Emo, from the outside in. Each step is a genre and the single record this encyclopedia would put on first. Play them in this order and the last one should sound like a next step rather than a wall.
- 1 The way in
Rock 1954
The whole family: guitar, bass, drums and a beat borrowed from blues and rhythm and blues. Every branch below grows out of this trunk, metal included.
Sung. Melodic singing throughout.
Put on
The Beatles - Revolver, if you want to understand why everything branched so fast.
The Beatles, Revolver (1966) - 2 Then
Hardcore punk 1980
Punk accelerated to 200 bpm, songs of one minute and shouted vocals. Without it there is no thrash, no grindcore, no metalcore.
Shouted. Barked or chanted, and you can still make out the words.
Put on
Bad Brains - Bad Brains (the ROIR cassette). The fastest band of the decade.
Bad Brains, Bad Brains (1982) - 3 Then
Post-hardcore 1985
Hardcore that allows itself dynamics, empty space and irregular structures. Emo, screamo and mathcore all branch off from here.
Sung and screamed. Clean singing and harsh vocals trade off, often chorus against verse.
Put on
Refused - The Shape of Punk to Come. The title was an arrogant joke that came true.
Refused, The Shape of Punk to Come (1998) - 4 What you asked about
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.
Sung and screamed. Clean singing and harsh vocals trade off, often chorus against verse.
Put on
Sunny Day Real Estate - Diary. The bridge between DC hardcore and everything that followed.
Sunny Day Real Estate, Diary (1994) - 5 Where to go next
Midwest emo 1994
Open tunings and interlocking arpeggios, odd meters and lyrics about autumn and empty rooms.
Sung. Melodic singing throughout.
Put on
American Football - Never Meant. That opening guitar figure is a whole genre.
American Football, American Football (1999)
Assembled from the tree: the root, the two genres directly above Emo, and Emo itself. The last step is the gentlest of Emo's 4 subgenres - least harsh vocals first, then least heavy.