''The Emo Diaries'' is a series of twelve

compilation album A compilation album comprises tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several performers. If by one artist, then generally the tracks were not originally intended for rel ...

s released by

Deep Elm Records Deep Elm Records is an independent record label releasing albums by bands such as Lights & Motion, The Appleseed Cast, Brandtson, The White Octave, and Planes Mistaken for Stars. It also released the compilation series '' The Emo Diaries''. H ...

between 1997 and 2011. The series had an open submissions policy and featured mostly acts that were unsigned at the time of the albums' releases. Deep Elm founder John Szuch claims that the original name for the series was intended to be ''The Indie Rock Diaries'', but this was ruled out by the fact that the first volume included

Jimmy Eat World Jimmy Eat World is an American rock band formed in 1993 in Mesa, Arizona. The band is composed of lead vocalist and lead guitarist Jim Adkins, rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist Tom Linton, bassist Rick Burch, and drummer Zach Lind. They ...

and

Samiam Samiam (pronounced "sam-I-am") is an American punk rock band from Berkeley, California, active since 1988. History Samiam was formed in late 1988 after the breakup of the Gilman club mainstay Isocracy. Their first show was in January 1989 wit ...

, who were both signed to major record labels. ''The Emo Diaries'' was chosen because ''The Emotional Diaries'' was too long to fit on the album cover. Despite the title, the bands featured in the series have a diversity of sounds that do not all necessarily fit into the

emo Emo is a rock music genre characterized by emotional, often confessional lyrics. It emerged as a style of and hardcore punk from the Washington D.C. hardcore punk scene, where it was known as emotional hardcore or emocore and pioneered b ...

style of rock music.Greenwald, pp. 118-119.

Andy Greenwald Andy Greenwald (born May 19, 1977) is an American author, critic, podcaster, screenwriter, and television producer. Life and career Greenwald grew up in Philadelphia and currently lives in Los Angeles, California. He graduated from Friends' C ...

, in his book '' Nothing Feels Good: Punk Rock, Teenagers, and Emo'', claims that the series "stake a claim for emo as more a shared aesthetic than a genre":

e bands included hail from all over the world, and the musical styles range from racing punk to droopy, noodley electro. Still, the prevalence of the series—coupled with its maudlin subtitles (''The Silence nMy Heart'', ''I Guess This Is Goodbye'') and manic-depressive tattoo cover art—did much to codify the word "emo" and spread it to all corners of the underground.

Deep Elm themselves have remarked that the series' open submissions policy and diversity of bands is what made it unique: "Only the music mattered. Deep Elm has never attempted to define any musical style, as we believe any combination of songwriting, lyrics and live performance means something different to every listener." ''The Emo Diaries'' featured then-new and unreleased music by such notable acts as

The Appleseed Cast The Appleseed Cast is an American rock band from Lawrence, Kansas. The band was founded in the early days of emo by singer-guitarist Christopher Crisci and drummer Louie Ruiz. The Appleseed Cast has steadily evolved over the release of eight fu ...

, Brandtson,

Further Seems Forever Further Seems Forever is an American rock band formed in 1998 in Pompano Beach, Florida. Over its initial eight-year run the band experienced several lineup changes, resulting in a different lead vocalist performing on each of their first three ...

Jejune Jejune was an American rock band formed in 1996 at Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. The band has been commonly identified with the emo genre, and was heavily involved with the scene at the peak of the "second wave" of emo in the ...

, Jimmy Eat World,

The Movielife The Movielife is a Long Island punk rock band composed of vocalist Vinnie Caruana, guitarist Brandon Reilly, and drummer Brett Romnes. The band originally formed in 1997 and disbanded in 2003, but announced their official reunion in December 201 ...

Planes Mistaken for Stars Planes Mistaken for Stars is an American rock band formed in Peoria, Illinois in 1997. Working with several different labels, they released three studio albums and four EPs before breaking up in 2008. While rooted in the post-hardcore and emo s ...

, Samiam, and Seven Storey Mountain. Ten installments were released between 1997 and 2004, after which the series was unofficially halted. According to the label:

Deep Elm cited the bastardization of the term "emo" in today's pop culture, as well as mainstream's stranglehold and subsequent commercialization of the genre, which placed the focus squarely on the aesthetic...not the music, the energy or the passion. Essentially, Deep Elm refused to play the game and closed the doors on the genre they helped to document, nurture and expose to the world.

However, in 2007 the label published an eleventh chapter in the series, entitled '' Taking Back What's Ours''. In April 2010 Deep Elm began soliciting submissions for a twelfth installment of ''The Emo Diaries'', which was released in January 2011 as '' I Love You But in the End I Will Destroy You''.

Discography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Emo Diaries, The Compilation album series Deep Elm Records compilation albums