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If you read all the way to the bottom, there is a link to a playlist of all the featured songs on Spotify. Also, someone made a playlist of the "see also" songs in this list, which are very important, too! Here's that one: https://play.spotify.com/user/12811608/playlist/1NOAddPSKjM2Ei9b0TIwpO

You and I must be kindred spirits.

Great idea posting your own top 10! Would love to see what other people have as their favorite albums from the era. Maybe I'll post mine if I can find some time to think it over.

Once again, reading the intro really helps to clarify why bands like Indian Summer aren't on this list. It would seem more and more that making an essential screamo list is kind of necessary. This would definitely make the cut in my book!

This is so cool! Thanks a ton for taking the time to make this list. If anyone wants to really dig deep, they should give this awesome playlist a spin! The "see also" selections are just as important and awesome as the featured songs, I just couldn't write about them all in detail. There is amazing music here.

You should read the write up for Further Seems Forever, as it discusses which recording of this song I am referencing and why.

I am definitely a fan of Circle Takes the Square, but their music falls closer to the "screamo" category for a list like this one. Also, I was cutting off the entries at 2002, and As the Roots Undo came out in '03. Great band, though! Someone should make an essential screamo list. *hint hint*

I can't stress enough how much the "see also" sections are vital to this list. Both Chamberlain and Sense Field are both included there (on the Elliott and Further Seems Forever selections, respectively). Lifetime is a great band, a bit too punk/hardcore for this list.

In early versions of this I had Hot Water Music on the shortlist, but in the end decided to include them in the "see also" section for The Casket Lottery. I've always enjoyed Blacktop Cadence, as well, but when getting to the heart of "essential" songs, had to cut them as well. Unfortunately, there are just way too much great bands and songs for a list of this size.

Hmm... You are inaccurately paraphrasing what I actually said, which is "female-fronted emo bands are especially hard to come by." And, like it or not, that is 100% factual. I appreciate the suggestions all the same, though Jen Wood, Julie Doiron, Mirah, etc. are more folky, singer/songwriter types.

Excuse my typos. #tooemotional

More comments like this, please! Personal backstory, memories, and influences are what music like this are all about. Thanks for sharing!

"a list written for people that were there" <-- This is 100% the reason why I did this. Glad you could tell!

Fair point! And that's why the song is included in the "see also" section for "Jude Law..." Obviously, there were so many influential bands from this time period, too many to fit into a list of 30. That's why the "see also" section is so important. I put almost the same amount of time and thought into selecting those songs as the features ones!

Please read the intro, as it's very important to fully understanding why this list is what it is.

I think those parallels you're drawing are totally valid. LP2 and Pinkerton were both markedly different from each band's debut, and yet still have their dedicated fans to this day. Though, Pinkerton has definitely garnered more critical praise than LP2, and I think rightfully so. LP2 is a fantastic portrait of a band slowly falling apart while trying to reimagine itself, which doesn't always translate to the absolute best music, but Pinkerton is a portrait of one man slowly falling apart while trying to imagine a life without love, which kind of sounds like a perfect recipe for soul-seeking music. I like quite a bit about LP2 (I won't even get started on how much I absolutely love How It Feels to be Something On), but nothing on there has the same amount of importance and unwitting genius as anything on Diary. Even if you're someone, like @saturnian, who only digs the first three tracks—though, I really just couldn't fathom stopping there myself (see: "47", "The Blankets Were the Stairs", "Shadows", "Sometimes", etc.)—the wallop that those songs offer makes even some of LP2's best cuts ("J'Nuh", for instance) pale in comparison. As for Pinkerton, "Tired of Sex" and "El Scorcho" are two of my all-time favorite Weezer tunes, and I think touched closer on the "emo" side of things than the Blue Album ever did. In any case, hopefully this trip down nostalgia lane has made for some good listening for everyone! Thanks for reading and commenting.