What is hardcore music? As Explained By Tombston3...   "Hardcore is the style that began in the early 80s, often applied to    bands such as Black Flag, Minor Threat, Sick of It All, Bad Brains,    Rollins Band, Fugazi, etc.--sort of "2nd wave" punk bands.  They were    sloppy punk bands that played with more intensity and heaviness than    earlier ones like the Sex Pistols, The Clash, etc.  Today's hardcore    bands are tighter and much heavier, and can be divided into two general    types (usually called East Coast or West Coast, for where the band is,    but it's not always consistent).  The first type are smoother, with    heavy grooves that flow, with a vocalist that sings (or at least tries    to) or shouts.  The second type is heavier, with tight, stop-and-go    rhythms and harsh vocals that are a cross between shouts and low    screams."    "This is what hardcore means: Energy, Positive attitude,    Rebellion, Independance, Separating from trends, Not following the    masses, Hard-core = hard music"    "D.O.A. popularized the term hardcore as applied to punk rock music    with the release of Hardcore '81, a pivotal record from the early    west coast hardcore punk scene.    "Hardcore was (and is) uncompromising punk attitude combined with    social activism. Sort of "punk with a message", but not to be confused    with "straight edge" or "PC" movements, later variations of hardcore.    West coast hardcore was completely different from the "fashionable"    punk rock of art school students and posers - in the early days of    punk there was a huge difference between the English-style punks    with their fashionably torn and safety-pinned look, and the hardcore    'street' punk who just didn't give a fuck about their appearance.    "It's an intelligent movement characterized by a deep anger at the    status quo. It is not surprising that it began on the U.S.west coast,    where radicalism and rebellion has deep roots...  schools don't tell    you much about the labour riots of the 20's or other examples of    North American civil disobedience... Uncompromising hardcore shocked    the complacent hippie mentality, needless to say.    "Hardcore will never die where individualistic thought can survive -    which of course means it has been constantly oppressed by the vacuous    media of North America. The current popularization of 'punk' is more    concerned with style than substance, rather a new fashionable trend    for the pop machine.    "Hardcore survives in bands like Fugazi, NoMeansNo, The Ex, and    D.O.A. - hopefully with the current popularity of punk rock more kids    will discover that the world ain't exactly a great place, and work for    positive change despite the many evil forces in this world. And that is    the best definition of hardcore I can imagine." [11]   "The Germs (April 77) , Black Flag (June 77), The Misfits (first show -    April 77), Chain Gang, The Pagans (mid-77), Canada's The Diodes (first    lp June 77) and The Viletones (recorded Jan 1978) were already under    the 'hardcore' banner in 1977.    By 1976, bands like Patti Smith,    Richard Hell and the Voidoids, and many that were playing at CBGB's    were called punk, and I think that the (mostly) West Coast bands that    you cite were the hardcore 'babies' of those groups.    "without a doubt BLack Flag was the first HC band...anyone who says    otherswise is a fool. People forget that early HC has its roots in punk    everyone thinks that the newschool sound is what hardcore is    about.....plus theres more to being a HC band than just the sound." What's the difference between old school and new school hardcore bands?    The basic musical difference is that old school is punk and new school    is metal.    "it's actually really simple. new school is kinda like slayer, only    the 'kids' pretend it has something to do with hardcore. i see it as    cheap metal.  old school (THE ONLY SCHOOL!) on the other hand is    precisely the other way around: fast and positive."    "Actually, "old school" depends on how old you are. If YOT is old    school, then you need to reach back a little further into the Teen    Idles/Minor Threat days. And that wasn't always positive. The big    difference for me is that new school is a lot more exclusionary, a    lot less fun, and has bigger pants."