Dashboard Confessional: Alter The Ending

Dashboard Confessional
Alter The Ending
Universal Music Group [2009]








Fire Note Says: Just not up to our expectations.

Album Review:
There are some groups that I might be excited to hear that power popper gods Butch Walker and Adam Schlesinger (Fountains Of Wayne) are at the helm producing but Dashboard Confessional is absolutely not one of them. When Chris Carrabba busted onto the scene in 2001 with his acoustic heartaches on The Places You Have Come To Fear The Most, it did not become popular because it was full on electric, Carrabba is the best singer or because it had the best written songs. It became a success because it had a soul. For the most part, Dashboard Confessional's sixth record Alter The Ending is missing this key ingredient. Most of the tracks are completely electric and they lose all of the elements that make a solid Dashboard record. It is not that all the tracks are bad and quite frankly if you grab the deluxe version of the record, all the songs are presented acoustically which I feel plays better. In an attempt to stay mainstream, Alter The Ending just feels ok from an artist that I believe could offer so much more and does not need a sugar coat!

Key Tracks: "Belle Of The Boulevard", "Even Now", "Get Me Right"

Bands With Similar Fire:
The Rocket Summer
Owl City
Jack's Mannequin

Dashboard Confessional: Dusk And Summer [Fire Note Review 6/27/09]

Official Dashboard Confessional Website
Dashboard Confessional MySpace
Dashboard Confessional Info [Allmusic]
Universal Music Group

Alter The Ending [Deluxe] - Da...

-Reviewed by Reece Michael