Emo music is NOT taking back sunday och MCR.
Here is some REAL emo/screamo bands;

emo music is music with emotional lyrics, and either melodious slow rythum and progressive, but as it has progressed, it adopted so much of the other music styles and rythums that it is hard to pinpoint what is emo music and what isnt. now because of that fact, some people will argue that the newest bands of this genre arent actually emo, like my chemical romance. but think about what is the minor guidelines for emo music? and that everything progresses.. we had the rights of spring as the first official band to be labeled emo, and then it progresses to get up kids and death cab for cutie. im sure youve all heard that speel.

Sweet god...the amount of definitions that should be saved for the avril lavigne fans...

People use the term emo music as a narrow minded attempt at attempting to categorize emotional music as 'everything that sounds like fall out boy'. It ain't. Here are the genres/musicians that could be referred to as 'emo', 'emo orientated' or perhaps 'crap' if you don't like it.

1980s hardcore/soulful punk: People argue that this laid the base for most 'emo' and it does share very similar qualities to more commercial forms we have today. Catchy guitar lyrics, rough lyrics dealing with love, unhapiness, anandonment, hatred, disullision, longer running times ( unlike all other forms of hardcore punk at the time ) etc. I would cite Husker Du's Zen Arcade as the best example of this era, but Rites of spring are another brilliant band.

Early 90s/90s screamo: As an off-shoot of emo this is included. Bands in the early 90s took emo on to more fast, distorted, screamed and abstract horizons. You can easily recognise alot of this music by these qualities but running times varied alot ( indian summer's track 12 ran for 17 minutes, where as jerome's dream songs ran for much shorter ), lyrics may be intelligible at parts or not atall, there may be huge intros or guitar riffs lasting the majority of the songs thrashed and or melodic. Indian summer, jerome's dream, joshua fit for battle, swing kids are examples. Modern pop punk should not be confused with this genre under pain of death.
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Emo music is usually screamo. Bands such as Paramore, although they don't have screaming have many emo fans, as does Jeffree Star. Emos actually like all sorts of music.

Emo style bands:
Bring Me The Horizon, Bullet For My Valentine, Bless The Fall, All That Remains, Atreyu, Rise Against, Avenged Sevenfold, System of a Down, Evanescence etc

Emo Music is the harsh sounding squeal of a high pitched faggoty dark colored attire wearing prick with long bangs that cover the face/eyes and that that doesnt bathe for days(usually accommodated by a wool or polyester scarf). Usually composed of a grand total of 3-5 chords played repetitively in different ways, these songs are "Messages to America's Youth" about how shitty well-off suburban lifestyle is. These songs usually contain lyrics such as "I shed tears of blood for you", "I hate my life", "I cut myself again", and my personal favorite "We're just kids".

The theory that emo music is really cheerful and fun, until you listen to the lyrics then it becomes sad. Usually occurs because of emo bands inablity to come up with good lyrics.

Emo bands are bands that express emotions or feelings through their music, they are not people who sit around crying and slitting wrists like a lot of narrow minded people think. Emo music is often mistaken for pop-rock bands and sometimes even Kerrang get it wrong, although these bands are really amazing too they are
bands that definately ARENT emo:
the all-american rejects - pop-rock
fall out boy - pop-rock
panic at the disco - dance-rock
taking back sunday - pop rock

bands that ARE emo are:
hawthorne heights
funeral for a friend
my chemical romance
from autumn to ashes
dashboard confessional