Alter the Ending

Promotion and release

The first track from the album made available was "Even Now", which appeared on the NCIS soundtrack in February 2009. Dashboard Confessional announced in September 2009 that their sixth album would be titled Alter the Ending and released on November 10, 2009. They also declared they would be touring in support of the album with New Found Glory, Meg & Dia and Never Shout Never, before it was cancelled because of a last minute family situation. A second track, "Belle of the Boulevard", was made available for listening at Radio Sophie on September 17, and was posted on MySpace a few days later.

The album artwork and final track listing were revealed in October, with the album's first single, "Belle of the Boulevard", being released on October 13, 2009. Upon the need to decide whether the album should be full-on electric rock project or a stripped-down acoustic piece, frontman Chris Carrabba came up with the solution that it could be both, as the album was revealed to be available in a two disc deluxe edition, with the second CD containing acoustic versions of the album. Carrabba has said that the acoustic set still features the full band, but with a minimalist approach similar to when the group was mostly a solo project in its early days. Carrabba has spoken of the positives of having both versions, even admitting to not liking one of the full-band versions and its acoustic becoming his "favorite song on the record." A short acoustic tour with New Found Glory was also announced, after the cancellation of the first attempt. Alter the Ending was made available for streaming at MySpace on November 3, before being released on November 10.

Reception

Alter the Ending was met with mixed or average reviews, receiving an aggregated score of 58 out of 100 from 9 reviews on Metacritic. Rolling Stone praised the album with a four out of five rating, saying "The emo godfather's sixth album proves he's also gotten better in that span." IGN's Brian Linder was also very positive, he commended the maturity of the record and said "Dashboard has shown on this release that they're capable of gracefully maturing and creating age-appropriate rock that stays true to their musical roots." Linder also lauded the band's deluxe edition acoustics; "Carrabba has always been a great unplugged performer, but there's just something about these songs that gives them greater emotional resonance when stripped of the traditional trappings of emo-pop." AbsolutePunk reviewer Chris Fallon gave the album 81%, offering particular approval to the album's acoustic bonus material; "Alter the Ending actually finds it's [sic] biggest success in a deluxe edition package". He queried the band's choice to go back into "full-fledged rock band mode", following frontman Chris Carrabba's return to his acoustic six-string to release their previous effort The Shade of Poison Trees, he says, "Alter the Ending's biggest drawback is the big production value over pre-determined substance, which hinders the potential of the weight these songs carry."

Slant Magazine was critical of the release, giving it a two out of five rating. Reviewer Eric Henderson disparaged the lyrics, saying some songs are "marred by lyrics I find it hard to believe even a seven-year-old girl would find exciting." He also criticized the release of the deluxe edition, stating "Unfortunately, what may have in some hands come off as a remarkable display of versatility only reinforces Carrabba's limitations as a songwriter... the same song is the same song is the same song." The A.V. Club reviewer Chris Martins awarded the album a C-, indicating he thought Dashboard had meandered down the wrong course with Butch Walker, as "he comically overproduces the damn thing."

Chart performance

Alter the Ending debuted at number 19 on the Billboard 200 chart.

Track listing

All tracks written by Chris Carrabba.