true, ATDI are very much a Post-Hardcore too, but much of Emo and Screamo takes a lot of influence from Post-Hardcore, I just tend to lump them all in as "Emotional Hardcore" aka Emo, (which to me has a different meaning than what Emo has now morphed into as todays Pop culture definition), the original Emo sound came from the DC Hardcore/Post-Hardcore scene, arguably the very first band being Rites of Spring, and you also get other bands like Fugazi, The Hated and Moss Icon who had a huge influence on the original wave of True Emo (Emotional Hardcore bands) like Policy of 3, Indian Summer, Current, Naitive Nod, etc...and then some of that branched off into a heavier, more dissonant and chaotic side thus the early Screamo bands...Frail, Herion, Portraits of the Past, Julia, etc. now somewhere around this time during the early 90s you also get a softer twinkly side of Emo with bands like Sunny Day Real Estate and Evergreen thus the Emo-Pop style is born which was obviously more accessible and carried on into the mainstream,

 

I feel sort of uber-Geeky knowing so much about Emo, but its surprising what a complicated and weighted term it's become, when you map out its history its amazing to see what was originally a more "Emotional" and less "Tuff" movement of Hardcore Punk (which began with the Revolution Summer bands in DC-approx 1985)...what's changed and how much has come out of it since then, somewhere around 1993-4ish it broke into about 5 or 6 distinctive styles, no sh*t,

 

try this site: http://www.fourfa.com/ - http://www.fourfa.com/

 

its pretty informative reference on Emo, its history, different styles and key bands/albums, etc

I listen to Relationship of Command more often than I listen to TMV.

 

I had Vaya but didn't like the poor production.

 

I disagree with all of this. One song off of either of TMV's first two albums is better than ATDI's entire output, despite how good their last two albums were. Also, even though Amputecture and Bedlam just aren't as glorious as De-Loued or Frances, they are both still great albums.

 

Also, I think Sparta's first two full-lengths are pretty good. The new album was really weak, though.

 

I guess my tastes simply changed in a way that Cap'n Jazz was not in accordance with.

 

Thing is, Sunny Day aren't really true emo. More along the lines of post-grunge. A good introduction to the genre, as they're very accessible, but not really interesting compared to many other bands. Two first albums are the only ones worth bothering with, and the only ones remotely emo-sounding.

 

I like SDRE "smile" album quite a bit, but indeed it was one of the earliest commercially successful albums from the Poppy branch of the Emo tree that went on to influence countless of other bands that ushered in an even more mainstream accessible brand of Emo-Pop that most people are familiar with, JimmyEatWorld, Dashboard Confessional, etc ...yeah "Emo" has quite a complex history, a lot of different factions of people arguing endlessly about what is and isn't "Real Emo", kind of dumb, but hey thats what forums culture is all about I guess,

 

Hey Philéas, do you have a last.fm account? you should add me if you do! 

 

I don't see how you're drawing that parallel. They have a distinctive sound on those two, more along the lines of post-grunge as you said earlier, mixed with some eastern influences and occasional proggy fluorishes in the arrangements.

 

Maybe I'm not thinking of the same bands you mean by "pseudo-emo." When you say that, I think of bands like Hawthorne Heights or Taking Back Sunday, and that comparison sounds too far off to make sense.

Also, I think you're putting too much emphasis on what it sounds like. I really don't care what kind of music it is. Whatever it is, it's good, and that's what I'm looking for.