Music Review: Dashboard Confessional - "Alter the Ending"

After listening to some older Dashboard Confessional music I skipped ahead to listen to the "Alter The Ending" album. This album did not make me a believer right away, but as the album progresses it gets better and better and even though I won't be going out to buy it, the listen was a positive experience. The version I listened to is known as the "Amazon/Myspace" version, there are other versions with more music on them.

"Get Me Right": If Johnny Cash or Bob Dylan made newer pop rock, emo music and different voices, they might sound like this delivery somewhat, there was something throwback to the vocals. Some of the lyrics seemed to be word choices for the sake of rhyme, which is weak, but the overall journey into story was okay. The song reaches a section where it escalates and goes off on a new tangent of sound, which is also okay, just disjointed feeling to me. Decent start and an improvement over the really old stuff I was listening to just previous to this.

"Until Morning": This felt like a Christian rock song. Are they a Christian rock group? I'm not hip to Dashboard Confessional's history. Their knack for the over-dramatics are brushed into this dull collage of Christian pop rock sounds. This song reminds me of early morning headaches.

"Everybody Learns From Disaster": There are some nice touches with the dramatic flair, I cannot deny that '˜We watched the sun burn down into cinders," is a good line. I wish they could beef up their sound some more though, or gain some edginess of some sort to go along with the lyrical skill.

"Belle Of The Boulevard": Dashboard Confessional goes more for the confessional sound to open this track, a softer delivery. It turns into a somewhat motivational pop song and really I think these guys should be writing the songs for the American Idol winners. This is THAT bad to me, but GOOD compared to what type of music about picking oneself up to chase dreams and move mountains are usually churning out of that type of machine. This is listen-able and if it is a "hit" single I would not contest its worthiness.

"I Know About You": What I call the "generic" pop rock sound is still in effect, but this song is a clever little ditty in that realm. I like it for that, the lyrical content, if not for the ultimate delivery. I could imagine Melissa Etheridge doing a cover of this song.

"Alter The Ending": He knows that "yesterday is gone" and won't come back to him and his whine is not able to capture the magic of a rocking Axel Rose, it's just whiny. The rock guitar parts are a nice change in production compared to the old Dashboard strumming guitar classics. If you want to learn how to whine and be dramatic and make it cool though, take some notes from The Cure. Hey, that's a good idea, I should turn this album off and go listen to some The Cure albums.

"Blame It On The Changes": One Republic is a band, off the top of my head, that would probably have loved to have gotten this song for themselves. I think Dashboard Confessional have managed to make themselves more relevant to the modern landscape of pop rock music with this song. Good stuff in its genre.

"Even Now": When I hear Dashboard Confessional and the word "acoustic" together I pre-cringe, expecting to hear grating, whiny vocals. This song features some strings with the guitar and is actually slow and pretty.

"The Motions": I can imagine them performing this song live and driving the crowd into a sing along frenzy with chants of "If this is chemical, if this is chemical." It is catchy. "I am not ashamed to be owned by the impulses." This song fires on all cylinders, all of the talent falling in place just right to make the puzzle something I can enjoy.

"No News Is Bad News": I like the title of the song. However, I don't like the song itself. It started out with some promise, but then rambles into a whiny mess for me with the occasional Bon Jovi vibe there in the singer's throat.

"Water and Bridges": The woe is me struggling with a relationship lyrics are done justice with the guitar riffs and musical delivery, with the water and bridges theme being kind of cool. What I am saying is, I can dig it, yo.

"Hell On The Throat": Another softer, slow song with heartache on display. I'm not as in to this one, but I won't poke fun at you if you are. Easy listening while doing other things music.

"Truth Of The Matter": The singer has a new quality in his voice that goes along with his whine sometimes, this is a good thing. It is a slight sound, a different pitch that is there, it actually retains emotion as opposed to the old monotonous sounds I am used to from Dashboard Confessional; only being familiar with their first two albums at this point. Decent end.