Dashboard Confessional
Alter The Ending
Release Date: Nov 10, 2009
Genre(s): Rock, Alternative
Record label: Universal
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Album Review: Alter The Ending by Dashboard Confessional
Mediocre, Based on 2 Critics
Based on rating 5/10
Other musicians have rounded out its lineup from time to time, but Dashboard Confessional has always been the brainchild of Chris Carrabba, the most sensitive raven-haired rocker this side of Morrissey. Like Morrissey, Carrabba has built a career on heartbreak; unlike Morrissey, he's never had a band as cohesive as the Smiths to round out his songs, resulting in a discography that vacillates between acoustic albums and full-band affairs. 2009's Alter the Ending belongs to the latter camp, with Carrabba performing his pop anthems alongside a three-person backing band.
Based on rating 3/10
Before I get into the meat of this review, I have to disclose my history with Dashboard Confessional. Like many twenty-something American males, at some time during middle and high school I developed an unhealthy relationship with Chris Carrabba in which I felt he knew what I was going through, could help me with any problem, that kind of thing. Like any fickle young music fan, he was quickly replaced by others, but for a brief moment in 2001 and 2002, Dashboard Confessional meant the world to me.