Although I've never loved anything Dashboard has done as hard as I loved The Swiss Army Romance as a young high school kid having his first romantic relationships of his life, as an adult looking back on his/their discography now, I think Shade of Posion trees might be my favorite Dashboard album by a long shot. I can still remember working at Subway and my buddy/co-worker blasting "Screaming Infidelities" and just BAWLING his eyes out because his girlfriend had just broken up with him. This is while we were both working. I can only imagine now as an adult walking into Subway on my lunch-break looking for a quick bite to eat that's not McDonald's and stumbling onto that situation.
I really don’t like Shade aside from a few songs. I don’t think his writing on that album was up to par.
I think that “Shade..” is the clear weakest DC record. The only one I really don’t go back to other than a couple songs.
I think crooked shadows is the weakest album by far. Super disappointed by that one. I don’t even want to consider anything other than an EP lol.
I can see some songs being that in a way, but it totally didn't deliver. We Fight and Just What To Say are two fantastic songs. HBH was ok until it got overplayed for me. The songs went overboard.
Crooked Shadows grew on me. Shade never did. Neither are anywhere near as good as the records he made in between them.
I listen to A Mark, Shade and Alter the most. The first single from Crooked Shadows was the only one I liked or even made it through the whole song actually.
The one-two punch of “The Places You Have Come To Fear The Most” followed by “This Bitter Pill” will always resonate with me. I had a hell of a lot going on as a teenager when I heard those two and they still mean a lot to me. I was suicidal and “This Bitter Pill” devastated me. A few years later in the emotional aftermath of everything I heard “The End Of An Anchor” and the lines “I wasn’t well for a while I cherished the things that I knew Were sure to destroy me And that seemed to hold me That seemed to carry me Where I couldn’t go On the strength of my own Well I should have known That gets me nowhere I’ve learned that now I swear” ...brought me to tears. Still does if I think about it long enough. Life is long and hard and wonderful and awful and confusing and I’m grateful for it.
End of An Anchor is one of my favorite DC songs. Shade isn't their best record, but it's definitely a solid one. Clean Breaks, The Rush, Widows Peak, Little Bombs and Where There's Gold are all amazing tracks.
Shade Of Poison Trees getting praise makes me happy! The Rush has always been my favorite. It always reminds me of Grey Anatomy's theme song for some reason.