Various Artists
The Silence In My Heart: The Emo Diaries - Chapter Six  (Deep Elm)
by Marc Hirsh

originally published in Space City Rock, Fall 2002

Not exactly boring but hardly worthwhile nonetheless, the sixth volume of Deep Elm’s The Emo Diaries holds the peculiar trait of more or less failing as a direct result of its success. After three listens, I still don’t hear any of the twelve tracks as anything other than individual avatars of their genre. Which is to say that The Silence In My Heart is a great sampler of the style, except for the pesky problem that the songs are so busy standing up proudly for emo that they do almost nothing for themselves outside its formal confines. We’re confronted, essentially, with the sound of a style playing twelve bands from around the world, rather than the other way around. That makes The Silence an ideal album for those who love emo, and also for those who hate it. Everyone else need not apply.

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