Dashboard Confessional - Crooked Shadows (February 9, 2018) Album • Page 12

Just listened to this again. Most of these songs just go right by me. I don't hate them (or even really dislike them), but they don't really make any impression either.

 

Strongly disagree on this. “Shade” is missing a certain level of emotional weight behind a majority of the songs. At least on this record, you could tell he’s passionate about what he’s saying. I don’t find much of that on “Shade.” That’s the only record I never go back to plus or minus a few songs here and there.

 

What’s he passionate about here? Emotional about opening up eyes, repeat repeat repeat?

 

Man I continue to love Shade - it and Alter the Ending are far and away my favorite Dashboard albums.

I liked this when I listened last night. But I'll be honest - outside of the song I already knew, I don't remember any of the record. I remember it being pleasant, but I can't tell you what I listened to. And I'm not sure when I'll want to listen again.

I mean, again - I enjoyed it fine. But I definitely don't want to immediately go back to it or anything.

 

I mean— maybe. But that’s also probably the worst song you could single out. We Fight, Just What To Say, Heart Beat Here, About Us.. hell even Belong and pretty much every single song sounds like he’s at least genuine in his delivery. Whether you like the song or not you can’t really compare your emotional investment to his.

Based on his delivery, and also what he’s talked about in interviews, I could at least believe it. I was missing that from “Shade.”

 

I must say I don’t immedietly like the verse vocal on “Catch You.” Not really a fan of the rasp thing in his lower register.

 

He doesn’t seem invested in them, or at least not to any convincing level. At least he had some vocal range still on ‘Shade’ — he sounds shot here.

 

I can totally agree with this. I think his tone sounds good on this new album, but there are songs where I just don't buy his passion. Except for...maybe... 'We Fight'.

I still wait for the other songs to take off with that classic Carrabba vocal build and they don't quite get there. Thats one thing that always stood out for me when it comes to DC. Alter The Ending didn't really have it either, but its okay, because that album actually worked.

 

I’m through song #5.

Does it get better? Someone tell me it gets better.

 

There's still a few songs I've only listened to a couple times, but for the most part I had no complaints about his emotional delivery. It would be nice if his old vocal strength was still there.. but I think that's a different conversation. I will agree that there are no real significant Carrabba vocal high points here that just make you go "holy shit."

Most of the songs themselves don't immediately strike a chord with me like other Dashboard records tend to, but in my opinion I can at least feel that he means it. I'd put this as my bottom 2, right above "Shade."

I'm fine with the production/choice of instrumentation, but I think the mixes could've served the songs better. Some of them just sound cluttered, and I miss the vocal-upfrontness of past Dashboard records. He relies much more on doubling here. Might have to do with his voice being less stable now. I feel like for that reason he has to "try harder" to sing, which changes the way he phrases things and impacts his vocal performance in a sense

 

If you hated the first half it probably won't get any better for you after 5, until the last track. I prefer the first half

 

"Shade" never really did it for me and I remember being really excited for that album. Mostly because he marketed it by saying it was the closest thing he had done to "Places..."

Alter the Ending was incredible though. Criminally underrated imo.

This album is "blah" for the most part. The songs I enjoy, I truly really enjoy...but that could be a 5 song EP.

 

Oh man. There are some truly atrocious tracks on here.

What a bummer.

Final track is good, though.

 

I like the way "Heart Beat Here" matches his emotional intensity with a traditional singer-songwriter folk song. Is that what Twin Forks is?

 

i didn't listen to any of the pre-release tracks beyond "we fight" so let's see how this goes

"we fight": a jam
"catch you": pretty good, feels like it's missing something though. i like the synth! it fills out an oddly empty song
"about us": this song would be ok with an entirely different arrangement i think, but as it is: kinda sucks. craig's points about getting butch walker into the studio especially resonate here, he could've made this song work
"heart beat here": a very nice song that belongs on a fuckin twin forks record, you can apply my criticisms of the arrangement of the last song here too
"belong": wow this song is dogshit, if you're gonna write a edm banger, write a real chorus my dude. "closer" is a better emo song than this
"crooked shadows": the production/mixing of this record is so cloudy and... incomplete? what an odd song btw, the verse and the chorus feel mismatched. at least carrabba is in good voice here, he kinda sounds like shit on most of this record
"open my eyes": wait a minute y'all, this song is great. first time on the record i feel like the arrangement is expanding the song instead of limiting it. i guess the chorus is repetitive but who gives a shit, it's lovely
"be alright": this song would be entirely rescued by the addition of the bridge between the verse and the chorus. fuck, i should've produced this record
"just what to say": this song has so many great, very classic dashboard things about it that the rest of the record almost entirely lacks, i guess it's good that there's one of these? unfortunately it just sort of... ends the record on a weird ellipsis

not as bad as i expected from everyone else's reactions but... not great, not much to get excited about, not a lot to return to

 

The album's fine, there's a couple of songs (opener, HBH, and closer) that would be fun to hear at a Dashboard show, and I'm more likely to head out to one than I was a year ago. I'm not going to begrudge him the money if "Belong" ends up on the radio next to a Chainsmokers song (ooof that "pumping jams" line though).

It seems unreasonable to expect some kind of masterpiece from Dashboard Confessional when I haven't connected with a song of his in more than a decade. It's fine. Go listen to "This Bitter Pill" if you want to be broken in two.

 

Pretty much. Twin Forks is mostly more folk-driven, but the are a few ballads on the Twin Forks record that are pretty similar to "Heart Beat Here." I recommend that album. I know a lot of fans weren't huge on it, but I love it and it's a lot better than this.

 

I remember liking it on first listen and never going back for some reason. Can you give me one or two standouts? I'm not in the headspace for another full album of Chris today. Still haven't listened to Fallon!

 

Ok the more I listen I really like this as a whole. Couple tracks I’m still iffy on.. but gonna be a good spring album for me.

Obsessed with “About Us”

 

My favorites from Twin Forks are "Danger" and "Can't Be Broken." It's still an album I go back to from time to time.

On the other hand, this Dashboard album is not good at all. Sounds very thrown together and lacking any kind of lyrical feeling or real emotion. It's probably time to retire the Dashboard name and move onto a new project. There's not really anything new Chris can bring to the table with Dashboard it seems. :(

 

We Fight is still such a good jam.

 

We should make a mix of "writer's block" songs.

 

"Plans" is probably the most comparable to "Heart Beat Here." My favorites are probably "Who's Looking Out," "Danger," and "Back to You."

 

As much as I loved the original demo, I still really enjoy Catch You.

Also I really hated Belong when it first came out, but damn it's grown on me.

 

So I'm guilty of not really listening to Alter The Ending much. I don't know why - but after hearing this I'm going back and listening to that album. I want to see what I missed out on or just completely missed the first time.