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Emo 1985

Hardcore in which the lyrics turn confessional and the voice cracks. The term started as an insult and became an entire decade of fashion.

Heaviness
3
Speed
5
Melody
9
Where from
Washington DC, USA
Tempo
120-170 bpm
Song length
3-5 min
Written about
Failure at intimacy, Memory and place, Shame, Self-accusation rather than blame
Vocals
Sung and screamed

Why this one

You saidEmoMatchWeight
Shouting, but I can still hear the words When someone is singing, what should come out? mixed 80% ×3
There, but not the point How much weight do you want behind it? 3 out of 10 80% ×2
Slow. Let it take its time. What pace? 5 out of 10 60% ×2
The inside of a head What should the words be about? Failure at intimacy, Memory and place, Shame, Self-accusation rather than blame 100% ×1
Yes. A proper melody. Do you want a tune you could hum afterwards? 9 out of 10 90% ×1
Weighted mean 79%

Ranked over all 150 genres in the encyclopedia, on the 5 answers you gave, weighted vocals 3, heaviness 2, pace 2, about 1, melody 1 out of 9. Emo leads the next by 1 point. Where two genres score the same the broader one wins, because a genre with subgenres under it is somewhere to carry on from and a leaf is a full stop.

Five records, in this order

  1. 1Start one step outside
    Cover of The Shape of Punk to Come

    Refused, The Shape of Punk to Come 1998

    Post-hardcore

    Refused - The Shape of Punk to Come. The title was an arrogant joke that came true.

  2. 2The one to put on first
    Cover of Diary

    Sunny Day Real Estate, Diary 1994

    Emo

    Sunny Day Real Estate - Diary. The bridge between DC hardcore and everything that followed.

  3. 3Then
    Cover of Rites of Spring
  4. 4Then
    Cover of American Football
  5. 5Then
    Cover of 24 Hour Revenge Therapy

The first is the entry point for Post-hardcore, one step outside, so the second record has something to be heard against. After it come Emo's essential records in the order the encyclopedia lists them. Every one of these has a page here with links out to somewhere it can be played.

If that is not it

Not simply the second and third of the ranking: those are almost always near neighbours of the first, which is three names for one suggestion. An alternate has to sit at least 4 steps through the tree from the headline and from the other alternate, which is the same floor the "sounds like this, but isn't" panel uses.

What your answers ruled out

Counted as genres scoring 20% or less on that answer alone. A recommendation that only shows what it chose is hiding half of what it did.