What is emo? Well, no one really knows, right? One could describe the music as having hardcore tendencies mixed with punk but many times very emotional lyrics. But that is a simple description for a rock subgenre that is anything but simple.
Some aspects of the music are almost always true, though. The songs are aggressive either musically or lyrically, but they are always fun. Not in a 1960s bubblegum pop way, but in a cathartic I've had a bad day and need to let my thoughts out kind of way. It's always best to let it all out and emo is there to assist you.
Still, it is easy to go bad in the subgenre and sound less than original and just heavy pop. Thankfully, none of the albums that follow devolve into that. These are all worth your listen, and very likely worth being a part of your vinyl collection.
Five emo albums you should be listening to
Taking Back Sunday - Tell All Your Friends (2002)
What is most difficult to believe is that this album is over 20 years old and it still sounds as vibrant and exciting as it did when it was released in 2002. This might not be the best emo album ever (more on that in a minute), but it is certainly one of the greatest. The record might still be the epitome of what emo should sound like which is metal riffs done with feeling and a bit of punk ethos snuck in.
The album also features one of the best emo singles ever, "Cute Without the 'E' (Cut from the Team)." If you did not know how old the song was and it came on the radio, you might be searching Shazam for who the artist is and when their new album was coming out. Don't let the beginning of the tune fool you as there is no melodrama to the track. It's pure fun and what the subgenre is meant to be.
Emo allows many things to happen such as the cool kids looking at you funny while you're listening to it but they will remain plastic and you will grow up (even if you're in your 50s you still have some growing up to do) being connected to your own emotions and able to observe and understand that being depressed or angry or sad or happy - all at the same time - is OK. Plus, to be fair, nobody stays a cool kid. You only find people that you belong 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.
Fall Out Boy - From Under the Cork Tree (2005)
More poppy than the Rites of Spring or Weezer albums, this specific Fall Out Boy is still excellent because the hooks never seem worn. This was also a transitional album for the band as vocalist Pete Wentz took full control of the lyrics. He created introspective narratives while playing with different types of stanzas.
The music drives the record forward, however. This is especially true on the track, Sugar, We're Goin' Down" which is almost criminally catchy. You might not want the earworm stuck in your head for the next, well...decade, but sorry. It's going to be there. Then you will realize, just as with almost every other track on this album, even though you keep humming the tunes to yourself, you never really get tired of them.
My Chemical Romance - The Black Parade (2006)
There are some rankings of MCR albums that might have Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge, the album that preceded The Black Parade, a notch about of ...Parade. Normally, to each their own, but is simply wrong. Not only is the scope of The Black Parade larger and fuller than Three Cheers... but the songs are arguably stronger. Each is a banger, highlighted by "This Is How I Disappear" and "Welcome to the Black Parade." But not mentioning all these tracks here seems somehow wrong.
A rock opera with an emo bent? Yes, please! Plus, My Chemical Romance throws nearly every idea at the production, including Liza Minelli making a cameo on "Mama," and it all works. Loud, bombastic, sometimes over-the-top vocals but still brilliantly done; it's all here. And you will be thankful it is. This isn't just the greatest emo album ever made, the record might be one of the 50 best of any genre ever created.