Dashboard Confessional

   Dashboard Confessional has always tried to combine raw emotion and pop melodies, but on "Alter the Ending", the balance is so right that both sides seem stronger than ever. Chris Carrabba twists brainy lyrics into a classic rock melody for "The Motions." He turns "Everybody Learns from Disaster" - made more poignant by his coping with his sister's injuries from a car accident while recording the album - into an anthemic road-trip rocker, while the ballad "Belle of the Boulevard" couldn't be lovelier. Carrabba has finally built an incredibly happy "Ending." I have been a fan of theses guys for the longest time. Whenever I listen to Dashboard Confessional, I’m always amazed by Chris Carrabba’s single-minded dedication to chronicling young love and its inevitable ruin. Dashboard Confessional thrives on raw feeling, and succeeds when the songs musically reflect that, usually by banging on an acoustic guitar and screaming. With tracks like "Get Me Right", "Everybody Learns from Disaster", and “Even Now” softening those vocal edges with low harmony and hiding or eliminating the acoustic with waves of  guitar distortion, we’re left with a satisfying crunch.

   I loved every album they put out but this one BLOWS them all away. I just downloaded it last night and already I'm hooked. My wife tells me I wear music out that I like but this one will take a while. You got to check this great album out!!


   DASHBOARD CONFESSIONAL
"Alter the Ending"                               
                            The grade A-