Like it or not, Dashboard Confessional has finally made a name for itself. Its latest album, A Mark, A Mission, A Brand, A Scar debuted on the charts at number two, 106 spots higher than its (or his since the "band" used to be a one-man act) last album.

Lead singer Chris Carrabba played it safe by rerecording and releasing an old fan favorite as the band's first single, "Hands Down." Quite possibly the happiest song that the depressed singer/songwriter has ever written, "Hands Down" makes a positive and powerful leap from its former acoustic incarnation to a guitar and percussion rock tune.

Track two returns to the group's more sappy roots as Carrabba complains about a deceptive ex-girlfriend in the surprisingly good "Rapid Hope Loss."

Dashboard's love songs on the album are less whiny than they have been in the past and now carry an angrier tinge.

Not all the tunes are stellar, however. "Hey Girl" is exactly as boring as its title implies. Somehow though, lyrics like "Hey girl, you've got a fine laugh/And I think I could get used to that" still always manage to win over the female fan base.

Dashboard even tries its hand at a version of an epic finale, and while it only clocks in at a little over six minutes long, it proves to be a perfect album closer. "Several Ways to Die Trying" sounds like a whiny love song title, but is really a powerful generation anthem about the feelings of powerlessness for the teens and twenty-somethings of today.

A Mark isn't for everyone, but it's good enough to keep the old fans happy and to bring a few new ones to the team. Dashboard may not be played on classic rock stations 30 years from now, but as a band that writes about living for the moment, I don't think Carrabba would have it any other way.

-- Reviewed by Jason Cox