Review: Dashboard Confessional - The Shade Of Poison Trees

Posted on 17 January 2008 | 1 Comment

I remember back when my former employers at Drive-Thru Records (I guess you could call them that since I was in a band on their roster and got paid a few peanuts back in the day) re-released the first album from up-and-coming acoustic emo troubadour Dashboard Confessional (aka Chris Carrabba) back in 2000. The Swiss Army Romance was heartfelt (even if a little over the top at times), raw, and memorable. I could probably still sing along to the majority of its songs even without hearing them in years. It was an album that showed the major crossover possibilities that existed for Dashboard (3 gold and 1 platinum album prove that).

Heck, I even remember seeing a still solo Dashboard live at the Fireside Bowl back in the day where it was packed full of kids loudly and emphatically singing along to every word that left Carrabba’s lips and nearly drowning him out during almost every song. It was a strange moment when the hardcore kids, the punk kids, the emo kids, and even some regular kids were lost in the moment and completely captivated by everything Dashboard did. It gave me chills.

So Dashboard Confessional kept putting out albums (including one for MTV Unplugged) and eventually incorporated a full “backing band” into both his recorded works and live shows. Not such a good move. Instead of the stripped down sound that was accessible but still different and a little more (dare I say) “punk” than other slickly produced modern rock radio artists, Dashboard turned into one of those slickly produced modern rock radio artists. Boring, bland, and not really worth my time anymore. The music just started to sound like everything else.

The new Dashboard Confessional album The Shade Of Poison Trees isn’t terrible; it is actually pretty decent. His sixth album is very pleasant and listenable and probably the best thing he’s released since 2001’s The Places You Have Come To Fear The Most. The problem is that it isn’t nearly as engaging or powerful as much of his earlier material but I’m not sure anything he does will be again.

MP3 | Keep Watch For The Mines The Shade Of Poison Trees
MP3 | Dashboard Confessional – Little Bombs The Shade Of Poison Trees

Filed Under: Album Reviews, Just Plain Rock, Pop

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