JohnHopkins wrote:
aethra wrote:
MCR are ridiculously overrated, and I get stared at whenever I say so.
MCR, like Nivana before them, are overrated by their fans and underrated by everbody else.
Take a look at these supposed emo bands. I say supposed because what is now emo is now the emo I listen to, which goes back as far as Fugazi, up to Weezer and even as recently as Rival Schools or Glassjaw, it is what is now known as emo.
Band #1. Fall Out Boy.
Band #2. My Chemical Romance.
Band #1. Predominantly average pop-punk which occasional sparks of greatness like 'Sugar, We're Going Down,' which is a fantastically catchy, well-written pop song and like good pop should, it annoys as many people as it enthrals.
Band #2. Conceptual albums. Mix pop punk with piano ballads, metal, strings, allsorts of sh**.
Band #1. Videos consist of a dude with antlers, making out with girls in a hotel room and other such things.
Band #2. Become the characters from their most recent conceptual albums, and as such participate in much darker, more thougthful videos, not least of which is the WWII themed 'Ghost Of You.'
Band #1. Live shows are mediocre at best.
Band #2. Put their heart and soul into every note.
MCR may not be the greatest band ever like so many people think they are, and I'm not a big fan of them myself. However, I do respect them. They got stuck with a tag, and so they deliberately went against it, they changed the way they dressed, their artwork, created concepts and characters. They've grown beyond the emo-punk which, say, Fall Out Boy are still peddling.
MCR deserve better than they get from the people that hate them.
As for selling out - I would sell out in a second. My principles are my own, and I don't give a damn what fans think of them if they're going to turn their back just because an artist wants to feed their family.
You got it right on the head.
Right now, there's only a few real emo bands (The Starting Line, Straylight Run, Say Anything, Ludo) that formed this decade.
I will also say this: Panic at the Disco are NOT an emo band. They're also not pop punk. They are an alternative rock band. This of course does not mean they're any good. I saw them live opening up for The Dresden Dolls (who have a great taste in opening acts, as the other time I saw them live, Regina Spektor opened). They had one song that was excellent ("The Only Difference....") and a bunch of other ones that were middling. So far, i've only heard one other good song from Panic ("Northern Downpour").
Death Cab for Cutie are also not an emo band. They're indie rock. Yes, I know they're signed to Atlantic Records, but indie rock has a discernible sound and is not a status designation. Just because of "I Will Follow You Into The Dark" people think Death Cab is an emo band, but that's the only song like that in their catalog.
Names also have nothing to do with a band being emo. Groups like Dogs Die In Hot Cars, Darker My Love and Vampire Weekend have very indie names, but they're of completely different genres (ska/britpop, shoegazing, indie pop respectively).
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here be dragons
28 Jul 2008, 12:42 pm
