Well you just said they were emo, that shows how much you know.

Oomph. You say the music is stripped of emotions. That is strictly interpretational. How the hell are you supposed to gauge whether or not the artist is sincere with regard to the content he/she is conveying in the lyrics? Also, musical sounds do not contain emotion. Whether or not they convey the emotion of the artist is, once again, entirely interpretational.

Ok, fair enough. If the music and lyrics are entirely generic then we can probably guess that there wasn't much artistic integrity or sincerity involved at all. But "generic", while it may accurately describe the majority of modern chart music, does not describe pop music of all times and all places.

Compare the concept of the "generic pop act" to a band like The Beatles, who had a couple of songwriters who were continuously engaged in trying to outdo one another and write superior songs, come up with more innovative ideas, and ultimately be the greater artist. They were pop, but their pop was sophistiated and continuously evolving/expanding. Just because a band is trying to be successful doesn't negate that they are also trying to write good music. There was a time when being successful actually meant writing better songs than other bands, otherwise you simply wouldn't be met with much sustained success.

Have you heard Just Like Heaven, Friday I'm In Love, Inbetween Days, Close To Me? How the hell are they not pop songs?

^^The Smiths were also a pop band, but I don't think we need to name alternatives to mainstream pop to justify the artistic merits of the sound.
I disagree, musical sounds do contain emotion. But I think the boy has trouble understanding that not everyone is an angsty teenager who needs to vent and/or rebel via aggressive music.

As far as the artistic value of mainstream pop, try to write a song that millions of people will enjoy and then get back to us. It's a lot harder than writing a death metal song...;)

While this might be really anal or whatever, I think I'd say they convey emotion, as in, emotion is the result of it, rather than something inherently inside it.

Or maybe I'm just crazeh!

Music does convey emotion, but I'd say it's also the audial representation of an emotion, if that makes sense...http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/c...wer/unsure.gif

I never said I was limited to aggresiveness.

Don't they have a machine that randomaly generates some simple drum metronome and sound effects? I didn't think they actually wrote it themselves. At least regarding mainstream pop, which I would distinguish from pop-rock.

It's not as much about your sound as it is about your image, we both know that. Mainstream pop musicians are models with 3rd rate instrument and/or singing ability.

I'd like to see you play a death metal song, let alone write one.

Al Svartr The Oath Tab by Emperor @ Ultimate-Guitar.Com

It's probably not a good idea to complain about pop singers having 3rd rate singing ability and then give a death metal song as an example of good music.

I could say something similar about death metal. It comes down to personal preference.

I have an image of pop in my head where, usually the person doesn't play an instrument, they just sing, like Sinatra. They don't write their own songs. I don't like/respect that type of music. It has merits occasionally, but usually is garbage that will be forgotten in ten years.