What is Emo? Really, what is it?

[kitescreech]

I get the feeling emo is now more an image and street "look" than a musical style.

My mate reckons Muse are Emo - WTF ?

[Sarc]

Emo's more of an insult these days, it fucks me off a right treat as i get accused of being Emo all the time cuz I have dark hair thats dyed (im naturally very very blonde but got sick of people coming up to me in the street and telling me i had lovely coloured hair so dyed it almost black, it didnt work i still get people coming up to me) and usually Im not happy but thats due to suffering from clinical depression to a point where i have to be kept under close watch y the doctors and friends to make sure im not gonna do anything, yeah being fucking sick makes me emo right.
To be honest i like quite a few of the bands that people have been knocking like My Chemical Romance and Panic at The Disco, but you could never class them as Emo if you think about it, Panic!, even though theyve been lumped in with the Emo set cuz theyve played with other bands under that banner, are more in line with the new wave of Burlesque or "dark wave" as its been called with bands like Dresden Dolls and Devotchka even though they dont really sound the same. THough that maybe more of an image thing.
My Chem to me are just a punk band with makeup, bit like the Misfits if y'get down to it but just cuz they had one song that blew the charts up and again toured with other bands that have been lumped in with the emo banner they get slated and called emo, THe Black Parade is an album that could not be classed as Emo its got more styles to it than most bands can manage in a lifetime, christ somehow they even got Liza Minelli singing on it, though im not sure if that was a sample or they actually got her in the studio.

Fall Out Boy, yeah y;right with that one though, they;re bollocks.

[Ady]

Coming from a comment in another thread entirely, what is bloody 'Emo' anyway?

I've honestly never figured out what constitutes an emo song/band.

I do remember one of my pals putting on 'Panic! At The Disco' at my house about a year ago. Are they emo? Whatever they were, they made my ears spew blood. And there's not a lot of music I can't find some sort of value in. But this...

One of my pals who was an occasional WH listener seemed to think that emo as a category was rubbish, because certain bands (apparently including The Wildies) had emo qualities all along anyway. What the fuck was he on about, I wondered. And still do.

I know this is an old post and you've probably forgot about it but this might answer your question.