2xLP CREAM VINYL

Twenty years after their 2000 debut, beloved emo act Dashboard Confessional issued a greatest-hits collection, Best Ones of the Best Ones. Taking its name from lyrics on "Stolen," the 20-song set culls tracks from their seven studio albums, a pair of EPs, and an endearing MTV Unplugged performance, providing a perfect snapshot of the band's career and an ideal place to start for any budding fan of Chris Carrabba's earnest, angsty style. When they emerged in the early 2000s, Dashboard's songs were derided by non-fans as overly sensitive and whiny, the pinnacle of the emo wave that soon splintered apart as the scene's fans veered toward both hardcore and indie sounds. Yet at the time of its release in 2020, the songs on this compilation remain relevant and relatable in their simplicity and focus on heartbreak and undying devotion. Their 2001 sophomore effort, The Places You Have Come to Fear the Most, receives the most representation here, with a full quarter of the album's runtime taken by fan favorites like the title track and their most recognizable song, "Screaming Infidelities." 2006's Dusk and Summer, their highest-charting effort, gets four nods, including a trio of singles ("Don't Wait," "Vindicated," and "Stolen") that were the band's only songs to chart on the Billboard Hot 100. Other notable inclusions come from their early-2000s mainstream peak with "Hands Down" from A Mark, A Mission, A Brand, A Scar and the aforementioned rock hit "Vindicated" (originally from 2004's Spider-Man 2 soundtrack and later included on Dusk and Summer). Their late-era albums -- including their only LP released in the 2010s, 2018's robust Crooked Shadows -- are acknowledged with a handful of selections, but, for the most part, the spotlight remains on the first half of the 2000s, their most definitive period. Two decades after Carrabba first strummed Dashboard to life with just his voice and a guitar, human emotions remain messy and hearts continue to break. Best Ones of the Best Ones makes the strongest case for just crowning Dashboard Confessional the kings of 2000s emo.

A1        Screaming Infidelities
A2        The Swiss Army Romance
A3        Again I Go Unnoticed
A4        Saints And Sailors
A5        The Places You Have Come To Fear The Most
B6        Hands Down
B7        So Impossible
B8        The Best Deceptions
B9        The Sharp Hint Of New Tears
B10        The Brilliant Dance
C11        Drowning
C12        Ghost Of A Good Thing
C13        Don't Wait
C14        Stolen
C15        So Long, So Long
D16        Vindicated
D17        Fever Dreams
D18        Belle Of The Boulevard
D19        We Fight
D20        Heart Beat Here