Editorial Reviews Music Review:
Music Review
Danger Zone [Original recording remastered] [Import]
Mahler: Symphony No. 1/ Lieder
Leopard Lounge: Swinging Lounge Tunes from the Warner and Atlantic Vaults [Import]
King George Presents: Playas & Hustlas [Explicit Lyrics]
Irish Celebration: Wearing the Green
Live at Village West [Import] [Limited Edition] [Live] [Original recording remastered]
Amazon.com
Of all the downtrodden intellectuals turning skate-punk into emo, Dashboard Confessional's Christopher Carrabba is by far the most bruised. With just an acoustic guitar and some choice words, the Ben Folds sound-alike turns the concept of the love song on its head with The Places You Have Come to Fear the Most's torrent of poetic abuse aimed at girls who've taken advantage of his good nature. From "Saints and Sailors" ("This apartment is starving for an argument / Anything at all to break the silence") to "The Good Fight" ("I claimed you as my only hope and watched the floor as you retreated") to "Screaming Infidelities" ("So kiss me hard because this will be the last time I let you"), Carrabba is unapologetically bitter. Yet while his love life may be a tragic mess, the pure cathartic joy he derives from putting the ladies in question back in their place--evident from his venomous acoustic attacks--is unmistakable, infectious, and fantastically liberating. Wallowing in self-pity has seldom been so much fun. --Dan Gennoe