Diary

Perhaps it's just the mood I'm in, listening to this in the morning after waking up to the news that my fellow countrymen have inexplicably made the decision to elect one of the worst people in the world to the highest office in the land. It's a dark day for democracy and for the world. It's a dark day for women, for the LGBTQ community, for minorities, for immigrants seeking a better life. It's a dark day for dissent, it's a dark day for Palestinians, for Ukrainians. It's a dark day for justice, for the economy, for the middle class. It's just a dark fucking day. But back to the music. It's okay, just kind of strikes me as Nirvana-lite. Got better toward the end. 3 stars.

There really wasn't much emo on this list. "American Idiot"-era Green Day, Drive Like Jehu... It needs more of this. More Jimmy Eat World, Jawbreaker. SDRE is the bridging gap between melodic hardcore and emo, and God bless em for it. Favorite tracks: "48", "In Circles"

A fucking classic and one of my favorite album covers

This is one of those albums that holds a special place in my heart. It opened up new doors and led me down some musical paths I would otherwise never have. Me and the small goup of my music-loving friends all fell madly in love with this album when it came out, and every Sunny Day Real Estate album that followed it. We idolized them. Jeremy Enigk was a God for us. His unique and instantly recognizable vocals always give me goosebumps and tell me that something special is happening - special to me anyway. Always has been and always will be.

The first thing I actually listened to while ringing in the new year was The Jerry Garcia Band playing a live version of They Love Each Other. Sunny Day Real Estate's Diary is the first actual album I listened to. The Garcia band and SDRE have very little in common and I'm not going to try to create some kind of artificial link between the bands or their music but I will make one between their "vibes" in relation to this new year 2025. I don't think there are too many people with any amount of self-awareness or empathy who thinks this year is gonna be amazing, maybe some billionaires will be able to keep more of their money, maybe some dictators and authoritarian leaders will feel less pressure to real in their more extreme positions and policies, and maybe some people who are full of hate for various vulnerable people and populations will get to feel seen and approved of. I think many people, my self included, are looking towards the future with some combination of disgust, fear and shame. I think it's going to be important to look out for people who need looking out for, make our angry voices heard by the people in power but also when possible, give ourselves a break. Let punk rock be one of our guiding principles but also remember to love one another, dance and laugh when we can. Don't let yourself get burned out because they want you to give up. Do what it takes to maintain your sanity. I don't know if I successfully brought together the vibes of JGB and SDRE, this has turned into some kind of stream of consciousness thing. Be safe everyone.

This band has been on my periphery for ages and it’s on me for not listening to them sooner. The highs here were great, a mix of charging/simmering instrumentals coupled with perfectly insidious vocal delivery that yield some haunting hard rock. The lows unfortunately drag the whole LP down to a sludgy crawl (hence the rating) and could definitely be trimmed to make this a leaner, meaner LP. That being said I will be returning to more than a few tracks off of this one and look forward to diving into the Sunny Day discography!

Ok we've got some 90s alterna-punk stuff. Half grunge, half indie etc. Sounds alright? A bit dated to hear for the first time in 2024. Didn't recognise any of it, which was a surprise given I grew up in the 90s and soaked up this kind of stuff. Maybe that little bit too indie for 10 year olds at the time. 3/5.

Brilliant. A band I had never listened to before, but have now added all their albums to my 'after the (expanded) list' list. Sounds like early biffy clyro, which is pretty much the highest praise I can give! Hints of at the drive-in and early emo as well, which is again a good thing. Predates all of the above though, suggesting I have it back to front and the bands I love actually sound like these guys! Thank you so much to whoever suggested this.

Not a band I know and not even my kind of music normally, but this album should definitely have been on the original list.

One of the best openers of all time

I really like this album. A friend recommended it about a year ago; one I missed from the grunge/post-grunge years. I know it's looked upon as a pioneering work of emo but it is quite unique in my opinion. The guitars, bass, and drums are a lot heavier than typical emo even if it has some despairing vocals; really a beautiful medley of grunge alternative and post-grunge angst. It has hints of Fugazi and Deftones moreso than Jimmy Eat World. Easy album for me to play on repeat, in part because it starts and ends so strongly with Seven, In Circles, (the first two) and 8 and 9 (the closing bonus tracks). Also a big fan of most tracks in between - Song About an Angel and the Blankets Were the Stairs (ok, these are emo), Round (rocking like the openers), 47 (Pearl Jam feel), Shadows (cycles between sweet and energetic), 48 (pulsing), and Sometimes (downtuned softie). Only two songs I didn't mention and I didn't mind them either. Another hidden gem from 1994, the greatest year of rock since the 80s.

This album fully deserves a spot on the real list. It's both hugely influential on the entire genre of emo and it simply rocks. Zero filler.

It's hard to be objective after listening to this so many times in high school and having this as one of my "intro to emo" CDs. Still, I love it.

I LOVE seeing all the emo on the user submissions list. Comforting to know that most of us grew up sad haha.

The best emo has to offer

It's weird that this album is from 1994 when the peak of emocore was probably around 2004/2005. It's a shame this genre died out...

Not as good as "How It Feels to Be Something On", but still a milestone Emo record that should definitely have been on the list. Also one of the rare albums where some of the best songs are the bonus tracks. Very much worth it to stick around for "8" and "9". Strong 4/5.

Never heard of them or listened to any of it. Quite solid. Some is excellent. Sorry i didn’t discover it in 1994

Hardcore!

A pivotal album in the emo scene that I never got into when I was younger but felt somehow nostalgic listening to it now. It’s strange to think SDRE are from Seattle because it’s so removed from the grunge that had defined that area and basically the entire alt-rock scene at the time. This really does bridge the gap from the hardcore emo of Rites of Spring and those other punk-adjacent bands to the more melodic side, and its influence can be heard pretty wildly. From the likely candidates of Jimmy Eat World and American Football to the more theatric ‘emo’ of the mid-‘00s to even stuff like Biffy Clyro’s debut - this feels like the birthing pool of all of those sounds and styles. And even if it didn’t inspire anything, it would still be a great listen

This definitely falls into the wheelhouse of music that I revere. Sure they sound a lot like Nirvana, but they hold their own and have created some interesting songs. I have never heard of them before but I definitely will check out more of their stuff.

This was cool, upbeat and fun.

Yes I was actually quite into this! Just some enjoyable vintage indie

Yea this really sounds like proto emo!

I originally, in the early 90's, dismissed this in the ’90s as “grunge lite,” but now I hear it completely differently. I didn’t expect to connect this much with Diary, but revisiting it turned into a small revelation. The moment I heard the opening tones, I realised how much this sound had seeped into my own playing back in the late ’90s. My old band ended up sounding surprisingly close to this, with the same loose drumming style, the same emotional grit, and I had no idea how deep that influence had gone. The album feels well structured. The tension between looseness and control gives the record its edge.

Due to the Emo blindspot of the original list, a number of significant albums within the genre have been neglected from Dimery's canonization: the emo pop of My Chemical Romance, the alternative rock-styled emo of Jimmy Eat World, and the original hardcore roots of Rites Of Spring. Of course, we would also be remiss to not include the megalithic midwest emo that has seen a rise in retrospective popularity over the years. Cap'n Jazz and American Football both have a clear claim to representing that sound, Sunny Day Real Estate is perhaps most deserving. A tour de force in masterful songwriting, Diary delivers a ruthless stream of dynamic, passionate sound that easily captures the full extent of midwest emo's intricacies. At a time when emo was still mere offshoot of hardcore punk, Sunny Day Real Estate managed to smooth it's edges and bring a new complexity to the genre that otherwise would've been stuck in hardcore trappings. Along with a few other early pioneers, this album would effectively change the trajectory of emo for decades to come. This is history. CONTENDER FOR THE LIST: Yes, it's too important not to include.

Emo, post-hardcore, indie rock, grunge. Pues la segunda mitad me ha gustado, la primera no. Venga, seré buena y le daré un 4.

The vocals struck me more as just another instrument rather than actually working to convey the words of the lyrics. The applied meaning and communicated a general emotion, but it was hard to understand what exactly they were saying. This may have been an intentional production decision. For me, it made it a little more difficult to discern songs from one another. Otherwise, I had a great time. Great instrumentation and song writing. Not really any other complaints. 4/5

the intersection of punk and emo starts here. Good album that was really overlooked at the time (in my opinion).

I had never checked out SDRE and had always just kind of assumed they were 90s indie rock. I did not realize that they are distinctively post hardcore and emo. This album was great, a lot of it kind of reminded my of Treepeople, particularly Scott Schmaljohn Treepeople songs. I bet if I would have listened to this in like 1999 or 2000 I would have loved it and gotten very in to SDRE. Great record.

Way better than one expected – thinking subliminally this would be Real Estate and then realizing it might be closer to Jimmy Eat World or something similarly (and horrifically) upbeat. Thank god, 'twasn't. SDRE most effectively bridge/blend flavors alt rock/indie rock and emocore/emo and hardcore/post-hardcore and punk/post-punk genres/sub-genres – in most compelling fashion. One likes the slowcore moodiness (getting some Kozelek vibes) and the moments of Dinosaur-ish/Husker Du-esque melodic touches. Vocals are great. Feel more authentically than performatively emotive. Definitely could replace Drive Like Jehu on list proper. Great choice as this record seems to have got under one's radar. One can't claim to be an emo expert, but if this is emo, it's among the best emo records one's ever heard.

8/10 pretty good! a lot of those songs were catchy as hell, but I loathe grunge and I often felt this veer into that path which mildly irked me still, overall super fun and I’m very happy I listened to it :)

Very good! Midwest Emo was very much underrepresented on the official list, so it's very cool to find this (and American Football) on the user list.

Listed as "midwest emo," I went in pretty hesitant, but I ended up enjoying this quite a bit -- a nice background while tiling. 8 is a jam. And honestly the rest ripped right along. The bass and vocals (at times) remind me vaguely of early Green Day (intended as a compliment), and the drums are satisfying if a bit sloppy during tempo changes. I think for me this is in a low 4 camp. Satisfying, and glad for the listen I otherwise wouldn't have ever given.

Summer 1994: immediately after a show my band had finished I recall talking with some people and this girl walked over and with no introduction immediately started talking about "Sunny Day" - just that: Sunny Day. Over and over. I'm not sure I said a word as she kept on about them like she was a Gentleman of Verona and as I had no idea what she was talking about I kept thinking "hey yeah um you know we just played a show right here..." but Sunny Day ad infinitum it was to be. She was one of those people that looked at you with wide eyes and stared at some phantom spot roughly 3cm above your eyebrows. Definitely best to just gently smile and nod, giving no personal information while interjecting nothing above a low-level positive affirmation. Not a week later in another town far away I finally saw the album cover and connected the autistic dots. Always harboured some blame towards the band for that weird evening - with good reason, I thought. OK I hadn't listened to this in ages - "picking up the mantle from Nirvana" is an annoying tag in and of itself and furthermore not something I'd ever have been interested in hearing, but SUNNY DAY were definitely leaps above. I hate the (infrequent) screaming parts but the dynamics and melody mostly carry the day here. Strong Pumpkins vibe on the guitar sounds - from thick to gentle within a measure. Even though it feels even longer than its runtime (this would have been a perfect ~42 minute album) I enjoyed this far more than I did 30 years ago. Embracing my emo-self moving through middle age... 7/10 4 stars IMO: Belonged in the book? Yes.

Kind of a predecessor to Pop Punk. Bridging the early 90s gap of styles. Not incredible but enjoyable.

Siri, please play 1994 Sub Pop radio

I prefer screamo

Okay-ish. I enjoyed listening, but it didn't really amaze me

This might be a case of having become too familiar with the descendents without ever learning about the progenitors but I couldn't pull much distinct out of this over a pretty broad swath of the post- whatever (hardcore, punk, The rockier side of new wave) - through to emo. Pretty heavy guitar rock, mumbly introspective lyrics. I didn't dislike it or anything.

Rating: 6/10

Good. General culture

I was really hoping to enjoy this more... I had heard a lot about it and it was a genre i really like. The album starts pretty strong with Seven and In Circles, but it never really gets anywhere past that. Ultimately it reminded me a lot of what i think Nirvana would sound like if they had no melodic hooks. Take all the catchiness out of nevermind and you get some passable alt rock that doesn't really engage to effectively. Interesting, but not great for me.

Pretty good. Reminds me a little of Stone Roses. And I guess that's a bit of the problem. I'm trying to find a reference point for them, which is ultimately not the goal, right? It's good, but not sure how many more times I'll listen to it.

I thought this was fine. It's very listenable as post-hardcore or Emo goes, if not super memorable. The vocals don't do a thing for me. Fave Songs: In Circles, Seven, Song About an Angel, Round

I love the album artwork! The music is just kinda basic 90's bitch boy stuff though.

When the grunge is grunging and you want to be slightly different you call yourself Midwest emo instead. This was basically the closest alternative to a grunge album that had a more simplified and approachable sound. It still had solid guitar riffs and upbeat songs but just not as hardcore as grunge was during this time. 6.4/10

Grungy, enjoyable enough.

Always wanted to give this album a shot. Exactly as anticipated, which was fun for a bit, moody, proto-emo, but now dated a bit.

Pretty good.

I've got to say all these bands sound the same so it's difficult to judge whether they are genre-defining or inspirational. I like Green Day and this band sounds like Green Day but they came before Green Day so they must be Genre-defining!

I didn't realise emo sounded like this this early on!? It's not for me, but they were certainly ahead of the curve.

EMO classic in told. Nirvana/Pumpkins lite I feel. Maybe too harsh but it just doesn't do anything for me

The original list and the user's list until now were missing some good ol' 90s hardcore, even better when it's also the prototype of emo-core. The problem here is that it's far from the best produced then. It's a nice album, but it's forgettable despite some novelty.

Diary is just an okay listen, it's solid and consistent but lacks variety and enough punch to elevate it, though given when it was recorded and where it came from I think it deserves credit. 47 was my favourite song, Grendel is nice too, 3/5, it's absolutely fine.

May 30, 2025 HL: “In Circles”, “48”, “Grendel” User Album LXIII: Revenge of the Scene Kids A long time ago in a country far, far away… The music critics of the BRITISH EMPIRE have launched their assault on emo fans, publishing an acclaimed list of music albums that does not contain one work in the genre (with the exception of maybe one Drive Like Jehu). However, a small but determined group of Rebels make their own list of albums, bringing light to not just emo, but also bands of the forbidden genres of screamo and melodic hardcore, under the Empire’s nose… 🤷‍♂️ I thought it was pretty good

Love the cover, like the album.

Does sound a bit ahead of its time this one.

On of those bands I’ve known of forever but didn’t actually know their stuff. It was a good record.

Classic post- sound.

Not my thing. Pretty bland and generic sounding. My personal rating: 3/5 My rating relative to the list: 3/5 Should this have been included on the original list? No.

Suitable to fill in the background while doing other things.

The music and even some of the vocals felt a LOT like Nirvana to me. That's not a bad thing, but it felt a little on the nose for me. I mean, it was on Sub Pop, just like Nirvana was. It didn't feel derivative of Nirvana, but you can hear there was an obvious connection there. Top tracks: "The Blankets Were The Stairs," "Shadows"

Solid grunge album, thoroughly enjoyed it.

Rock en ocasiones guitarrero, algo intenso, buena voz. Quizás un tanto monótono. No es mal disco, pero podía ser un poco más variado.

I've meant to listen to this for years now. This band may be more famous for what happened after their breakup than for their music. This was okay. Which is a real bummer.

Meh i guess

Couldn't get full hooked but it was alright.

This sounds like an exact album that the original writer of the list would include in his list. Kind of sleepy grungy noise rock. It had its moments but went on for way to long and the whole album kind of just sounded the same the whole time. Still was alright but probably a mid 3

Cool album cover. Sounds like some mid 00's rock, surprised this is mid 90's. Wasn't really my favorite, but I was absolutely crushing work while this was on. It has some juice for sure. High 3! Got better as it went on, but the sound wasn't groundbreaking whatsoever.

I was really excited because it started off so strong. But many of the later tracks are kinda forgettable and bland. 6/10

It has a good style, however I think it fails to take off, most of the album feels flat, stuck in a cycle with the same intensity, there are instruments that stand out or feel too loud. Their main singles defend them enough.

Probably list worthy to represent the genre, but not to my taste.

Generic US rock

This is the type of emo that I’m not a huge fan of. It doesn’t have the excitement or power of something like my chemical romance and just sounds like a bland 90s grunge/indie rock album

Ordinary emo rock. Nothing special

An album with a lot of emo style music I dislike and it just drags one (unlike My Chemical Romance)

Early emo that sounds like it was played under water. Rating: 1.5 Playlist track: In Circles Date listened: 09/12/24

Emo, post-hardcore, indie rock, grunge. Tostón. Un 2.

Fairly non-descript emo album, I got a little excited seeing the name Real Estate but that's a different band (and they have an album called Days too). Not much on here that stuck with me, not bad but not much for me either.

A key emo album, it’s stated. I don’t know about that but it all sounded the same and felt more like light punk or something.

While I liked a lot of grunge things back in the 90s, this was not really appealing to me then. I can’t say time has made it much more palatable. It was mostly ok though.

I dunno. I would rather have full-on emo than some hybrid-emo-hardcore album. Some of the songs hit me well; some of them sounded like whiny noise. I know it’s well-regarded by many but I’m just not feeling anything more than a bunch of angry kids in the basement.

This turned out to be grungier than I expected. That is not a good thing.

The user albums have had a hot streak of emo music, but I think this one’s pretty boring

As supposedly seminal as this record is for the whole emo subgenre, I have always thought its flaws were outweighing its assets, and giving it an extra quick spin today didn't change my mind. The melodies are a little inert, the songs often in the same key, and the harmonies are quite flat. Worse, the band isn’t always locked in; the instruments sometimes pull in different directions, with clashing accents and intentions. Something also rubs me the wrong way when it comes to the vocal performance, even if I take to account the requirements of this music style. And the pace in the tracklist sounds pretty complacent in my ears. So yeah, vastly overrated in my book. In that initial emo-adjacent scene, I obviously prefer Get Up Kids or Modest Mouse -- bands that are far more dynamic, either because of their catchy compositions or their far more adventurous dirges. Sorry, anonymous user. More power to you for liking this band, which is not a "bad band" per se. It's just that personally, those songs sound a little too "meat and potatoes" from 2025's vantage point. Still saving *Diary* from my lowest-graded gallery, though, because Sunny Day Real Estate admittedly pushed the envelope stylistically speaking with this LP -- who else played that sort of thing in 1994? But that's not enough for me to place the latter in a list of "essential" albums. Being the first at something doesn't always mean you're the best. 1.5/5 for the purposes of this list of essential albums, rounded up to 2. 6.5/10 for more general purposes: 5 + 1.5 ---- Number of albums from the original list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 465 Albums from the original list I *might* include in mine later on: 288 Albums from the original list I won't include in mine: 336 ----- Number of albums from the users list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 50 Albums from the users list I *might* select for mine later on: 65 Albums from the users list I won't select for mine: 118 (including this one) --- Hey, Émile. Tu as déjà dû voir ma dernière réponse sous la review de *Young, Loud And Snotty* des Dead Boys ! J'essaie d'écrire la mienne bientôt

More of that period of music when the UK was just not listening to the same thing as the US. So we have no memory burn of this album, we can only listen to it dispassionately, and as such it lacks anything at all to make it worth that listen.

Emo, post-hardcore, indie rock, grunge. Tostón. Un 2.

Meh, but thanks for sharing.

The emo was dialed up to 11.

Front loaded emo album for sure. After "47", the rest of the album was mid at best. 2.5/5, rounded down, because emo. Favourite songs: In Circles, 47, 48, 9 Least favourite songs: Pheurton Skeurto, Sometimes 2/5

I do not like this album. I have nothing good to say about it. But I'm a little behind and I listened to Nurture by Porter Robinson today, so you get an extra point for being better than that trainwreck,

Too long, grading voice. I see some appeal to it for others, but I wouldn’t listen again.

Best Song: 8. This almost bordered on a sort of punk, which I enjoyed. Worst Song: Round. I didn't like the borderline screamo elements. Overall: I like some aspects of emo and post hardcore, but for whatever reason I didn't connect with this one. I never saw the heart of it. It certainly had all the trappings of an emo album, yet for me it was never once emotional.

This band is not real. They made up a band for a bad 90's comedy movie. This is an illusion I think I believe. unsightly. I don't need this or any of its ilk. ahywhoos its not that bad its good really

Almost every song sounds the same, and features the strained voice of the lead vocalist. It’s lost in the 90s alternative dirge universe.