xLizardx

I'm not deliberately ignoring anything - in fact, I took care to point out that the genre definition is actually very broad and ambiguous, and that my own interpretation of the label [and the question] was subjective.

Do I think that Flyleaf is the best possible example of a "screamo" band? No, of course not. However, they are certainly a band with emo/ post-hardcore influences, and the singer does occasionally scream. Since the singer is also female, and there are far fewer women vocalists than there ought to be in this genre, I included them in the list.

I'd like to point out, however, that I've received responses similar to yours [in similar situations] regarding very different sounding bands. For example, some people would call bands/artists like Taking Back Sunday, Death Cab For Cutie, Dashboard Confessional, and Brand New emo - using the term to apply to softer, more indie/ acoustic/ pop-punk influenced music. Some people would call bands like Funeral For A Friend, Bullet For My Valentine, or even Killswitch Engage emo - using the term to apply to anything remotely post-hardcore or metalcore. Yet more people apply the term to any pop-punk band with a floppy fringe.

The borders are further blurred by the fact that many modern bands combine "emo" vocals with pop punk hooks and metal-core/ post-hardcore riffs and breakdowns.

Therefore, you can understand why I don't believe the genre has a precise definition any more.

Now, personally, I don't have a problem with that - I love music that blends genres, and I love music of many different genres. I'm generally far less concerned with defining precisely what category a band or a song falls into than I'm concerned simply by how much I like said band or song. Hopefully, the majority of people feel the same way.

If the person asking didn't like the bands/songs I suggested, then that's fair enough, but I think it's rather poor to imply that my suggestions are somehow a disservice, since a. they were merely *suggestions* that could freely be ignored if disliked, and b. as aforementioned, the genre is extremely loosely defined.

I apologise if I have inaccurately accused you of elitism. Because I enjoy lots of different genres and I'm not too pedantic about how I label it, I have frequently experienced people complaining at me: "oh, that band's not really industrial, it's industrial metal... no, that's not simply ska, it's third wave ska-punk...." etc. You get the drift. This pisses me off because the inference seems to be that being narrow-minded is somehow indicative of superiority, when of course it's anything but. So, I am sorry. Elitists are a pet hate of mine, and I may have unfairly projected some of that resentment onto you.

I suppose I assumed that a forum entitled "Hardcore & Emo" would probably concern most connected /influenced genres as well. Perhaps that presumption was inaccurate.