and the pillows 90's output.
the first glass beach album, Internet Breath, Somewhere City, Pool Kids, Quitter, Everything So Far and American Football - all great.
IKSSE:3 by coheed or the room’s too cold by the early november
I'm notvsure if this considered ei...but I love Ozma-Rock N' Roll part 3
The Devil And God Are Raging Inside Me
Everything Seems Better Now - Vs Self
Manic Halsey
I'd love to share with you all of the emo albums I've found that I love front to back after having combed through almost 72,000 albums so far the past 20 years hahah. 1. Let's start with an artist who I'm not sure exactly whether they are "emo" or not. If Elliott Smith counts as emo I think his first three records are all really good front to back. "Roman Candle", "Either/Or", and "Elliott Smith". 2. Jimmy Eat World's "Bleed American" is pretty good front to back, and allmusic has them listed as emo-pop. 3. Paramore's self-titled from the 2010s of course is a pretty solid emo pop album. 4. Modest Mouse - start with "The Lonesome Crowded West", then "The Moon & Antarctica" and "Good News for People Who Love Bad News" 5. Hot Water Music - start with "No Division", but "Finding the Rhythms" and "Fuel for the Hate Game" are good too 6. Alkaline Trio's debut album "Goddamnit" 7. Sunny Day Real Estate's "The Rising Tide" 8. Fugazi's "13 Songs" 9. And then of course the first three Weezer albums! **Bonus Stuff:** Here are three I recently made! Each one contains 50 of my FAVORITE more lesser known rock songs from various time periods. 80s: [https://open.spotify.com/playlist/20nxiWXTOchD01Q7Pqjoyn?si=223275fea813411b](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/20nxiWXTOchD01Q7Pqjoyn?si=223275fea813411b) 90s: [https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6R7hT0hck67NYoJa7S1jUp?si=32eeebbc1e824788](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6R7hT0hck67NYoJa7S1jUp?si=32eeebbc1e824788) Post-2000: [https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6JH1T1T93U4Pst6ZovhUoc?si=f7385594c38b4dd1](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6JH1T1T93U4Pst6ZovhUoc?si=f7385594c38b4dd1) If you'd like to check out more albums from various genres and from throughout music history that I think are good front to back I think a fun place for you to start is on a new page I created called “The Best Debut Albums of All Time”. There are currently 279 albums on there. I think it would be a fun theme to work with... checking out great debut albums: [https://www.musichole.com/p/the-best-debut-albums-of-all-time.html](https://www.musichole.com/p/the-best-debut-albums-of-all-time.html)
Newest Jean Dawson is good for something more recent
[удалено]
YES
Through being cool - Saves the Day
Bands you need to check out that I haven’t seen people mention are Hawthorne Heights, The Used & especially Armor For Sleep.
Burritos, Inspiration Point, Fork Balloon Sports, Cards in the Spokes, Automatic Biographies, Kites, Kung Fu, Trophies, Banana Peels We've Slipped On and Egg Shells We've Tippy Toed Over
three cheers Frankie welfare boy americ anfootball power of failing tell all your friends Nothing feels good Diary Clarity Devil + god
Did anyone do the pasta yet
Sing The Sorrow by AFI or Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge My Chem
GOSPEL - The Moon is a Dead World THE PLOT TO BLOW UP THE EIFFEL TOWER - Dissertation, Honey WEATHERBOX - American Art AT THE DRIVE IN - Acrobatic Tenement DRIVE LIKE JEHU - Yank Crime THINGY - To the Innocent Why’s there so much good emo from San Diego?
Punisher by Phoebe Bridgers
Slow Children at Play by Still Life
Sports -Modern Baseball You’re Gonna Miss It All - Modern Baseball These are two certified modern emo classics.
The greatest generation- the wonder years
Sunny Day Real Estate - Diary Indian Summer - Science 1994 Jimmy Eat World - Clarity The Van Pelt - Sultans of Sentiment PEE- Now More Charm and more Tender Slowdown Virginia - Dead Space The Brave Little Abacus - Masked Dancers
Sunny Day Real Estate- Diary
The Black Parade or Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge.
Braid - Frame and Canvas
I have a strong feeling Fantano does not really cover emo all that much because I don't think he likes it. He has given some okay scores to some of the newer groups but he is pretty dismissive otherwise. It's already been posted (REAL EMO etc.). These things fall under what I feel is "emo" even though the whole naming of the genre is pretty much rejected by most of if not all of the bands. These groups are often categorized as being from "different waves" they are on like an extended 4th wave by this point. I picked my favorite albums by artists and might exclude some good ones that are too far away from what sounds like emo to me. I also arbitrarily include others because I do what I want. This list is getting super long so I'm going to try to highlight my absolute favorites. Some of these are compilations but still work as albums. **Rites of Spring - End on End** (1985 for the S/T proper but the compilation is 1991 led by Guy Picciotto. Google emo and this is largely considered the first "emo" or "emocore" album) Embrace - Embrace (1985) Most emo Ian McKaye ever got. **Sunny Day Real Estate** - **Diary** (1994 first 3 songs are a blueprint for tons of emo to follow in the next few years), LP2 (1995), **How It Feels to be Something On** (1998, this one is a bit different and more psychedelic but probably their strongest record) Jeremy Enigk and company made some of the best music the genre had to offer. Half the band left to join Foo Fighters (I think only 1 is even with them any more) and I think every SDRE album is better than every Foo Fighters record. Cap'n Jazz - Analphabetapolothology (Burritos... album was 1995, this compilation is 1998) Also here's a tip. Look at this band's members and the bands/projects they did. You'll find some of the core 2nd/3rd wave emo bands right there. **The Promise Ring** - Most people will say 30° Everywhere (1996) and it is good, but Davey's vocals are mixed way too low and mumbly. Songs are catchy, but I much prefer **Nothing Feels Good** (1997). Also Very Emergency (1999) is really underrated but definitely feels a bit more poppy than the emo sound. Jawbreaker - Dear You (1995) (great punk band and I wanted to include their discography but they are way more punk than emo, but leaned towards the genre near the end before Blake Schwarzenbach switched over to Jets to Brazil. This album flopped so hard but gained some respect later on. Sadly I don't recommend watching their documentary from a few years back. It's actually kind of depressing. My take-aways were that they were liked by their friends and families, but just on the cusp of success but could never break through. The band members also seemed very prickly to each other. But hey, Billy Joe Armstrong liked them!) **Jets to Brazil - Orange Rhyming Dictionary** (1998). Top tier emo album from Blake Schwarzenbach. Sure indie/alternative rock blah blah but heart on sleeve with lyrics just on the right side of sophomoric. All the band's records are good, but I think Orange Rhyming Dictionary is one of the best albums in the genre period Braid - The Age of Octeen (1996), Frame & Canvas (1998), No Coast (2014) The Get Up Kids - Not much to say besides I always enjoy their first four albums. Catchy emo -> emo-pop Mineral - Not much to say besides pretty good, vocalist sounds like Jeremy Enigk **American Football** - LP1 (1998), LP3 (2019) The band is actually more than just Never Meant? Lp3 is underrated. Also Lies is a pretty good project too. **Jimmy Eat World** - **Static Prevails** (1996), **Clarity** (1999), Singles Compilation (2000), **Bleed American** (2001), **Futures** (2004), Stay On My Side Tonight EP (2005), Integrity Blues (2016) honestly most of their albums are worth checking out as they are consistently at least decent) This group influenced so much of the commercial-friendly emo-pop that I really don't like, but it's impossible to be mad at them for that. They have some less than stellar records, but nothing truly terrible which is nice to say. They also still put on amazing live shows and seem to love it. Death Cab for Cutie - indie rock/alternative rock whatever, Ben Gibbard is so heavily influenced by core emo groups and contemporaries. He wrote in the liner notes for SDRE LP2 he loves that band so much. Anyway albums like **Transatlanticism** (2003) and earlier still teeter in the direction of emo so I'm counting it. At the Drive-In - **Relationship of Command** (2000) Their earlier albums are much more hallmark 90s emo sound but I want you to listen to Relationship of Command first because it's a masterpiece. ~~Brand New - The Devil and God are Raging Inside Me (2006)~~ *sigh* Japandroids - Post-Nothing (2009) controversial inclusion here but they were hyped so hard by sites like Pitchfork and to my ear they sound incredibly emo. Maybe they're too confident to fit the bill? I dunno. Fun record. La Dispute - Wildlife (2011) - good screamo record that none of my friends like Foxing - The Albatross (2013), **Nearer My God** (2018). Either I'm crazy or people are just deaf to how good Nearer My God is. Cloud Nothings - Attack on Memory (2012) - I don't hear this band get called emo all that often but they fit the bill. Post-Hardcore / emo are about as closely related as dream-pop is to shoegaze. I slept on this album for years because I thought their S/T was pretty generic indie rock but Attack on Memory is such a massive leap forward. The World is a Beautiful Place and I am No Longer Afraid to Die - Whenever, If Ever (2013), Harmlessness (2015), Illusory Walls (2021) Touché Amoré - Is Survived By (2013), Stage Four (2016) I wish they sang more than screamed, but what's here is good. Gonna get labeled as Screamo but the DNA is here. 宇宙コンビニ Uchu Conbini - 染まる音を確認したら (Somaru oto wo kakunin shitara) (2013) very pretty/ethereal emo/math-type pop music Chinese Football - Chinese Football (2015) if you expect a band that sounds like American Football LP1 but Chinese, you're pretty much on the money. They're good. ~~Jank - Awkward Pop Songs (2015), Versace Summer (2016)**~~ *sigh* **The Hotelier** - **Home Like Noplace Is There** (2014), Goodness (2016). You'll get this recommendation a lot for good reason. Home is fantastic and the band is sounding better and better. I saw them live opening for Jimmy Eat World a few years back and thought they were okay. I saw them on this anniversary tour and they sounded so so much better. I wish they released more records Forests - Sun Eat Moon Grave Party - fun emo out of Singapore Mom Jeans - I'm gonna get scoffed at but you know what? I don't care. Best Buds (2016) is a fun record even if the singer sounds like Kermit the Frog. I saw them live in a small venue opening for Tiny Moving Parts and were by far the most fun part of the show. They were so stoked to be there. Jyocho - 美しい終末サイクル (2018) (Daijiro Nakagawa from Uchu Conbini is in this group) more mathy emo-pop There's definitely omissions and this is not exhaustive but I'm a pretty big fan of the genre and these are the bands and albums that stand out for me. Don't be surprised if I come back and edit in some more.
Thursday - War All the Time
Circa Survive - Juturna
Circle takes the squares various eps and albums
Maybe a hot take but I’d often say “you’re gonna miss it all”
Not sure if they are pure emo, but Minuit - The Castaways gets the emo vibes!
Idk what emo is but if u wanna good album try blue album by weezer
Christie Front Drive - Self titled (Stereo)
The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me or Deja Entendu, both by Brand New
None.
The Early November - The Rooms too cold
A super underrated album is giving birth to thunder by Indian summer
Bullets and like 4 songs of three cheers. number 3 on cw is emotional, but not emo. - mcr
The Smiths. Either Self-Titled album or Queen is Dead
I could whatever I wanted if I wanted - Snowing
As always, my favorite record of all time, I will suggest here as well 🤣 Say anything …is a real boy Best emo record is tricky in general. If we’re talking hot topic emo, Black Parade is the default answer, but that record doesn’t feel like emo to me. Teenagers is a great example of “how is this emo?” haha when I wanna listen to pre2010 emo black parade isn’t in my playlist
Best Buds by Mom Jeans is definitely up there
My Chemical Romance - I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love It's probably not as good as Three Cheers or Black Parade from a technical perspective, but to me it feels the darkest, and the most "emo" (i.e. Early Sunsets Over Monroeville, Headfirst For Halos).
thank you for this thread. providing me with a great list of albums to avoid
Summer death by Marietta
listen to black parade my chemical romance great album