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Emo

From Your Subculture Soundtrack, the music encyclopedia

Originating Location: United States

Originating Era: mid 1980s

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The Emo genre started in the mid-1980's after the DC Hardcore scene died out. A few bands wanted to revive the hardcore scene with a lighter, more emotional feel. out of which rose bands such as Rites Of Spring, Beefeater, Embrace, and many others, who would not get much mainstream success. Many of the fans didn't know what to call this new hardcore, so they dubbed it Emotional Hardcore or Emotive Hardcore, Emo-Core for short. Many early bands would disagree and not accept this name.

Later, other bands, like Texas is The Reason and Sunny Day Real Estate would try to bring out emo again, but with a less chaotic feel and more of an "Indie" feel. Second Wave Emo eventually become too widespread and "popular" a genre, and because Emo bands were true and loyal to the independence of the scene, they slowly started disbanding and moving on. The Second Wave of Emo had completely died in the late '90s.

Now, today Emo is considered a mere shell of it's former self, as many bands rely on sad lyrics and a depressing feel instead of it's more chaotic predecessors. for this reason, many people think Emo is a bad caricature of what it used to be.

Emo today is popularized by depressing lyrics, usually about break-ups, a moderate paced tempo, and whiny guitar. A lot of Emo bands lose the depressing lyrics, but still keep the same sad feel with slightly more upbeat lyrics.

Emo before was chaotic, capturing the raw anger of the hardcore scene, but with considerably more of other emotions. Many bands, feeling the need to let out all of their emotions, put forth this kind of music to deal with the world, and the problems with it. Most Emo-Core bands didn't like the label, and rejected it, but most emo bands today have no problem with it.

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