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Album Details

• Artist: Dashboard Confessional
• Album: A Mark, A Mission, A Brand, A Scar
• Label: Vagrant / TVT
• Year of Release: 2003
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: dscanland on 2003-11-06

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Chris Carrabba is now a bona-fide superstar after his MTV Unplugged session last year. I guess that's all it takes these days. Anyway, Chris is back with another studio Dashboard Confessional CD. This time around he is calling it A Mark, A Mission, A Brand, A Scar. A just theme for emo's posterboy. I have read somewhere that Dashboard Confessional songs are more than emo, that they fit more in a teen-folk category. I would have to agree. He showed promise with his album The Places You Have Come To Fear The Most but now that he has taken up the help of Gil Norton (Pixies, Sugar) there are more hooks and harmonies that anyone with a sense of melody would eat up these songs. Sure, some of the subject matter is still emo-fare but give A Mark a chance and you might be surprised to find that you like this. Chris is as gentle a singer as you could want (try on "Morning Calls") but he always has a bit of an edge to his vocals. "Carve Your Heart" could put the Goo Goo Dolls to rest, finally. Again, the music is fairly upbeat until you get down into the depths of the lyrics. This is where you get into issues of reaching beyond his teenage audience. He is going to have to reach out beyond his heart and start writing about real-world issues and events. Chris, look to folkies like Steve Earle or Paul Simon for some influence here. This is a great album but if you are going to look for mass acceptance, this is the only change that you will have to make. Other than that, people will eventually stumble onto your music, whether it's on MTV or playing in a book store.

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