Genre 10 - Emo/Post Hardcore Albums: #3 Dashboard Confessional

David Ames digs through his music collection to count down his top ten favourite albums in a specific music genre. For his second genre choice, David gets emotional about Emo/Post Hardcore. At #3, he gets to The Places You Have Come to Fear The Most...



The next genre on this list takes me back to my junior high and high school days. Few genres can better express the feelings of an angsty teenager than Emo/post hardcore. A lot of bands get lumped into this genre so be prepared for some music you may not necessarily feel are good representatives of the style. Like bands that were lumped together with the grunge era, many bands that came out in the late 90s and early 2000s were associated with this movement. For my purposes here today, I am talking about a group of albums that were influential to me at that time and from then on. Emotional and usually clever/intelligent lyricism is a staple of this genre, along with punk and pop influences. There are even elements of screamo present on this list. Hopefully you will recognize some of these albums and if you’re like me, the part of your brain that recognizes nostalgia will be buzzing with activity .



Find the other albums in David's Genre 10 Emo/Post Hardcore



#3: Dashboard Confessional – The Places You Have Come to Fear the Most



I had been playing in a hard rock band for about four years when I first heard Dashboard Confessional. I was taken aback by the simple, yet powerful construction of their music. Almost every song was just an acoustic guitar with Chris Carrabba’s soaring vocals layered over-top, incredible lyrics shaping the sound of every song. I affectionately refer to Dashboard as Emolk (emo and folk) as they are like a much poppier version of Bright Eyes. The lyrics of Dashboard are what really turned me onto them and Carrabba’s clever lines influenced my songwriting for years to come. I even had a short stint in a coffee house acoustic group called Calling Gravity and we played a few Dashboard songs. This album is everything that is quintessentially emo: the lyrics are about heartache, especially when dealing with the opposite sex. The vocals are passionate and the music is driving while being soft spoken at times. Give this album a listen if you aren’t a fan of the heavier stuff – this should be right up your alley.



Singles:



“Screaming Infidelities”









“Saints and Sailors”









Best non-single track:



“The Places You Have Come to Fear the Most”







Image - Amazon