While the genre of emo has (almost) always come with a stigma, there was a moment before Fall Out Boy and emo as the latest teen MTV craze. While all these records may or may not fall under what people think of emo as, each of these has a connection to the scene and a time when emo was a big thing in my life.
10. Dashboard Confessional – Swiss Army Romance
Before MTV unplugged and huge success and even before leaving Further Seems Forever, Chris Carrabba released Swiss Army Romance, the Dashboard Confessional debut album. It’s the most simple of all the DC records, just Chris and a guitar. The songs aren’t as bitter as The Places You Have to Come to Fear the Most, and Chris’s heartbreak hadn’t consumed Dashboard Confessional. The songs are light, the songwriting is great and while the album is on the shorter side, it’s a nice hint at how good Chris was going to be.
