hey everyone I'm Michael welcome to the channel this is the history of emo emo is a genre of music known for its vulnerable lyrics aggressive and melodic sound and its appeal to people around the world in this video I'm going to go over how emo went from the underground to the mainstream and why it's okay to admit you had an emo phase before we begin just to be clear there's going to be no skinny jean jokes no eyeliner jokes no Hot Topic jokes I wanted to make a video that anybody could watch and get the real history of emo I've waited for this moment for a long time emo started the second Minor Threat broke up nothing no too much okay let's start at the [Music] beginning the first two questions we need to answer are who is the first emo band and where does the word emo even come from the first time the word emo was ever used was in Thrasher magazine in 1986 Thrasher magazine mainly focused on skateboarding but also covered music Thrasher actually uploads the digital versions of their older issues so we actually have a clear and crisp image of the first printed use of the word emo technically the word that was used was emocore but this is punk rock there's no rules the label of core was used to describe the new sound of bands in the Washington DC scene the exact quote from the article is there's a new form of performance coming out in Washington DC it goes by the name of emocore or emotional core bands like Embrace featuring Ian maai writs of spring and beef eater among others are taking the severe intensity of an emotional projection and adding it totally into their respective live sets Crowds Are said to be left in tears from the intensity this sort of gig is not a frequent Affair as the bands are fully drained after a performance everyone always asks what is emo well you can't get much more authentic than that the article mentions three bands rights of spring Embrace and be feeder if this is the first usage of the word emo then it's easy to draw the conclusion that one of these bands has to be the first emo band I'd also throw in a moss icon they were also active during this time interestingly enough we actually have footage of an brace show from 1986 where the lead singer I maai of embrace talks about this article this is literally a piece of emo history I must say emo core must be the stupidest [ __ ] thing I've ever heard in my entire life come on man but just in case you're wondering I read in my Thrasher the other day that in fact with my band along with other bands in the city was playing was emo cor I'm thinking emo emo Phillips comedian Yan cor why know emotional hardcore as if hardcore wasn't emotional to begin with anyway it's Kaka I hate to say it but you can only hold your silence so long on somebody stupid as [ __ ] so as you heard Ian isn't the biggest fan of the label or term emo but is embrace the first emo band when you search who is the first emo band this is what you get rights of spring and embrace get mentioned but no be feeder sorry Embrace gets mentioned a lot when this question comes up a lot of it has to do with Ian maai being in the band Ian of course was in Minor Threat obviously a Cornerstone in the foundation of punk rock after Minor Threat he would form Embrace and then another band but we'll get to that Embrace would have released their one and only album a self-titled album in 19 1987 however rights of spring would release their only album in 1985 so on a purely technical level this is the reason why rights of spring gets labeled the first emo band regarding rits of Spring's album in 1985 lead singer guy picoto said it was recorded with all four of us in one tiny room facing each other with no separation at all we tracked all the music live in one take in the dark with a strobe going later on I recorded all the vocals for the Third songs in one take as well one after another we play The Improv ending on the last song end on end until the tape ran out and rolled off the reals I mean that is pretty emo now we have the answers to those two questions we know where the word emo comes from and we know that rights of spring was the first emo band you'd think rights of spring would Embrace being the first emo band maybe put that on a shirt or go on a tour and call it the history of emo tour where you can talk about the experience of being the first emo band and maybe tour with upand cominging bands to help highlight them but no rights of spring do not like the label lead singer guy picotto said this in a 2003 interview I've never recognized email as a genre of music I always thought it was the dumbest term ever I know there is this generic commonplace that every band that gets labeled with that term hates it they feel scandalized by it but honestly I just thought all the bands I played in were punk rock bands the reason I think it's so stupid is that what like the Bad Brains weren't emotional what they were robots or something it just doesn't make any sense to me I think he gets it wrong in this Sense Once the word was out there in 1986 it was like Pandora's Box so there was no putting it back in every band that came after that that said they were influenced by rights of spring or Embrace would get the emao label so band X says hey we were influenced by rights of spring they get labeled emo then someone says I was influenced by Band X who was influenced by rights of spring and you get the Snowball Effect is most music emotional yes is emo pop punk and punk rock the same thing to most people yes to most people emo is a time period in their life it's not even a genre of music and I would hate for the term or label emo be some gatekeeping word when the entire scene was founded on embracing people who never felt normal or like they belonged it's hard to drill down what is emo so I went to every deep dark corner of the internet and this is what I found real emo only consists of what not this time no next time maybe next time okay I'll okay from r/o on Reddit emo is a genre of cathartic punk slal rock music derived from Hardcore known for its personal lyricism loud soft d Dynamics and occasionally twinkly guitar work which all follow a distinct history and lineage resulting from its Punk and hardcore Roots emo has a strong sense of DIY ethics modesty and authenticity aside from a handful of examples emo has not experienced much mainstream exposure author Tom Mullen of washed up emo and is this band emo.com had a few great quotes about emo emo is emotional hardcore it's not about fashion it's not about your haircut it's how you feel when you're playing a note the best way I can describe emo is that when you're playing a note on an instrument and you can tell if that's the last note that person ever played they gave it their all that's emo to me taking it another step further quiet SL loud slow Parts but also very loud epic buildups mostly singing unless it's sco not mid-2000 sco emo is the moment you see the band is going to combust from the song and they still keep it going that's emo to me I think those are all good ways to sum up emo but for me again is most music emotional yes but is all music vulnerable I think that's where the difference comes in emo is the vulnerability mixed with the intensity in the '90s we obviously got Nirvana and while not emo although the argument could be made because Kurt Cobain did list rights of spring on his top 50 albums of all time list but what Nirvana did for rock music was introduce that type of music to an audience that might not have otherwise ever checked out that type of music what that meant for emo was an increase in people listening to rock music so emo punk and rock and roll was no longer underground and bands were experimenting and getting a little melodic or even simpler adding in some pop music into the emo mix before I go into the Bands That Shaped emo during this time I have to mention Fugazi the band Ian McKai formed after the breakup of embrace which was formed after the breakup of Minor Threat if you want to get even deeper fugazi included members of Rights of spring guy picato sang and played guitar and Brendan KY was the drummer so you start to see that while which bands started emo is a fair question it's really who started emo and everyone I just mentioned was there on day one now whether fugazi is or isn't emo maybe they're a post hardcore ban regardless like is this band emo.com says practically every emo band post 1989 was influenced in some way shape or form by fugazi so I have to include them in this video let's take a trip to the Midwest and talk about Midwest emo now this is a term that gets thrown around a lot these days it's even a meme but Midwest emo is a sound that really develops around the same time that the emo scene was moving away from that punk rock sound to a more melodic one Chicago's cap and Jazz was the first Midwest demo band releasing their one and only album in 1995 and if we take out the board here and look at that album title yeah it's pretty emo Midwest emo doesn't just mean a band from the Midwest that happens to play emo it's a distinct sound within emo that's summed up like this Midwest emo is a style of emo that originated in the early 90s that takes from the song structure and occasional vocal style of previous emo bands but imbues it with more melodic sensibilities and broader influences band started to experiment more with loud soft Dynamics intricate Melodies heavy buildups and twinkly guitar work at the core of these bands lies a commitment to the DIY ethic and an Embrace of sincerity the way that I would describe Midwest demo is imagine a cold dark miserable winter day it gets dark at 4 P.M but you still have that little ray of light that little bit of hope within you that spring isn't too far away I mean that's emo you're not going to sing a lot of happy songs when it gets dark at 400 p.m. you don't get enough vitamin D and it literally hurts to go outside CPP Jazz was the first Midwest emo band and embraced a more melodic sound these were songs that got stuck in your head and you could sing along too go listen to the chorus of om Messi life and you'll understand captain and Jazz included Brothers Mike and Tim canella after cap and Jazz ended Mike canella would go on to form the most Midwest demo band of all time American football every single emo band since 1999 has been influenced by American football the twinkly guitars that are synonymous with Midwest emo do not exist without American football just as writes of Springs sent the aggressive Punk tone of early emo American football set the shape of emo to come by having vulnerable lyrics and mixing that with jazz indie rock and math Rock following bands like CPP Jazz and American football a lot of other '90s bands started to pave the road on the emo Highway bands like jawbreaker mineral the promise ring just to Brazil the getup kids Christy front drive sunny day real estate I hate myself napsack braid lifetime all paved that road in different ways lifetime brought a more punkier vibe to emo the promise ring was cap and Jazz if they played pop punk and sunny day real estate made sure to let everyone know that there's no rule that you have to live in the midwest to be a Midwest emo band sadly a lot of bands at the time didn't get recognized for their importance to the emo scene but since then I think pretty much every band I just listed has gotten their flowers it doesn't apply to every band but a lot of the '90s emo bands basically got the you aren't ready for this but your kids are going to love it treatment there was a lot of change in the emo scene during this time but it was nothing compared to what came next they been quot quoted as saying emo is a p of [ __ ] oh [ __ ] yes why is it well emo as it is today which is nothing like emo as it was um when I was growing up watching bands like sunny day real estate of the promis ring that to me is like real emo you know what you would consider it um I was obviously referring to what the modern idea of emo is which is basically a pair of jeans and a haircut which band made emo mainstream I actually think it's a pretty easy answer to me there's two bands Jimmy eator and Taking Back Sunday both bands have their Roots firmly in the scene and both bands exploded onto the mainstream I'm going to give it to Taking Back Sunday Jimmy world did give the world the middle in 2001 with her album Bleed American and yes before you yell at me in the comments Jimmy World also left their mark on the Emil scene with 1999's Clarity but tell all your friends from 20 to propelled Taking Back Sunday into the mainstream I was young at the time but even I remember hearing your soul last summer everywhere at school on the radio and at Hollister trying to put into words how Wild the early 2000s were for emo and just how many amazing or Classic Albums came out in such a short span of time is very tricky but that's why I'm here here is just a small snippet of Classic Albums that came out during this time dashboard confessional the places you have come to fear the most 2001 Thursday full collapse 2001 Jimmy eator Bleed American 2001 hey Mercedes every night fireworks 2001 The Starting Line say it like you mean it 2002 the used self-titled 2002 pie balled we are the only friends we have 2002 Taking Back Sunday tell all your friends 2002 fall up white take us to your grave 2003 Alkaline Trio good morning 2003 My Chemical Romance three cheers for Sweet Revenge 2003 brand new Deja in tendu 2003 blink 182's Untitled 2003 yellow card Ocean Avenue 2003 park it won't snow where you're going 2003 monine are we really happy with who we are right now 2003 Hawthorne Heights The Silence in black and white 204 boys night out train wreck 2005 Fallout boys under the cork tree 20 05 allamerican Rejects Move Along 2005 My Chemical Romance the Black Parade 2006 the forecast in the shadow of two gunman 2006 soas self-titled 2006 paramar Riot 2007 now you might be saying Mike some of the Bands you just mentioned are an emo and you're right I agree with you but the purpose that I wanted to show with that list is to display how many Classic Albums came out in a relatively short amount of time time and not to mention I probably missed an album or two but it's also important to note that every single one of those bands that I just mentioned was labeled as emo at one point during this time we got the emo look or the emo aesthetic in the 9s you did have that stereotype of a overly sensitive guy but in the 2000s is when you really get the skinny jeans the mascara the eyeliner the emo haircuts uh you know the one uh Vans convert black shirts black pants black everything there's a reason that there are so many emo costumes emo almost more than its music is known for its look emo at least the aesthetic is pop culture not many people are going to think of Capen Jazz the promise ring or American football when they think of emo that's why I said earlier for a lot of people emo is just a time period in their life that they can be nostalgic about it's not a genre of music if you don't believe me here's what what comes up when you Google emo while I wouldn't say this look contributed to the decline of emo in the mainstream it did bring up a lot of irrelevant conversations about who is emo who isn't emo who's a poser which bands are sellouts Etc while doing my research a lot of the bands in the 2000s were classified as emo pop technically there's like 26 subg genres of emo so brace yourself for a lot of upcoming videos so I understand why bands in the early 2000s were just tired of the word and push back on the emo label the reason that emo fell off from the mainstream is because a lot of the bigger bands in the scene weren't making music that sounded emo anymore blink and Fallout Boy went on Hiatus MCR released Danger Days which was a PO Punk album or a rock album depending on who you ask Paramore went more with a big arena Rock sound and a lot more bands just broke up while emo in the mainstream declined there was an emo Revival just around the corner this time frame in emo history I can talk about firsthand because I was in high school and then College during this time and my world was about this music the emo Revival more or less starts in 2010 just because that's a nice and simple year to pick and while I'm going to be focusing on emo here I do have to mention that pop punk hardcore and alternative music in general regained its popularity during this time before diving into the music we have to talk about a few other things the impact of social media and the internet cannot be understated during this time obviously social media didn't start in 2010 but if you look at this graph and it should be no surprise that year after year people using social media has increased I remember checking websites like property of Zach daily to get my emo news Facebook groups launched in October of 2010 does anybody remember the defend pop punk group and of course people reviewing and interviewing bands on YouTube also increased and music just got easier to share and download I was there and to give you an idea of how people not me of course downloaded music for free it was as easy as typing in whatever the band name was or whatever the album was titled into Google and then typing raw or media fire after and nine times out of 10 you would find the album before it was even released I also wanted to briefly talk about vinyl because the vinyl Resurgence is 100% due to emo pop punk punk rock hardore fans buying vinyl in the early 2010s just look at this graph of vinyl sales by year I couldn't really find any historical vinyl sales by genre but I did see this graph that clearly shows rock music vinyl sold more than any other genre in 2018 and I saw this from a Forbes article over half of 2022 vinyl album sales 51.7% were Rock titles which obviously means that rock sold more in vinyl than all other genres combined the data also showed that rock is the only genre whose fans are Liker than the average listener to listen on vinyl so yes emo save the vinyl it would be impossible for me to name all the important bands during this time period And honestly this entire section could be its own video it's also complicated because like I said earlier it wasn't just emo bands pop punk and hardcore was basically having its own Revival as well it's why I can put up a photo of the defend pop Punk logo and one you know what it is and two you have an opinion on it it just shows the lasting impact a band like Man Overboard had with that said I think the bands that made the most impact during that time were Modern Baseball the hotel year title fight Tiger's jaw Joyce Manor lput touche Amore there's so many more but that's just a few I have to jump in and give a shout out to one of the most underrated bands during that time chumped go listen to this album teenage retirement after the video you won't be disappointed I was trying to figure out what the defining aspect and the lasting Legacy of the 2010's emo Revival was because I don't think it was some technical music thing I think it was the perfect moment in time of people coming of age people having the ability to share their thoughts and favorite music with the world it was a lot easier to find people who shared the same interests uh with you especially with music with social media of course and bands at the time it was just again like the perfect moment of where those bands were speaking to the emotions and singing about the situations in life that those people were going through especially for me the reason I'm so nostalgic to this time period of course I was coming of age I was in high school and then College during this time like I said earlier but there's also a beautiful connection when you're seeing someone that's close to your age singing or Screaming into the microphone something that you're feeling that you don't think anyone in the world is going through or can even sympathize with and then you go to the show you see them on stage and you get that beautiful thing that I think just happens uh at shows and it's even hard for me to describe and I wrote down my thoughts and I can't even describe it but that's why I'm so nostalgic to this time frame of M and Y other people who are coming of age are nostalgic to other forms of Music uh within no matter what the genre happens to be so all of that to say I think that is the defining aspect of the 2010's emo Revival and the pop punk and hardcore Revival I'm lumping it all in now but just that perfect moment in time where everything just felt right emo has always been upfront with its ability to talk about more serious topics like depression and like mental health and not saying that other genres of music don't but no other genre of music is as synonymous with those darker topics and darker lyrics than emo I have to talk about this because I remember it vividly there was a writer who reviewed Sports by Modern Baseball and criticized the album because it mentioned social media he said that it would date the album and that it wouldn't hold up in the years to come I think that writer missed the mark the emo Revival also led to more appreciation for older bands in the scene I mean we got an American football and a sunny day real estate reunion without the 2010's Revival I'm not sure we get that something else that emerged during the later half of the 2010's Revival was emo rap the genre is defined simply as hip-hop mixed with emo music so that could be something like the artist actually using a sample of an emo song or just using themes commonly associated with emo in their lyrics many different artists have been associated with emo rap juice World little peep nothing nowhere XXX tentasion little Uzi vert little Lotus Gucci high waters wikas Springs Eternal I mean Gucci high waters and little Lotus are signed to epith and nothing nowhere is signed to fueled By Ramen they are a part of the current alternative music scene emo rap helped the alternative music scene find its way back into the mainstream and in my opinion led to the pop punk sound being back in full force in the mainstream with bands and artists like Machine Gun Kelly Demi Lavado Willow a LaVine and Olivia Rodrigo emo in the modern day is going strong I mean there's an entire Festival dedicated to emo Nostalgia like every other type of rock music emo while I think the aesthetic is back in the mainstream the music I think went back to the underground in that underground emo has produced some amazing bands pool kids hot Mulligan Spanish love songs Ben quad future teens Oso oo and so many more and while I have you here I'm going to designate a new sub genre of emo summer emo because Oso Oso's basking in the glow is the best summer emo album of all time so there you have it from emotional Beginnings in DC to the emo Revival this genre of music has seen it all it's really like a folk tail that gets passed down from generation to generation where parts of the story change but the main focus stays the same that's emo whether you love it or you hate it emo has left its mark on music history and let's be honest with each other we've all had an emo phase at some point thank you so much for watching please like the video If you enjoyed it subscribe if you haven't tell all your friends and again thank you so much for checking out the channel and the video I'm itchy this wig is itchy real emo only consists of the D see emotional hardcore scene and late 90s scre scene what is known by Midwest emo nothing but alternative rock with questionable real emo influence