THE EMO BAND TIER LIST 

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Finn did not properly praise a band that I love enough. I guess this is goodbye.

I agree The Used are so underrated! Back when Bert could scream live...incredible. Would love to see a video of the evolution of the band.

Brand new has amazing lyrics and such depth. How could you rate c tier?? Have you listened to Daisy? Or The Devil and God are Raging Inside Me? Jesse Lacey is dark, and I think people who felt broken and damaged beyond repair get his lyrics. So Brand New has fans who relate to feeling dark inside and that’s very isolating, hence the reason they got a lot of fans through really difficult times. I’m sad you can’t at least recognize their talent and how much they evolved and improved with each album. Smh

Funeral for a Friend are an above average band but their album 'Casually Dressed and Deep in Conversation' is A tier, brilliant from start to finish.

Surprised to not see Thursday mentioned. The Full Collapse LP was a staple back when emo was really gaining steam in the early 2000s. Oh and no Cursive? We need a PT 2

sunny day real estate c tier, this guy is insane

You have severally underrated Jimmy Eat World. Clarity, Bleed American and Futures is an S tier 3 album run

The jimmy take is baddddddd. Bleed American is an insane album. The sweetness is on tier with the middle

Finn you gotta dig deeper into Jimmy Eat World’s catalog. Easy S tier band. Their consistency throughout their career is insane. I could easily name like 20 life changing songs by them.

Why would anyone stop Never Meant when the vocals come in. They along with the entirety of Never Meant, and every other song off their debut album, are just beautiful.

Damn you did brand new dirty. Clear s tier band when you look at their discography, not just the first 2 “emo” albums. They’re so much more than that though, and are genuinely one of the best bands from the emo and indie genre.

I think you need to give Funeral For a Friend another shot with a few different songs. Let a fan recommend a couple songs. I listened to them in middle school and recently rediscovered them (now 27). I didn’t expect it to hold up, but they have a few songs that actually are absolute bangers.

i saw Brand New when I was younger and I gotta say... there's a couple songs that are just so 🔥

The Get Up Kids were S+ tier. Also Jawbreaker is underrated

MCR, TBS, and The Used were top three emo bands growing up. We also had blink 182, Green Day, and Sum 41 as the top pop-punk bands. High School in the early 2000s was an amazing time, I'm so grateful.

Happy with the A Tier but honestly The Promise Ring is S Tier and I don't know why they didn't get the same level of hype in the emo revival with American Football in the 2010s. Obviously 30 Degrees Everywhere and Nothing Feels Good are incredible emo albums, but Very Emergency is such solid pop rock and Wood/Water is criminally underrated. Bummer that they seem to be so slept on because they're one of my favorite bands.

Would have loved to hear your take on some of the other feed suggestions F.A.T.A, Something Corporate, Dashboard, Silverstein, senses fail, etc. But thank you for another great video, would love to see a part 2.

As somebody from the western US who has never stepped foot in Europe, I can safely say that you are sleeping soundly on Funeral For A Friend, my man. Their first album is a true gem.

I went to a local(ish) festival earlier this year and saw The Get Up Kids. Never really listened to them before aside from a couple songs, listened to Something To Write Home About and fell in love. Also were phenomenal live too, crowd interaction, moshing and musicality were on POINT! So The Get Up Kids are at S-Tier for me, easy. Also, very annoyed that you didn't include Death Cab! Fantastic emo/indie band, grew up listening to them and still do to this day!

I really need to catch a live stream, but I wanted to say I love your videos and your channel. Though I will say I don't agree with a lot of your opinions but I respect them and I love finally finding someone I don't fully agree with. It's refreshing and honestly eye opening sometimes you need that. Keep it up you deserve so much praise!

personally i feel like this should have been split into OG emo (90s,2000s) and Mall Emo, the sound and aesthetics are so wildly different. Also please make an Emo Haircut tierlist from ppl in bands

The Spill Canvas just put out a hell of an album that didn't get much notice. Hot Mulligan is making emo fresh again. The genre isn't all nostalgia, you've just got to be willing to wade through some really bad cliche stuff to find it.

bro put sdre and patd in the same row😭

Hell yeah The Used’s In Love and Death album is a fucking masterpiece & they’ve never made a record that wasn’t at least B-tier. I think they faded a bit after Bert became a meme, emo became a meme, and rock music simply went out of style…but lately it seems like more and more ppl have been giving them their due. I saw them over the summer with Rose Against and Senses Fail & they haven’t lost a step at all. Plus Bert’s got the chaddest haircut of any rock star in the past ten years!

He called brand new a OK BAND. That is definitely one of the statements of all time Finn,they are intense,they speak through the musica,you kinda have to be emo to get it, try listening after a breakup and see for yourself

Thank you for talking up The Promise Ring! They are absolutely fantastic! You can't deny that songwriting. So good!

The Used crushes. The first three albums all slap front to band. And the new heart work b sides crushes just as much as the a sides. Agreed

Finch, The Starting Line, Asteria, The Ataris, The Early November, Hidden in Plain View, Just Surrender, Senses Fail, and Story of the Year. There are so many excellent bands that would fit in this category. I would love to see a part two with these bands and your opinions. Thanks dude for the awesome videos!

Finn Mckenty Mate You lost me hating Rites Of Spring

One of the first technically “emo” bands I heard was The Get Up Kids ‘Action & Action,’ which was rad as fuck! Then shortly after I heard the song ‘Shoulder to the Wheel’ by Saves the Day. Years later in the early 2000s all of a sudden mainstream radio stations from Michigan area were playing The Used ‘Buried Myself Alive.’ I’ve gotta say it was a fine time to be listening and driving - waiting to hear what late night recommendations were being made by local interns spinning the night shift!😄

I really feel like you should do a deep dive about Bayside they are seriously amazing and have killer consistency and amazing song writing. Plus they get overlooked so much for some reason. I really really suggest a main channel video on them and I think you would be surprised if you looked past the most popular of their tracks and dived into their albums because I don't think you could argue that they aren't great. But idk you are you and maybe you won't dig them. But I promise it's worth a listen if anything

Hawthorne Heights is also putting out great new music in addition to The Used!

"I don't like any bands who have stan culture" "MCR is S tier" Lolol I mean I agree but we can't deny that a lot of MCR fans could rival k-pop as far as stan culture goes.

How can you possibly do an emo tier list without including the biggest current name in the genre? August is Falling belongs on the list and in the S tier. #AugustIsFalling @AugustIsFalling

ah i remember the brand new era. everyone i spent time with in high school was CRAZY about them. but sic transit gloria is an amazing song and you introduced me to "through being cool" a couple of years ago and its been on repeat since that day.

you got me so hyped when you said you want to do a video on The Used, and then when you said your take i was like "FUCK YES!!!" those guys are my absolute favourite band of all time

Didn't get mentioned but the Davey Von Bohlen was on and name dropped on a song on Jimmy Eat Worlds album that had the middle... also I disagree with your assessment of Jimmy Eat World, they only had the one real big hit, but I think they're heavily slept on, fantastic song writing.

I was there, I was there when American Football album came out in 1999, and it meant a lot to me in that moment as a teenager. 20 years later working with millenials I found out it was not only still a popular album but iconic! If you end up making a sequel video, don't forget Portraits Of Past. Still my favorite band from post-hardcore/emocore. and Moss Icon, Indian Summer, Native Nod, Still Life... (though I know where you'll put it). Fans of Rites of Spring might like to know there was a sort-of mk.2 band named One Last Wish which blew RoS out of the water. Teenage memories of blasting Get Up Kids' "Holiday" in a grandpa's Crown Victoria heading to Coral Springs (emo/hardcore capital of South Florida in the '90s - shoutout to that one guy working at Starbucks with the Spock haircut). Promise Ring "Everywhere In Denver" can stay in the bedroom a bit longer than all the others. I'd say Cap'n Jazz "Forget Who We Are" too if you cut out the "we're growing apart, that happens to boys this age" stage banter at the end. "I know you know what I'm talking about, we've done it together" at the beginning can stay 😉

We got The Emo Night Tour at our night club this Thursday and it's always wall to wall/front to back. Mosh pits to dj sets everyone loosing their minds singing along to everything. It's going to be both full of emotions and wild ::)

Actually been reading your chat on this one. Absolutely LOVED this tier list. Emo has my heart, still listen to 'em all. Never dressed as an emo kid, and whenever I talked music, those guys would always look at me weird because I looked like a normie. lol Your chat was on fire, and you missed so many goodies. :P Especially my personal favorite: Silverstein. You need to do this again and read your chat here. Just sayin. :P They still make excellent music too.

I am triggered by the Funeral For a Friend rating 😫😫😫

Been watching your videos for years and love them. Watched you on no jumper too great interview. But... Funeral for a friend are the number 1 emo band. I'm 34 and watched them live in the UK for years so I guess it's a European thing but. Funeral friend is the peak of emo

I watched this as an all music lover. Grew up in the 2005 era of emo / while listing to lots of 80s punk back when I was 14. Fin Nailed it though 💯. Love it

Could you do a poll on which Metalcore & Emo Bands are anticipated to grow/headline?

No one ever mentions Moneen but The Red Tree was/is a masterpiece of emo. Also, Park - It Won't Snow Where You're Going is one of the all time greats

I understand this is his opinion but Brand New, Jimmy and American Football are three of the greatest and most defining bands in emo. This is like an emo tier list written by sales associates at a 2008 Hot Topic.

Finn really hit us with the Naruto run and didn't think anyone would point it out 😂

@Finn Mckenty there’s a band called whatnot?

I saw the Used with A Day To Remember back in October and they brought it. The crowd was super into it and they sounded good. The band has some staying power, unlike so many that have bit the dust.

From First To Last almost made a come back with Spencer Sotello, but I guess it fell through. I liked that album that they did with him.

Brand New is loved by those of us who love Brand New for a lot of different reasons, I’m sure. But for myself and the friends I grew up with, who came of age during the height of the bands career, it was the soundtrack to our navigation of complex emotion, first love, teenage angst, the highs and lows, and at least for me, my evolution into a complex adult human being with some major demons and difficulties is paralleled beautifully with Brand News evolution throughout their albums. Your Favorite Weapon came out when I was just learning of pop punk, rock, emo, etc. It was the embodiment of that overall generic time of the genre, which works because Brand New and myself shared in common an immaturity toward the deeper meanings of music. Deja Entendu was far prettier and more complex lyrically and musically, and I had grown accordingly. At this point in my life, right when I am having experiences in my life that would enable me to relate to certain types of songs, Brand New gives me an EXCELLENT selection for me to relate to and just feel on a different level. This album was the first one I could feel rather than hear. The Devil and God came out after I had found drugs, and i had learned about real dark places in my own mind and heart. Again, before people even get a chance to relate to me, Brand New prescribed this album and it literally changed my life. Daisy and Science Fiction were equally well timed in my life, both stylistically and lyrically. So, this is what you don’t get about Brand New, why those of us who love it do so as passionately as we do. Just like the Beatles provided the soundtrack for the massive changes their world was going through, and their best achievement has nothing to do with what usual bands are judged by, because they’ve gone beyond that and become synonymous with the evolution of the world they were in, through their own evolution. The Beatles would not be as great if they did not evolve with the 60s. That doesn’t mean their later work is better and they just had to improve, they released the right music at the right time and they evolved perfectly with their generation. Brand New did that for us. It’s a smaller scale, but no less profound for those of us who took that ride. I’m honestly sorry you didn’t get to enjoy it. Hope that helps shed some light. Love the channel.

Your used take is spot on man. That 2020 album fking slaps HARD.

Lol, putting Brand New and Sunny Day Real Estate as C-tier and Paramore and Fall out boy as A-tier..... Ok clearly this is bait. I mean go get your money Finn, by gaming the algorithm. But your lists just aren't serious.

I love the Get Up Kids, Four Minute Mile is a 10/10 album

can you do a video about nonpoint? there a pretty well known and talented nu metal band that i feel like no one talks about,there album development is full of bangers.i dont listen to them all the time and am not stanning but it would be cool to see them get some recognition in a video

I kind of agree with everything except that I surprisingly like the song For Want Of. And I didn't even know about them before your video on emo history so it's your fault lol Also I agree about The Used, I was always a big fan. You should totally do a video about them!

The Used fourth album Artwork was loaded with bangers and it was their heaviest record. S fucking tier all day!

The vocals Finn considers horrible is so bizarre to me, I always thought the vocals in American Football were quite nice and meshed well with the instrumentals

I’m so surprised cuz where is Dashboard? I love your list and rating system and my 9 year old loves em all too, but Dashboard Confessional should def be on there as the U.S EMO pioneers.

would love to see a take on pedro the lion, personally find their stuff criminally underrated overall.

I'm definitely on the Brand New train. I've seen them a few times live and it was sincerely the best live show I've seen. This is coming from someone that's seen hundreds of bands live. The first time I saw them especially, it really was an experience. Their songs also just hit different. I still can't listen to "The Devil and God..." Anymore, as I listened to it a lot going through very dark time in my life. I understand not "getting it," though. It's hard to describe the feeling some people get from listening to Brand New. If you take the time with maybe "The Devil and God" with some headphones and just sit back and listen you may see a different side to them. Maybe not. But they really are worth a deeper listen.

I have never heard a single song from brand new that I didn’t love. So interesting to hear someone not even like them 😂

OH MY GOD. I did NOT expect you to mention Hawthorne Heights, let alone give them the S TIER!! LIKE OMG I ALMOST STARTED SOBBING BECAUSE HAWTHORNE HEIGHTS IS MY FAVORITE BAND BUT THEY FELL INTO OBSCURITY AFTER VICTORY RECORDS SCREWED THEM OVER WITH THAT NE-YO THING IN 2006 AND THEY’VE NEVER RECOVERED. AND USUALLY PEOPLE INSULT THEM SO HARD FOR “NOT BEING REAL EMO” AND HOW THEY “DON’T SOUND THE SAME AFTER CASEY PASSED” BUT HERE WE ARE, YOU GIVING THEM AN S TIER AND ME ALMOST SOBBING OUT OF PURE JOY FOR YOU EVEN ACKNOWLEDGING THAT THEY EXIST. And also, your take on the type of girl who listens to Hawthorne Heights is spot on. I’m definitely emo in my music taste and the way I dress, but my attitude is happier than most emos whose favorite bands are not Hawthorne Heights, and I love doing outdoorsy stuff. Also, YES! THE MEMBERS OF HAWTHORNE HEIGHTS ARE GREAT PEOPLE! I met JT Woodruff late last year on the Emo Orchestra tour, and he is genuinely one of the most humble, caring, genuine, and sweet people I’ve *EVER* had the pleasure of meeting. Absolutely AMAZING dude. The kindest. Hawthorne Heights needs more love and needs to be noticed again. (CRINGE WARNING: Angry rant) Edit: reading the HH hate in the rest of the comments on this video makes me wanna throw up. Like guys, I get you have an opinion but please. First of all, the least you can do is respect Casey’s passing. He’s gone. There is no point in insulting his scream. It doesn’t matter if you like Hawthorne Heights or not. It doesn’t matter if you don’t like Casey’s scream. Respect the dead. Have some basic human empathy. I also need you guys to understand that whether you like them or not, or think that they’re one hit wonders, and heck, even if they ARE and I’m just biased, Hawthorne Heights has always and still does try their absolute freaking hardest on their songs. They work so hard, just for people to do what? Insult them! They’ve gone through SO MUCH over these 20 years, from the horrific passing of their best friend, to horrible false accusations they’ve never recovered from, and this is their thanks? I may be just some 16 year old over-emotional keyboard warrior, and I know I’ve got a LOT to learn about the world, but at least I know I have a HEART. And by being insulting to HH, all you’re doing is putting yourself below JT Woodruff himself, one of the most kind, humble, and tolerant people I’ve ever met. I know that I’m yelling at a wall here and will either get buried or get backlash and trolled to high heaven, but I feel that all of this needs to be said and needs to get out there in the world. Thank you guys for reading this cringe rant and stay hydrated. You matter in this world, and if nobody else does, I see you.

Man this video needs to be a lot longer… so many good bands

I thought saying Jimmy Eat World was a one hit wonder was going to be the most angry I was gonna get at this video but then I got to the American Football part and OOF.

i think its funny when finn dislike american football and funeral for a friends for its "bad vocals" but love promise ring 😄. by the way, i love them all

Saying that Hawthorne Heights are good guys is an understatement. I went to the Tahoe Is For Lovers festival, me and my friends were the first ones in the gates and we went straight to the barrier. After a couple minutes JT Woodruff came up to us and we just started chatting and taking pictures, seriously one of the nicest guys I ever met.

omg... Taking Back Sunday... ! I played a show last night & did a Trap cover of "Make Damn Sure" & the crowd was lovinggggg it!!!!!! I did make a note that if you were an emo kid.. you should know it. lol

The Used is great! Their recent album is one of the best one from them. Also John Feldmann is an S tier producer!!!

AFI Coheed & Cambria Red Jumpsuit Apparatus.

I look at the styles of emo based off peoples metal genre moods. I like a lot of the OG Doom metal bands from Europe like Katatonia so I’ve always gravitated to the more moody styles of Brand New or Sunny Day Real Estate while people who tend to enjoy more of the upbeat styles of metal (which I do enjoy, but this for the sake of being moody), tend to gravitate toward the warped tour or popular mid 2000’s emo like Paramore or Fall Out Boy or MCR. Regardless, I like different styles of almost everything but the doom and gloom hits hard 🥹😂

saving senses fail and silverstein for S-tier on the next video, I see. I agree with every ranking you made here - except would bump Brand New to B and The Used to above S-tier. both phenomenal and groundbreaking tbh

Rites of spring is amazing wtf

Another tier list where it includes bands like Finch and Thursday would be awesome. Great video

If you do a volume 2 I really hope you talk about Motion City Soundtrack and Silverstein

Finn doing naruto run cures my depression. Thanks Finn

"rites of spring, awful crap" coming from the 40 something year old who listens to chunk no captain chunk? Lol.

I need a part two. Silverstein, Kids in the Way, Story of the Year, Underoath and Further Seems Forever deserve to be mentioned.

Still so many bands that needs a mention. Mineral, Braid, Modern Baseball, Dashboard Confessional, TWIABP, Cap n' Jazz, Mom Jeans, Hot Mulligan, and so much more. But still, great video.

Dude I'm so happy you're giving The Used the respect they deserve they're so good

Finn saying Taking Back Sunday is too shriek-y whereas I like Taking Back Sunday primarily because of Adam's shrieking lol. Give me an emo vocalist who kind of sounds like he's being tortured and I'm a happy gal

Definitely need a part 2, tons of amazing bands from that era

brand new's music really affected me in a way that no other band ever had, and hasn't quite since to be honest. JL being outed as a predator really fucked with me, and i couldn't listen to his voice without thinking about it. i've always had a thing for how albums make me feel as a whole, which i think added to my love of their stuff. I'm a sucker for good album flow/cohesion with distinct individual songs, which they definitely had. not to mention the lyricism. sucks that a man had to be creepy and ruin it, but i suppose we're used to that. I saw the used live back in like 2014, and they were incredible. frank iero opened with the cellebration, and while i loved the stomachaches album, the set definitely felt very subdued (but i also saw him in 2015 and 2016, and each time was better than the last). taking back sunday was the headliner for that show, i believe, but tbh i don't remember much of their set... J.E.W. had me crying in a public bathroom after seeing them live with Third Eye Blind haha. Bleed American was an album on repeat when i was in high school

I personally don't understand how you can put panic at a c tier because they only had 1 really good album but then put saves the day in s tier for only having 1 really good album.

Do a video on The Used I freaking love that band man

I love promise ring (or anything remotely connected to them or Tim kinsella) but appleseed cast was my fav of that era. Texas is the Reason, Braid, Christy Front Drive & Mineral are amongst my favs. I think Cursive for a time was S tier...last few albums trash but they still are absolutely amazing to this day live. Highly suggest you go listen to Jimmy Eat World - Closer....I absolutely think that is their best song.

In that background watching this video, all I hear is "I'm thinking, baby, you and I are undeniable But I'm finding out love's unreliable I'm givin' all I got to make you stay Or am I just a roadblock in your way?" 😭

Senses Fail Silverstein Saosin Finch From Autumn To Ashes Alexisonfire Story of the Year In the need of pt.2 plus and full video on John Feldman

I swear it's videos like this that make me wonder if you're really being 100% serious all the time. Don't get me wrong, I love your videos, but when I watch this video (and some others on your channels) it almost feels like you do very little research on who you're talking about. For example: I think a lot of people, even people who aren't all that into them, will tell you that saying "Jimmy Eat World only has one really good song and that's The Middle" is just so weird. To answer your question about Sunny Day Real Estate, I think people like them due to their mellowness. Not all bands have to be all out angst attacks all the time, some bands like to take things slow and write kinda pretty songs, and Sunny Day Real Estate is one of those bands. I'm not always into bands like this myself, which is why midwest emo isn't really my thing at all, but I do like Sunny Day Real Estate because they seem to balance out mellowness with aggression pretty well. When it comes to your ranking of bands like Brand New, it really makes me wonder why you don't listen to the bands you rank before streaming/filming your videos as I think your rankings would change slightly if you weren't just basing your opinion on your memory of the band and rather be basing it on the music you just heard. Not saying anything about MCR or Paramore is odd to me, because usually you talk about the bands you rank at least a little bit before ranking them. Paramore is weird especially because (like Panic! At The Disco) their music was only emo for a couple albums before going in a more pop/indie direction (a direction you claimed to dislike in your newer video about indie). As for MCR, a mention of their evolution as a band or the fact that they had one of the highest grossing tours this year would've been nice (as you seem to be all about the success of bands). Some bands you could've put in here but didn't: Bright Eyes, Jawbreaker, Cap'n Jazz, and Embrace (since you put Rites Of Spring on here) Speaking of Rites Of Spring, you have this "40 something who's trying to act like a 20 something" thing going on. Not liking something because it's old and raw and less produced than everything that came after it has such "look at me, I have an unpopular opinion" energy. You could say things much less bluntly, there's nothing wrong with not liking something but you don't have to be an ass about it. Welp, that's my whole essay that you'll probably never read, if you do read this, just know this comes from a good place, as I'm a longtime sub and fan of yours and watch you all the time.

If you were looking for an instrumental only version of American Football to me the post rock band Moonlit Sailor have a lot of songs that sound like that. Any other Moonlit Sailor fans in the emo video comments?

Your opinion on *The Used* made me shed a tear, thank You Finn!

Brand New is “S” tier to me to honest. That’s the only thing I disagree with. Also FFAF is great! You listened to a bad song lol

Panic has 2-3 really good albums. After vices and virtues they got wack. Their first album is absolutely S tier across the board, not a single bad song.

TBS AND Brand New are BOTH Long Island bands. Give LI the credit it deserves. The emo scene was all really had aside from Billy Joel. It was a super fun scene back then. I was friends with Vinny from Brand New’s wife for awhile. They were at my wedding FOURTEEN YEARS ago (still married to the same person lol). My 22yo niece loves emo now and I’m like the old lady with my “back in day” stories 🙈

Came here to see where youd put hawthorne heights and left very happy

Brand New is amazing man. Weirdly almost an underground following. The devil and god are raging inside me is possibly the best album ever made in the “punk” tree. I think at least for me, every album brand new came out with evolved and dealt with shit I was going through at the time… Your favorite weapon was pop punky and fun/teenage shit Deja entendu was alot more emo and more girlfriend/boohoo Im older and sadder because of relationships but great lol Devil and god got even deeper and dealt with mental health and their faith/belief in religion as well as sad shit about relationships like normal emo and added friendship problems to it which was my early HS years Daisy was good but different, idk how to even describe it. Probably wont like it if you dont like the band lol. And science fiction their last album was the perfect culmination of all of their albums. Mature, thought provoking, still emo but evolved if that makes sense? Idk. Everyone likes what they like BUT I think if you listened to Brand New when they came out and enjoyed them, thats mostly who stuck with them I think?

Thank you so much for giving The Used the recognition they deserve!!! Especially their newer stuff

I tried out for JT’s previous band Eyes Upon Separation on drums. I didn’t get picked lol

I just got three teeth removed, the pain has made me sensitive. A friend sent me this video, so this is my introduction to the channel. I am sure you are a very fine person but understand that I will never ever come back again.