I never once assumed that MCR or anyother "emo" band was actually emo. Stuff dating back from Sunny Day Real Estate from Seattle is generally credited as being the first wave of emo. And I thought they sucked back then, too.

Mainstream does not equal shitty, nor sell-out. If you look at a good amount of mainstream music, even in the 70s-90s, a lot of the top-selling artists were GREAT. Unfortunately, that's not ALWAYS the case now. But some mainstream vocalists, like Norah Jones, Christina Aguilera, ect. have amazing voices. And they're mainstream too.