Why are emo bands so bad?

ZakAttak

Emo bands- I'm a bit confused. They use heavy(ish) guitars, their songs are quick, its a bit punky; normally I would like something like this. But whenever I actually hear an emo band's music I think "Dear god, thats terrible".

Someone recently covered a Micheal Jackson song (again...), it was 'beat it'. I saw a clip of the band playing it live with a big fubby tucker at the front belting it out- i thought it was some sort of comedy act (I honestly thought it was a comedy act taking the p1ss out of emo bands). It was only when it was used on the end credits of the premiership on rte that I realised it was a real song.

But the scene is getting bigger, and shows no sign of abating- but I still don't get it. Maybe someone could recommend an emo song thats actually listenable to.

Sherifu

Are you an emo?

Sabre0001

I don't think you can generalise, have you heard every emo band out there and therefore can judge? Labels in general are a terrible thing, for example - Fall Out Boy, Bullet For My Valentine and My Chemical Romance are all lumped in together. LostProphets at times could also fall under the category.

Fall Out Boy covered Beat It. Not a great version but to each their own...Keep trying different bands and you may find an "emo" one you like

kerash

Yes, I have to say i generally have a bad opin on 'Emo bands', that was until i went to O..eh, a festival last year;) So long story short, My Chemical Romance were on stage while we were waiting for another band, and they have a 'look' so my sister was taking some pics.

Anyhow, I have to say, I would have ran a mile if I was offered tickets to such a gig previously, but, low and behold, they were excellent, mostly for the entertainment valu! but they could play and sounded great:eek: I was shocked, but its like every other 'genre' theres the good, the bad and the ugly:p

Xavi6

What exactly is an 'emo band' though? Bands like Jimmy Eat World and Brand New are quite often tarred with that title (which I hate btw) and they are absolutely brilliant.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

surely an emo band is one where the men wear more make up than the ridiculously hot chicks they end up with

orestes

Mordeth wrote: »

surely an emo band is one where the men wear more make up than the ridiculously hot chicks they end up with

Marilyn Manson dated Ditta Von Teese and Rose Mc Gowan, would you call him emo?

(on the basis of this example, I just call him a lucky cnut)

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

marilyn manson was emo before emo was cool.

well emo has never been cool, popular is the word I suppose.

ZakAttak

Sherifu wrote: »

Are you an emo?

No, but I am a rock fan.

ZakAttak

Sabre0001 wrote: »

I don't think you can generalise, have you heard every emo band out there and therefore can judge? Labels in general are a terrible thing, for example - Fall Out Boy, Bullet For My Valentine and My Chemical Romance are all lumped in together. LostProphets at times could also fall under the category.

Fall Out Boy covered Beat It. Not a great version but to each their own...Keep trying different bands and you may find an "emo" one you like

Good point- like alot of music scenes, bands will be lumped in with them even if they're playing a different type of music. I haven't heard every emo band out there, then again, I haven't heard every funk band thats out there- and I like funk. I guess I'll give a bit of credit to My Chem. Rom. 'cos they're doing something new. Bullet F M V on the other hand sound like a Bon jovi cover band.

BurnsCarpenter

Xavi6 wrote: »

What exactly is an 'emo band' though?

]
I'd consider emo to be that whiny dramatic teenager style vocal delivery, together with punk pop style music.

DarkJager

I just don't get the whole Emo thing. These guys are all about 24 - 30 and are still singing about things only an angsty 16 year old could relate to. Then you've got the fans, who it just has to be said, look like the most miserable bastards walking the face of the earth, while also being the first cultural group to sucessfully swap genders through their clothing. The girls look like lumberjacks, and the guys look like its time to keep your ass to the wall. And for what?? Mother made them clean the room? Cut the grass?? Its plain to see its simply rebellion at that age, but for anyone over the age of 20, what the fcuk are you thinking???

Lets take for example "Aiden" - the biggest bunch of tranny dressup faglords I've ever laid eyes on. I went through the pain of having to google search this sh1t below so you wouldn't have to. My eyes are still bleeding:

"I saw the truth, mom's a whore.
I saw the mark as she passed through the door.
I saw the truth, you're a whore.
Distill the scene and don't lie to me no more"

I'd be impressed if this was written by a 7 year old. But no no no this ain't no kid. This guy is 26.......yes 26 years old. That is 7 years past "teenager" status.

So what is it? The theatrics? The whingy lyrics? The [sarcasm]sheer angst[/sarcasm] bleeding out his tormented little millionaire soul??? I just don't know. Maybe we'll never know. But we can all hope and pray that maybe one day Daddy will start cleaning the house and we'll never ever have to listen again to this whingy, self pitying, angsty load of cancerous bollox.

Karl Hungus

Lowest. Common. Denominator.

kona

DarkJager wrote: »

I just don't get the whole Emo thing. These guys are all about 24 - 30 and are still singing about things only an angsty 16 year old could relate to. Then you've got the fans, who it just has to be said, look like the most miserable bastards walking the face of the earth, while also being the first cultural group to sucessfully swap genders through their clothing. The girls look like lumberjacks, and the guys look like its time to keep your ass to the wall. And for what?? Mother made them clean the room? Cut the grass?? Its plain to see its simply rebellion at that age, but for anyone over the age of 20, what the fcuk are you thinking???

Lets take for example "Aiden" - the biggest bunch of tranny dressup faglords I've ever laid eyes on. I went through the pain of having to google search this sh1t below so you wouldn't have to. My eyes are still bleeding:

"I saw the truth, mom's a whore.
I saw the mark as she passed through the door.
I saw the truth, you're a whore.
Distill the scene and don't lie to me no more"

I'd be impressed if this was written by a 7 year old. But no no no this ain't no kid. This guy is 26.......yes 26 years old. That is 7 years past "teenager" status.

So what is it? The theatrics? The whingy lyrics? The [sarcasm]sheer angst[/sarcasm] bleeding out his tormented little millionaire soul??? I just don't know. Maybe we'll never know. But we can all hope and pray that maybe one day Daddy will start cleaning the house and we'll never ever have to listen again to this whingy, self pitying, angsty load of cancerous bollox.

so what, hes saying his ma is a whore, a whore to what?? maybe its not sex maybe hes making a comparison??
lots of musicians write songs about things that affected them in their teenage years(when all the funny, memorable stuff happens IMO)

would you prefer him to write songs about his poxy marrige 2 kids and a mortagage??

friday night, i cant go out
working till 10, come home listen to the wife give out,
payed to much for my ****e house in kilcock
im stuck with 2 kids and my wife wont suck my cock........

very exciting.

te reason emos get all the hot girls is because they are different to the 95% of the irish male population who wear the usual jeans, shirt and cheap aftershave, and listen to chart music.

look at motley crue, poison, ratt and 80s metal band, the had so much sex they couldnt fit it in, they were even at it on stage.

on Guns N roses rocket queen , axl is ****ing his drummer adlers girlfriend and they recorded her orgasm and put it on the track.

you can slag them all you want, but your the one going home to the empty bed.

btw i aint a emo and i agree that the music is ****. just dont like being tarred with the same brush....apparantly motley crue, ac/dc and slayer are emo???

DarkJager

kona wrote: »

te reason emos get all the hot girls is because they are different to the 95% of the irish male population who wear the usual jeans, shirt and cheap aftershave, and listen to chart music.

I'm not sure what smiley to use for this.... I just actually cannot find the words to describe the comment above... But it has has me in tears The Emo's are different yeah?? True "individuals" I suppose???

Listen to chart music?? I'm male and I certainly do not listen to chart music of any sort.

nyarlothothep

kona wrote: »

so what, hes saying his ma is a whore, a whore to what?? maybe its not sex maybe hes making a comparison??
lots of musicians write songs about things that affected them in their teenage years(when all the funny, memorable stuff happens IMO)

would you prefer him to write songs about his poxy marrige 2 kids and a mortagage??

friday night, i cant go out
working till 10, come home listen to the wife give out,
payed to much for my ****e house in kilcock
im stuck with 2 kids and my wife wont suck my cock........

very exciting.

te reason emos get all the hot girls is because they are different to the 95% of the irish male population who wear the usual jeans, shirt and cheap aftershave, and listen to chart music.

look at motley crue, poison, ratt and 80s metal band, the had so much sex they couldnt fit it in, they were even at it on stage.

on Guns N roses rocket queen , axl is ****ing his drummer adlers girlfriend and they recorded her orgasm and put it on the track.

you can slag them all you want, but your the one going home to the empty bed.

btw i aint a emo and i agree that the music is ****. just dont like being tarred with the same brush....apparantly motley crue, ac/dc and slayer are emo???

+2, rebellion is an important aspect of rock music because imo great art provokes. Though Im not referring to emo by saying that, although Im sure there is some good emo. A band like Black Flag, although their music is not really to my taste except for TV Party, it has integrity, and they lived in an abandoned cathedral which I think is really cool. Funnily true lyrics btw.

DarkJager

My post was not intended to tar all rock fans with the same brush! I am speaking about Emo and Emo alone. I like a wide variety of rock & metal (although I'm not as in to it now as I was a few years ago) but I just cannot get my head around why anybody would assosciate themselves with Emo??

Surely listening to songs that encourage self pity throughout your teens will have a negative effect on you in later life? I'm all for rebellion, but only when the reasoning behind it is logical.. With teenagers, its all hormone related, they don't know who they really are, they've just started finding an identity; but an idendity as a self pitying whingy fcuknut isn't going to do anybody any favors..

kona

DarkJager wrote: »

I'm not sure what smiley to use for this.... I just actually cannot find the words to describe the comment above... But it has has me in tears The Emo's are different yeah?? True "individuals" I suppose???

Listen to chart music?? I'm male and I certainly do not listen to chart music of any sort.

im in tears with your inability to understand a post.

if you wear a shirt and jeans and dont listen to the usual rap and chart ****e then you may fall into the % other than the 95%:rolleyes:

i can accept your point about them ALL dressing the same to be different....which is quite dumb.

kona

DarkJager wrote: »

My post was not intended to tar all rock fans with the same brush! I am speaking about Emo and Emo alone. I like a wide variety of rock & metal (although I'm not as in to it now as I was a few years ago) but I just cannot get my head around why anybody would assosciate themselves with Emo??

Surely listening to songs that encourage self pity throughout your teens will have a negative effect on you in later life? I'm all for rebellion, but only when the reasoning behind it is logical.. With teenagers, its all hormone related, they don't know who they really are, they've just started finding an identity; but an idendity as a self pitying whingy fcuknut isn't going to do anybody any favors..

metallica wrote kill em all around the teenage years, as did most other huge band swrite big albums about teenage stuff???
surely playing Grand theft auto will encourage people to pick up whores, **** em then murder them???:rolleyes:
people like music for how it makes them feel, id hazzard a guess that most "EMO" kids couldnt write out the lyrics to the songs from their favourite band.

IMO people who listen to chart music are insecure because they dont have the balls not to fit in with the tend, hence the abuse rockers and emos get.

in the 80s people said the same about hairmetal, it glorified sex, drugs and violence and sexism.
grunge....which is widley praised for being "fantastic" IMO is full of self pity ****e.

up to nirvana, metal and hardrock was about having fun and good times, thanks to nirvana were all tarred with the brush of being depressed angst riddled gob****es, and emo music isnt helping this.

thank ****, motley crue, whitesnake, def leppard, ac/dc all have new albums out this summer!

Crumble Froo

eep, in all fairness, of all the bands that fit into the 'emo' category, aiden are quite probably the worst sounding pointless ones of all. im a general music fan, like bits of punk, indie, metal, general rock, and some of that stuff is 'emo'. bands like fallout boy, me and a mate in college used to laugh at, but the songs were kinda catchy, and they became a guilty pleasure to listen to. i know a few people who think the same. avenged sevenfold are another popular band you might wana listen to, but tbh, i think they're pretty crap. mcr, their first album, i fairly enjoyed, though i wouldnt pay money to hear the second one. aiden, as mentioned, are generally pointless, im trying to think of the name of the other band i dont like... they're all ridiculously pretty... all dudes too... lostprophets, i loved the first and second albums, probably a bit of an emo edge to them, but before the craze set off... then they released the 'rooftops' single, and the image had changed to like hardcore emo or something, and it put me right off them. apparently minus the videos, the new album is quite good, im trying to get myself into the right frame of mind to listen to them and give them a chance... funeral for a friend and enter shikari i would rate highly, though both took a fair few listens before i could get into them properly... with the exception of ffaf's latest album, that's just so easy to get into... concept album though, kinda difficult to separate teh songs in your head after listening, which isnt necessarily a criticism.

also, has to be said, most emos are just in it for the music and mates. just hangin with your mates, all sharing a common thread in your music tastes, and, as so often goes with that, clothes. just like most of the rest of us, tbh. the majority i know arent depressed attention seeking twats, and if anything, emos would tend to bother me cos they're so loud and dont-carish.

personally, as someone who got into rock music aged about 12/13 listening to linkin park, papa roach and P.O.D, which all tended to be more ont he depressed side of things, well, emotions are confusing at those ages, more for some than others. my way to deal with them, acknowledge/accept/recognise them was through music. i still love listening to those bands now, but less often, and i like more variety, as, im sure the current emo teens will move on to as well.

Creamy Goodness

xavi is the only one who mentioned bands that anywhere resemble emo in it's true sense.


gimme some sunny deal real estate over any of those silly make up bands.

ZakAttak

Poison were sh1t- but C. C. Deville was a great guitarist. Guns n' Roses could be a bit cheesy at times; but they could all play their instruments. Slayer have been doing the same thing for the past 20 years- but they still sound pretty good. They all had an image- but they all had the musical ability to back it up.

I don't think emo has this- its alot of fancy clothes and crazy make-up, but the songs are weak and repetitive. Its an image and an attitude more than a music genre.

Doctor DooM

Stop slagging emo. You just don't uderstand.

*cuts himself*

Seriously, some emo bands are quite musically good, but I kinda find the whole thing is just a sub genre of rock music which always existed, so I don't make any differentiation.

Crumble Froo

Cremo wrote: »

xavi is the only one who mentioned bands that anywhere resemble emo in it's true sense.


gimme some sunny deal real estate over any of those silly make up bands.

was the OP talking about emo in its true sense, or emo as generally perceived now? i figured twas the latter, and responded in kind.

kona

ZakAttak wrote: »

Poison were sh1t- but C. C. Deville was a great guitarist. Guns n' Roses could be a bit cheesy at times; but they could all play their instruments. Slayer have been doing the same thing for the past 20 years- but they still sound pretty good. They all had an image- but they all had the musical ability to back it up.

I don't think emo has this- its alot of fancy clothes and crazy make-up, but the songs are weak and repetitive. Its an image and an attitude more than a music genre.

Yes poison are Piss poor in comparison to the real metal bands of the 80s I.E the first wave of LA metal and thrash, the 2nd wave such as GnR and Poison were rubbish because they were a diluted version of the 1st wave.(if that makes any sense)

GnR...one hit wonders IMO, only 1 solid album, the rest were utter ****e with the exception to a handful of songs,(including a cover)
they broke up at the right time, sure what have the members accomplished outside of GnR??? a fantasy album, AKA chinese democracy or the utter tripe that, thank god WAS velvet revolver??.

however you can hear and see the 80s influence in this EMO craze, such as some of the clothes they dress, and to a certain degree the sound of the music.

back to the point about them being depressed etc.
most people who are depressed will do anything to fit it, Emos take some amount of abuse off random eejits in the street, now they have the balls to dress the way they do , i dont think they are depressed, i think the whole "depressed etc etc" is a stereotype, into which a small number of EMOs fall into, which ironically is probably less then the general population.
ive gone out with plenty of EMO girls, which IMO are better than the average girl as they are more "open minded" lets say:D:D:D they are also very smart, all the girls ive fluted around with were in college and in high points courses.:D

Poison IMO still kick the **** out of emo and most current hardrock/metal, they may be cheesy but i like cheese and so does the girlfriend;)

talk dirty to me!:D:D:D

(i was in that club wax last night(dont ask why!), cant we talk about all the wanna be peaches geldofs and price wils and harry, i had to leave because they were really annoying me:D:D)

rowlandbrowner

The current use of the word Emo as a genre is the ultimate product of lazy music journalism; it’s applied to bands that seem to share little in common with no clear definition of the genre ever being offered, and if any common traits do exist between by bands labelled Emo, they appear to be entirely superficial.

The emo fashion trend(s) that intermittently intertwine with the genre are like all fashion trends; corporate driven, vacuous and culturally destructive.

The band’s labelled as emo don’t suck because of general dislike of the genre; they suck entirely on their own terms because they coincidently make bad music.

As for the negative feelings towards so called “Emos”, it’s either propagated by other throwaway cultural movements (i.e bearded, bitter, metal-heads), by the media with their usual misconceptions and bias, or, justly so, by people (myself included) who think wearing clothing rehashed from earlier cultural fads by retro inc. having fashionable haircuts and tattoos while putting yourself over as being a member of some tragic, misunderstood sub-culture is the act of somebody who is clearly a self important idiot fully deserving of mockery

KnifeWRENCH

When I hear the word "emo" I think: whiny vocals, bad makeup, lyrics and music engineered for mainstream success rather than artistic credibility.
I only use it in a derogatory term in relation to bands I can't stand, like MCR (ugh! I hate them sooo much!:mad::mad:)
Earlier someone mentioned Jimmy Eat World - while I'm not a huge fan I certainly wouldn't lump them in the same category with rubbish like MCR, FallOut Boy and Aiden.
I dunno, I guess "emo" is not really a definition but more of a perception?
If I was in a band and we were labelled "emo" I would be highly insullted, whereas other bands might relish the title because they think emo= mainstream success.

kona wrote:

Emos take some amount of abuse off random eejits in the street, now they have the balls to dress the way they do , i dont think they are depressed, i think the whole "depressed etc etc" is a stereotype, into which a small number of EMOs fall into, which ironically is probably less then the general population.

I agree with this. While I personally think they look ridiculous (Although, the emo look is sometimes sexy for girls )I would never abuse or ridicule them for it. Each to their own
I also agree that the "depressed" stereotype doesn't really apply. I know plenty of emo-followers who are relatively happy normal people.

Driver 8

*Sigh*

All this talk of artistic credibility and the true nature of emo.

Generally speaking, once you get out of your teens, all that becomes pretty irrelevant, and people stop trying to make their musical taste a badge of honour or a measure of their coolness. The only question should be, is the music any good or not? Anything after that is hardly of any great importance.