Dashboard Confessional Album: “The Swiss Army Romance”

I brought this album on a prayer that it would be something special and worthwile listening to. Fortunately, I was not remotely disappointed.

The lyrics running throughout the album are intelligent and heartfelt, and the music passionate and excellent.

1) Screaming Infidelities - 5/5. A brilliant track, both lyrically and musically. Sung with real soul, a very moving acoustic tune.

2) The Sharp Hint of New Tears - 5/5 Another excellent track, with again great lyrical and musical talent. Slightly shorter, and more remenicent of their older vein of music.

3) Living in your Letters - 4/5. Though another excellent song, having heard it a few times over it becomes a little old faster than many of the other tracks on the album. An excellent song nevertheless.

4) The Swiss Army Romance - 4/5. The title track doesn't let it down. A good song, though perhaps with a similar problem to track 3.

5) Turpentine Chaser 5/5. Without a doubt my favourite track on the album, great vocal range from Carrabba, best track lyrically; an overall awesome listen.

6) A Plain Morning - 5/5. Great song, a change from the vocal range and passion from Carrabba, moving to a more relaxed, sedated song.

7) Age Six Racer - 5/5. Short and sweet, the song delivers rosy lyrics with a brilliant acoustic accompanyment.

8) Again I go Unnoticed - 4/5. A distinctly more Emo song, the reason I docked a mark from this was because Carrabba had a poor vocal range on this, as he seemed to struggle to reach the top notes.

9) Ender will Save us All - 4/5. An excellent track, mellow but with passionate singing at times. Perhaps a little too long, my attention tends to wonder after the first four minutes of this plus 5 minute song.

10) Shirts and Gloves - 4/5. This would have been 5 out of five, if I could honestly say it was different from track 6. The chords are almost identical, similar sentiments, but nevertheless a good song.

11) Hold On - 5/5. Lovely mellow song, relaxed vocals going over a recurring plucked pattern - very nice indeed.

12) This is a Forgery - 2/5. One of the few tracks I actively dislike on this album. Carrabba's voice is course, the lyrics, though good, are not particuarly disernable above the loud electronic music and drum machine.

Hidden Track - 3/5. Though a good song, it is a little uninspired, and at times a little boring.

If I could give half stars, this album would rest at four and a half stars. An excellent album, this is a must buy for any fan of this genre, or any acoustic fan at all.

Dashboard Confessional is an amazing band. I don't even know if I can fully support that fact, they are just talented and very insightful. When I listen to this CD, I am completely lost, yet I know exactly where I am. I am just somewhere else inside. I think about everything, and that's what the music does. It is thought-provoking and it is hard to compare to anything else. All of the lyrics are easy to relate to, even though they are written from a male perspective I can still relate to it all.

Okay, about the actual music. Every song has excellent lyrics, and it always seems to be the background music when I want to just sit and think about things. I love the singer's voice, something about it just makes him sound meaningful. He can hit some of the higher notes, but doesn't go out of a range that we can't all sing along to. I always sing to the music... ahhahaha i am usually not so very carefree when I sing. But there is something emotional to this music that makes you feel like you don't have to sound nice to sing it.

The CD may be my favorite of Dashboard Confessional. The songs are lyrically and vocally beautiful and earnest. My favorite songs are:

2. The Sharp Hint of New Tears- I love, love, love the lyrics of this song, for example: "My sighs they ring victorious and fog this tinted glass... It's clouded, and so is my head."

I really like the rest of the songs as well. The only song I don't care for on the extended CD would have to be "This is a Forgery". It seems very un-Dashboard Confessional to me in a musical sense; lyrically it seems to be on target for Chris Carrabba, the singer and writer.

All in all, The Swiss Army Romance is a CD for DC fans or simply for fans with a love for great lyrics and acoustic guitar-driven melodies.

Yea, I've said it before, and I'll say it again; Chris is, by far, one of the most talented singer/songwriters out there. This album just exemplifies that notion. If you're looking for a great album you can sit down and listen to anywhere at any time, this is it. The songs are catchy, well-written, and best of all, none of them are crappy!

You know how when you purchase an album, there might be some throw-away songs? Well, there are none of those on this one! :)

Buy it today! You'll be glad you did.

Okay, so we can all argue about different styles of music. I'm a fan of most, I love anything good. "Metalheads", I've played in 4 regionally succesful metal bands, so I do know whats its about.

This Cd isn't just a few songs, this is a peice of emotion, everytime I hear a song, it's almost as if the feelings I had when I first listened to it, have come back. Chris's lyricist skills have always been wonderful to listen to, and his songwriting on this particular album is almost flawless, the only other comparable album is Ace Enders "I Can Make A Mess Like Nobody's Buisness", another peice of songwriting genius.

No-one has a style like Chris, so before you're so judgemental, try and think of someone else with the same sound, who has made it as big as him? He's got to be doing something right, don't you think? This is a CD I'll always hold close to my heart. It's the soundtrack to a part of my life that I can remember forever, everytime I put on Swiss Army Romance.