A Mark, A Mission, A Brand, A Scar

by

Dashboard Confessional

Edit

For the first time, I took it upon myself to read some reviews from Amazon users on some albums in my collection, and upon getting to A Mark A Mission A Brand A Scar, i realized why I never read reviews in the first place. Mostly because everyone has a n opinion and they all believe theres is correct. So if that's the way the game is played, I will give you mine... I'm just curious to see how many people I make angry. Here it goes..

This album differs from older DC albums that we all have become accustomed to. I embraced the change with open arms, and decided that I would have an open mind and judge this album for what it was. Just another new album. Imagine if Prince or Madonna sounded the same every album they put out. What would that be like? They obviously wouldn't be the great artists that they are today. They weren't afraid to go against the grain and buck the "conventional" side of the music industry. Which brings me to the next point. DC aren't conventional at all. Why do you think that they are still relatively unknown, with a huge cult following of underground fans, that will follow them like lambs to the slaughter? With the exception of the moderately successful single for SpiderMan2 "Vindicated" they are purely unconventional, and that's whats so delightful. To know that there is a mainstay that no one necessarily knows about. And for anyone who has seen them live can tell you that it's a very intimate thing to feel like you are the only one who knows who they are.

SO this most recent album just pushes the true fan to come along with them on a new journey, filled with amplifiers and heavy percussion beats. Dont be scared of it, just let it be. You can gripe all you want about how it's so different from who DC is, but obviously it seems like you never really knew who they were to begin with.

If you want to love Dashboard, buy "Places You Have Come to Fear the Most," "Swiss Army Romance," or the "So Impossible EP." Those three CDs are three of my favorites in my collection, but this new CD is just so mainstream and poppy, it's hard to consider it emo. The first few songs are alright, and some of the songs he wrote a while ago (like "Hands Down" and "Ghost of a Good Thing") are great, but Chris Carrabba's newfound MTV-streak is disappointing and gives emo a bad name. If you're into MTV "punk" like Good Charlotte and Simple Plan, go ahead and buy this CD - you'll love it. But if you're an actual emo-kid like myself, this CD will leave you wondering what the hell happened to Dashboard. You're better off buying his older CDs.