Emo Hall of Fame Inductees

Longtime listeners of the radio show that accompanies this blog may know that in the second ever Keep Calm and Carry On broadcast, Donald Wagenblast inducted twenty songs into the Emo Hall of Fame. This concept was created as a way to showcase some of the songs that have shaped the emo genre.

Here is his first class of twenty inductees from the fall of 2011:

1.       Ohio Is For Lovers- Hawthorne Heights
2.       Grand Theft Autumn- Fall Out Boy
3.       You’re So Last Summer- Taking Back Sunday
4.       Swing Life Away- Rise Against
5.       My Eyes Burn- Matchbook Romance
6.       Note To Self- From First to Last
7.       Anthem of Our Dying Day- Story of the Year
8.       Smile In Your Sleep- Silverstein
9.       A Boy Brushed Red Living In Black and White- Underoath
10.   Devotion and Desire- Bayside
11.   Leaving Song Part II- AFI
12.   A Favor House Atlantic- Coheed and Cambria
13.   Screaming Infidelities- Dashboard Confessional
14.   I’m Not Okay- My Chemical Romance
15.   Buried A Lie- Senses Fail
16.   Seven Years- Saosin
17.   The Quiet Things That No One Ever Knows- Brand New
18.   All That I’ve Got- The Used
19.   My Favorite Accident- Motion City Soundtrack
20.   Car Underwater- Armor For Sleep

Some absolutely phenomenal choices in there of course. I have often said that "The Quiet Things That No One Ever Knows" is a perfectly written rock song, and then of course you have the quintessential emo anthem, "Ohio is For Lovers."

However, since the emo genre is constantly shifting, growing, and changing, we weren't content to just leave the Emo Hall of Fame with just twenty inductees. Instead, on the most recent edition of Keep Calm and Carry On, Madison and I crafted a second list of twenty nominees. These nominees span the entire history of emo music, from the bands that grew it in the Midwest in the 90s like American Football and Mineral, to the mainstream wave of the mid-2000s with My Chemical Romance and Taking Back Sunday, to the best bands of today's recent revival (whether or not you agree with the term). You can see our second class of inductees:

 

1.      Hold Me Down- Motion City Soundtrack 
2.       Love Letter Type Writer-Mineral
3.       Never Meant- American Football
4.       You Won’t Know- Brand New
5.       Existentialism On Prom Night- Straylight Run
6.       Cute Without the “E” (Cut From The Team)- Taking Back Sunday
7.       Rum Is For Drinking, Not For Burning- Senses Fail
8.       Let’s Talk About Your Hair- Have Mercy
9.       Fate- Lydia
10.   The Taste of Ink- The Used
11.   Welcome To The Black Parade- My Chemical Romance
12.   Voices- Saosin
13.   Konstantine- Something Corporate
14.   Flashlight- The Front Bottoms
15.   Garden Statement- Hidden In Plain View
16.   Stonehands- Balance and Composure
17.   Ever So Sweet- The Early November
18.   For Me This Is Heaven- Jimmy Eat World
19.   Muther- Letlive.
20.   Your Deep Rest- The Hotelier

And you can listen to the first two classes of Emo Hall of Fame inductees in this Spotify playlist:


These lists and the playlist will be contained in the new front page tab "Emo Hall of Fame," which will be updated with any future induction ceremonies we do. For now though, let us know what songs we missed, or share some memories of your favorite emo songs.
-Craig