What are "emo bands" exactly?

ilovemetal23 needs to chill wit the labeling and insults… :)

and yes ally_xo is right. it makes them emo the fact that they are SCREAMO.. if you get where im coming from now. and also they way they dress, and what their lyrics are.

emo bands are just as gay as emo people. period

I agree with ally_xo.

Emo is a type of music :)

my chemical romance is emo escape the fate is emo its the bands that have a lot of death in there songs or just sad and heartbreaking lyrics. when they have on a lot of makeup there a emo band all black clothes and hair mostly. they put a lot of thought and love in to there songs.

Emo is just a genre, and also short for emotional. I think its a ridiculous label really. Though most people label bands by how they look etc. Its usually completely off. Some people label bands like Panic, All Time Low as emo. Theyre almost nothing even emotional about them. Except they sound happy.