Origins (1990s) In the early 1990s,
San Francisco Bay Area bands
Samiam and
Jawbreaker were creating an early form of emo pop. Jawbreaker has influenced future mainstream emo pop bands like
Fall Out Boy and
My Chemical Romance. Pop-punk band
Blink-182 has been a very big influence on emo pop bands. with James Montgomery writing, "[...] without them, there'd be no Fall Out Boy, no
Paramore, or no
Fueled by Ramen Records." in 2000 Emo pop's popularity began during the mid-to-late 1990s with bands like
Jimmy Eat World,
Weezer and
The Promise Ring. Weezer's
Pinkerton (1996) is viewed by
Spin as "a groundbreaking record for all the emo-pop that would follow" Both albums were very influential on later emo and emo pop bands. According to Nicole Keiper of
CMJ,
Sense Field's
Building (1996) pushed the band "into the emo-pop camp with the likes of the Get Up Kids and
Jejune". Emo pop began to have independent success in the late 1990s. The Get Up Kids had sold over 15,000 copies of their debut album
Four Minute Mile (1997) before signing to
Vagrant Records, who promoted the band strongly and put them on tours opening for popular rock acts such as
Green Day and Weezer. Their album
Something to Write Home About (1999) was a major success, reaching No. 31 on
Billboard's
Top Heatseekers chart.
Mainstream popularity (2000s) AllMusic credits the birth of the mainstream success of emo pop to the 2001 release by
Jimmy Eat World,
Bleed American, and the success of the album's second single "
The Middle." Weezer's
second self-titled album received major commercial success in 2001 reaching number 4 on the US
Billboard 200 chart.
The All-American Rejects received mainstream success with their 2002
self-titled debut album. The album sold over a million copies in the US alone. It contained their hit song "
Swing, Swing".
Dashboard Confessional became a major act in the emo pop scene with their debut album
The Swiss Army Romance (2000). The band would later receive commercial success with their albums
A Mark, a Mission, a Brand, a Scar (2003) and
Dusk and Summer (2006). Both albums were released under
Vagrant Records which also released music by emo pop bands
Saves The Day,
the Get Up Kids,
the Anniversary,
Hey Mercedes,
Hot Rod Circuit and
Alkaline Trio. In 2004,
Avril Lavigne released her second album
Under My Skin, which is considered one of the works that anticipated the emotional intensity and theatrical aesthetics of emo pop in the mainstream. As the genre coalesced, the record label
Fueled by Ramen became a center of the movement, releasing
platinum selling albums from bands like Fall Out Boy,
Panic! at the Disco and
Paramore. Two main regional scenes developed in
Florida, pioneered by label Fueled by Ramen, and in the
Midwest, promoted by
Pete Wentz of the Illinois band Fall Out Boy,
Plain White T's was another Illinois emo pop band that received major mainstream success. Their album
Every Second Counts (2006) reached number 10 on the Billboard 200 and featured their number one single "
Hey There Delilah". New Jersey band
My Chemical Romance was the most prominent emo pop act during the 2000s. MCR's albums
Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge (2004) and
The Black Parade (2006) both sold more than 3 million copies in the US alone. The latter of the albums debuted at number 2 on the Billboard 200. The album's lead single "
Welcome to the Black Parade" topped the US
Alternative Songs chart and reached number 9 on the Billboard hot 100.
Taking Back Sunday's third album
Louder Now (2006) debuted at number 2 on the Billboard 200.
Hawthorne Heights's sophomore album
If Only You Were Lonely (2006) reached number 3 on the Billboard 200, achieving mainstream success outside of the
hardcore punk scene unlike some of their contemporaries.
We the Kings released their debut
self-titled studio album, which had an emo pop sound. The album’s lead single "
Check Yes Juliet" was certified triple platinum in the United States. The emo pop band
Metro Station fused emo aesthetics with
pop music and
electronic music on their 2007
self-titled album. The band's single "
Shake It" reached number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts. Also in 2008,
You Me at Six released their debut album
Take Off Your Colours, which had been described by AllMusic's Jon O'Brien as "follow[ing] the "emo-pop for dummies"' handbook word-for-word." The album would later be certified gold in the UK. In 2009
All Time Low released their third studio album
Nothing Personal which debuted at number 4 on the Billboard 200. AllMusic states that the album "helped make All Time Low one of the top emo-pop acts in the business".
Decline in popularity (2010s) Since the early 2010s, emo pop has seen a decrease in mainstream success. While a few 2000s emo pop bands remain popular, some of them have ventured on to different sounds and aesthetics outside of the genre. Emo pop bands
Thursday,
The Academy Is...,
Good Charlotte,
Hey Monday,
Forever the Sickest Kids and
My Chemical Romance disbanded or went on hiatus in the early 2010s. Panic! at the Disco's 2013 album
Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die! abandoned their emo pop sound, which was heard primarily on their debut album ''
A Fever You Can't Sweat Out.
The former album contained characteristics and influences from hip hop music, new wave music, electropop Fall Out Boy went on hiatus from 2009 to 2013 but returned with a new sound on their album Save Rock and Roll''. The album has characteristics of
pop music,
alternative rock, Paramore ventured away from their emo pop sound with their
self-titled album (2013) which contains influences of
power pop, pop rock and
new wave. Despite the genre’s decrease in popularity, a number of emo pop bands garnered underground popularity in the 2010s, including
Sorority Noise,
Real Friends,
Boston Manor and
Moose Blood. ==See also==