2000 - 2009: Part 1

It's less than three weeks until 2010. It may seem weird, but it's coming. Once we enter this new decade, how will we look back upon the last decade? Music has changed so much since 1999. The nineties were the peak of "boy-bands" and grunge. Both of these trends disappeared in the next decade, or they were disguised as something new. In a series of posts, I'm going to recap the best and worst trends in music of 2000-2009.

Emo/Pop-Punk

Before I start, I want to say that these are actually two different genres. I put them together because during this decade they were commonly used together and almost became one. These genres can have various meanings, so I'll focus on "emo". There is a common definition that this genre is made up of angry, or mostly depressing, lyrics set to punk-like music. Some music in the genre is often merged with "screamo" style vocals. Although that's what the genre is today, the technical definition is "melodic music with deep emotional lyrics"; or emotional-hardcore. This genre is one of the hardest to define, and will probably never have a "true" definition. Often, the term is just used to describe the style or "look" of the band. Many acts labeled "emo" and "pop-punk" became immensely popular in this decade.

Examples: Fall Out Boy, Panic At The Disco, Jimmy Eat World, Dashboard Confessional, Paramore, My Chemical Romance

Disney Pop Stars

If you haven't noticed this trend, then you've been living under a rock. In the last decade, the Disney Channel has created numerous artists who took over the entire tween population. This probably started with Miley Cyrus, or "Hannah Montana". The "still child star" became a hit off of her Disney Channel television series. She has had several hits on the radio, including her most recent, "Party In The USA". This caused a chain reaction and many more followed her. Some of them even became nominated for Grammys.

Examples: Miley Cyrus, Jonas Brothers, Demi Lovato, High School Musical