I think Taking Back Sunday has the right idea in just keeping it simple. They have heavy guitars, so they call themselves a rock band. Works for me.
I would just like to point out to whoever disputed me in this thread, that Horrorcore means horror hardcore and therefore does not pertain primarily to rap music. The whole "MCR is horror-core" statement came directly from Gerard Way himself, and is the band's official explanation for their makeup and style of music in which they perform. As for the whole Misfits comparison, the band has admitted several times they took influence from that band and therefore calling them horrorpunk is not completely off base. Either way they are not, and never will be an emo rock group.
HERE HERE. besides, I don't call rap involving horror theme HorrorCore. It's fucking Murder Rap. to quote Anybody Killa "Murdarap, notches all in your belt" I'm pretty sure Psychopathic Records knows what to call rap involving horror.
For anyone in this thread who happens to still have a misconception about My Chemical Romance's music or who they are as a band, I would like to recommend to you, their official CD/DVD called "Life On The Murder Scene" which will help to give you a better idea of what goes into this band, instead of the image that you get from hearing their music on the radio. Not only does the DVD explain the fact that they were influenced by The Misfits (seeing as both bands hailed from New Jersey), but it also includes an explanation as to why they used to wear makeup and what the significance was of the outfits they wore on stage or in their music videos. You may be surprised to find out that it wasn't to look "scene" but instead to give off a theatrical feel to their live performances, and once again pay homage to the horror movies they grew up watching as a kid. Like I said, MCR are horror influenced and not a part of the emo trend, or 'scene' or whatever you would prefer to call it. They are their own thing and "The End" off of their latest record is a reflection of this. It is their way of saying goodbye and farewell to the 'scene' that they were never meant to be a part of in the first place. Watch the DVD, download that track, and have a listen.
Because there is all this defensive talk about what Emo is not, what (and which bands) would you call emo? If one band that is regarded frequently as emo is actually anything but (god forbid) emo, is this term even relevant at all?
Emo is DEFINITELY not Hawthorne Heights or any of that other crap that is polluting the airwaves nowadays. That shit, I can't even find a genre for, but it certainly isn't true emo. True emo hasn't existed for a while.
Sunny Day Real Estate is quite possibly the most well-known example of what emo really is that I can think of at the moment. Jimmy Eat World before their jump into the mainstream were emo as well. For all intents and purposes, just because My Chemical Romance was influenced by The Misfits and just because they dress the same doesn't mean MCR is horror punk in the same way that The Misfits were horror punk. They sound absolutely nothing alike. To me, MCR is a "modern" punk rock band. Like it or not, most bands labeled "emo" nowadays are "emo" in the sense that they're part of the third wave of emo, which has existed since about the beginning of the millennium. SDRE were part of the first wave, and JEW were part of the second. Doesn't necessarily mean bands lumped into this new "third wave" are actually emo though, but that's just the thing... They're in the THIRD wave of emo, which technically could sound so ridiculous different from the first wave (which it does) that it doesn't matter whether anyone thinks they're emo or not. But to me, MCR is just a modern punk rock band. Maybe even death pop, or whatever those weird people call shit like that.
Yeah, MCR are one of the bands that practically (unknowingly) founded the third wave emo scene. They are pretty much the definition of third wave emo (minus The Black Parade of course).
Horrocore...FFS. Just call them Alternative Rock and be done. Putting artists into these niche genres is useless and incredibly limiting.
Can anyone say LP? This is so dumb, they have guitars, bass, drums and vocals. They're not soft. Therefore, hard rock band. Possibly Alternative Rock. But I would say pre-Black Parade, they pretty much fit right into the MODERN USAGE OF EMO, NOT THE OLD, OUT OF DATE MEANING.
no one can define "emo" and represent everyone else's definition of it. therefore, in my eyes, the concept does not exist since it cannot be clearly and consistently defined. but rather, it's just stuck onto anything and it's like a red flag. an easy target.
Horrorcore? My goodness, can we just stick with all-encompassing genres. What the hell is with every band wanting to start their own genre nowadays? Why not just call them 'rock' and be done with it?
Even bands like Sunny Day Real Estate and At the Drive In rejected the term emo. This third wave of emo or whatever the fuck you want to call it is just another way for hack bands and shitty labels like Victory Records to make a quick buck on teen-angst. Nothing more... nothing less.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horrorcore http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravediggaz Everyone should listen to them, Prince Paul is a minor god.
Unfortunatly for Gerard Way and co. they can argue as much as they want that they're Horrorcore and not emo but at the end of the day bands like MCR and LP are stuck with the labels they're placed in.
I generally never listen to what a band claims their own genre is. If LP claimed they were heavy metal you know you wouldn't go along with that.