A Mark, A Mission, A Brand, A Scar

Dashboard Confessional

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 12, 2003)
• Original Release Date: August 12, 2003
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Vagrant Records
• ASIN: B0000AKADQ
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (344 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #21,092 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Track Listings

1. Hands Down

2. Rapid Hope Loss

3. As Lovers Go

4. Carry This Picture

5. Bend and Not Break

6. Ghost of a Good Thing

7. Am I Missing

8. Morning Calls

9. Carve Your Heart Out Yourself

10. So Beautiful

11. Hey Girl

12. If You Can't Leave it Be, Might as Well Make it Bleed

13. Several Ways to Die Trying

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

On Dashboard Confession's fourth album, Christopher Carraba welcomes listeners back into his emotionally claustrophobic world, where relationships are minefields, women are brittle and self-absorbed, and every cloud has a pewter lining. But all this is only fodder for his runaway id, as he deconstructs every encounter, giving us evidence of the pain and betrayal that lurks behind every corner. Finding a home somewhere between the positive punk of Green Day, circa "Time of Your Life," and the stream-of-consciousness poetry of the early Counting Crows, this collection is more musically coherent than Dashboard Confessional's earlier albums. Gil Norton's production has taken the band to new heights, allowing the music to have as much grit, substance, and dynamics as the lyrics. The anxious expectorated sputum of "Am I Missing," is an existential assault on your very sanity, with its fretful drumming and spectral chorus, but this album doesn't sound just that one apprehensive note; Carraba is equally at home with the sparse, acoustic ballad "Ghost of a Good Thing" and the folksy rocker "Carve Your Heart Out Yourself," which could have been lifted from a Buffalo Springfield album. By giving voice to the thoughts that go bump in the night, Carraba gives vulnerability and sincerity a good name again. --Jaan Uhelszki

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A little change never hurt nobody, November 9, 2004

By	William S. Porch "willy" (Lancasrter, CA USA) - See all my reviews

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.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nice, nice music, January 9, 2004

By	Astro (Belton, MO United States) - See all my reviews

Okay, I'll admit it -- when I first heard Dashboard Confessional's Screaming Infidelities, I hated it. I didn't know what all the fuss was about. But then, all these years later, the song started to grow on me, so when Hands Down came out, I gave it a listen. And I loved it.

I was hesitant to buy this cd because of what I'd heard previously, but I decided to take a chance and dive in. And I have never been sorry. This disk was in my cd player nonstop for about three weeks (which is a bunch for me, since I tend to buy about 5 cds a week). The lyrics are amazing, and the music is that good kind of catchy where you don't want it out of your head.

I know a lot of long time DC fans are saying that this isn't a great effort, that the raw emotion is gone, etc., and after going back and buying All the Places You've Come To Fear the Most, I don't entirely disagree. You won't find something like Best Deceptions on this disk, but I think the reason for that is that Chris has said his piece on pain and the hurt that comes from putting your heart in the hands of others, and now he wants to remind everyone that there's some good stuff to it, too.

Overall, I think this is a very romantic album, one that will remind you not to take the small stuff for granted. If you've never been a DC fan before, this is a very good place to start.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You're chasing the ghost of a good thing!, July 5, 2006

By	Darth Wader (Aylett, VA) - See all my reviews

This is the album that defined Dashboard Confessional as a "band." I loved the other DC albums, where it was just an acoustic guitar (sometimes drums and bass) and Chris Carabba, wearing his heart on his sleeve on every song. So this album made me a little nervous, wondering if I could still feel that passion with a full band. The answer...of course! This album is breathtaking, and the drums are excellent, guitar work of John Lefler is amazing, and the harmony vocals are perfect. Lefler has a style that sounds so lush and beautiful and compliments perfectly with Carabba's. The feeling of this album is less raw than the previous, but even with all of the extra instrumentation, it is still Carabba's voice and lyrics that make this album truly great. From "Hands Down" to "Several Ways To Die Trying," DC has entered into a list of great bands such as Jimmy Eat World and Counting Crows that feature great music, vocals, and better-than-most-band's lyrics. My favorite songs are: Hands Down, As Lovers Go, Carry This Picture, Bend and Not Break (my favorite song on this album), Ghost of a Good Thing (a raw, acoustic song that is very heartfelt), and Carve Your Heart Out Yourself. Each song has a different sound to it and there is no song on here that you will want to skip. Because of this album, the sky is the limit for Dashboard. Also, what makes this album truly worth buying is that is has an enhanced limited edition DVD of DC playing R.E.M. covers from their album "Automatic For The People." It's so good that I immediately bought that REM album. DC is here to stay, so sit back and enjoy!