sk2nightfire2

I've always thought of SDRE as a mix of grunge,prog rock, and post-hardcore;they were called emo because of the post-hardcore i nfluence. Not sure how Cap n Jazz came in, but I'm pretty sure SDRE had a large impact before Cap n Jazz broke up and created bands like the Promsie Ring.

I think post-hardcore should be included, because bands like Fugazi are usually considered essentials in any emo fans collection. Then an emo pop section.

I think these details should be added:
There was also emo pop, when Weezer released Pinkerton in 1996. It seemed kinda like a pop version of what some indie emo bands were doing. and that influenced many bands in the indie scene, and so punk pop with overemotive lyrics was labelled emo or emo pop at that time. Bands like Get Up Kids and Jimmy Eat World. I've heard that many times, not sure if its right,but I do know that Weezer had some impact while not being emo themselves. This caused a lot of confusion and made a lot of punk pop artists that had nothing to do with the indie emo scene to be lumped in there, along with some bands that did cite indie emo and real emo bands as influences, and sometimes also toured with bands(like Promise Ring and Jimmy Eat World) but were clearly more punk pop than emo.

Then, when Jimmy Eat World released Bleed American(basically a punk pop album with a few introspective song ), in 2001,it broke into the mainstream, along with Dashboard Confessional(i think they had an release in 2000). The media thought of emo as strong displays of emotion and labels started signing whiny punk pop bands.
Then wasn't there also post-hardcore that mixed with screamo and alternative. I think some of these bands started dressing what is now called emo? Possibly fans dressed started dressing that way, but that is speculation.
Then somehow it entered slang as the fans of the emo music, and then became to mean depressed or sad.