Various - Emo Diaries 7 - Me Against The World

  by Benjamin Howarth

published: 9 / 5 / 2002

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Review

'The Emo Diaries' is a series of compilation albums released by the Deep Elm label and has been instrumental in establishing their reputation as one of the most consistently excellent labels around. 'The Emo Diaries' has always served as an introduction to bands soon to appear on the label’s roster but it has also introduced some of the bands that have now launched emo into mainstream territory, like Jimmy Eat World, as well as some of the groups that, whilst still underground, have produced some of the recent year’s best albums, such as Camber, Brandtson and the Appleseed Cast. It also serves as a documentation of what the guys at Deep Elm are themselves listening to, and what is happening in the emo scene. This album, like the previous six, features entirely unreleased material and, because it is such an honour for any emo band to appear on one of the compilations, none of the tracks are songs rejected from major releases. Each of the songs on the album is vbery strong, and whilst some are always going to be personal favourites it works as a complete album. Unlike many compilations it is only 12 tracks long but all the songs work well together, so you still get excellent value for money. Quite simply, you get 12 brilliant songs that as a whole represent a lot of what is going on in emo, and it is a record that most emo fans will be desperate to own.

Track Listing:-

1 Tabula Rasa – The Effects That Try
2 Time Spent Driving– Lowlight
3 Before Braille– Venom By Memory
4 This Beautiful Mess– Racing The Mosaic
5 Dorian – There Are Many Ways To And From Point A And Point B
6 Halifax Code– Karate Mansions
7 Drive Til Morning– Engine Roars Me To Sleep
8 Seven Head Division– One For The Money
9 Waterpistol– This Is What I Get
10 The Killing Suspense– Feel The Way I Do
11 Two Weeks From Tomorrow– Motorbike
12 One Starving Day– Animus