A review is given of recent angle-resolved photoemission (ARPES) experiments and analyses on a series of layered charge density wave materials. Important aspects of ARPES are recalled in view of its capability for bulk band, Fermi surface and spectral function mapping despite its surface sensitivity. Discussed are TaS2, TaSe2, NbTe2, TiSe2 and TiTe2 with structures related to the so-called 1T polytype. Many of them undergo charge density wave transitions or exist with a distorted lattice structure. Attempts to explain the mechanism behind the structural reconstruction are given. Depending on the filling of the lowest occupied band a drastically different behaviour is observed. Whereas density functional calculations of the electronic energy and momentum distribution reproduce well the experimental spectral weight distribution at the Fermi energy, the ARPES energy distribution curves reveal that for some of the compounds the Fermi surface is pseudo-gapped. Two different explanations are given, the first based on density functional calculations accounting for the charge-density-wave-induced lattice distortion and the second relying on many-body physics and polaron formation. Qualitatively, both describe the observations well. However, in the future, in order to be selective, quantitative modelling will be necessary, including the photoemission matrix elements.