Five emo classics that every music fan should listen to

Rites of Spring - Rites of Spring (1985)

The only full-length studio album by the band is a shame. Not in the quality of the songs, which are amazingly good, but in the fact that the band never produced another studio album. There is not one standout track because all the songs are. This is the first real emo album and sets the tone for everything to come after. While the lyrics were introspective - you know, ew...feelings - the music was ultra-aggressive.

Rites of Spring was likely meant to be a punk group, and there are clearly songs that scream that, but lyrically they were completely different. They may not have meant to begin a subgenre yet they did. If you want a violent record, this is for you. If you want an album with a lyricist that is open about pain. anger, and happiness and lying their soul bare, this record is for you as well.

Weezer - Pinkerton (1996)

Weezer was not an emo band on the debut record and some might argue that Pinkerton is not meant to be emo either. The issue with that is Weezer goes a bit more aggressively heavy on their second album, but the record was affected by lyricist Rivers Cuomo and the personal pain (literally) he was going through during the songwriting process. Cuomo had surgery on one leg (which was longer than the other since he was born) and being laid up and hospitalized led to much introspection.

But while Cuomo dealt with pain, he gave the rest of us something close to art. That is the real power of music anyway. A true musical artist observes what is going on around them and relays that to music fans and whether there is a connection or not. With songs as brilliant as "Pink Triangle" and "The Good Life" there is no way around not connecting. We empathize and understand Cuomo's words because he speaks to us on Pinkerton as a human, not as a rock god.