Word: endingã
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...such as the early fan-favorite “Screaming Infidelities.” Carrabba’s newest effort. “Alter the Ending,” strikes a middle ground between these two extremes, but the final product is somewhat inconsistent; “Alter the Ending?? excels in the realm of emotional power ballads but also contains a great deal of uninspiring three-chord filler, resulting in a uniform-sounding album with limited success...
Unfortunately, what makes “Alter the Ending?? an often dissatisfying listen is the uniformity of about half the album’s songwriting. Consisting of the same thick guitar lines, intense drumming, and vocal acrobatics of Carrabba’s wobbly tenor, the band’s newest efforts sound like weak facsimiles of “Hands Down” and “Vindicated.” The songs feebly retread old territory rather than covering new ground...
Dashboard Confessional unfortunately elects on “Alter The Ending?? to limit the usage of their greater strength: the acoustic, heartbrokenly witty ballads on which they built their early career. Two of the album’s finest tracks, “Even Now” and the moody closer “Hell On the Throat,” excel above the rest due to the naked emotion and simplistic strumming, enhanced only occasionally with a shimmering synth or lonely drum beat. On “Even Now,” Carrabba softly sings...
...hell on the throat / ’Til everything I say burns like cinders / Well it’s hard to belong / To a girl or a song / In the crease of a strangling winter.” It is at such moments that “Alter the Ending?? truly shines; unfortunately, such compositions are few and far between on the album, included as afterthoughts rather than centerpieces, taking the backseat to one too many loud alt-rockers...
...Alter the Ending?? ultimately proves to be sufficiently satisfying, but on most of the album, Carrabba seems somewhat lazy. “Belle of the Boulevard” and “Hell on the Throat” prove that Dashboard Confessional is clearly capable of greatness, but unfortunately, they failed to harness their skill in order to make “Alter the Ending?? a more compelling listen...