Every Dashboard Confessional album ranked

This overproduced rock album was met with mixed reviews from critics. While The Shade of Poison Trees was a return to his acoustic roots, this went more electric than ever. However, the approach didn’t work in Dashboard’s favor, resulting in their weakest record. Ultimately, Alter the Ending wasn’t as cohesive as past albums and didn’t have the hyperspecific, emotional lyrics listeners had grown to love.

This was the first Dashboard album in almost nine years, after he split off to make bouncy, catchy WB TV show-worthy alt-country music as Twin Forks. This largely forgettable album has a few standouts, like “Heart Beat Here,” which Carrabba often plays live and inspires a chorus singalong. It makes sense, as “Heart Beat Here” sounds like it could be featured on any Dashboard album over the years. “We Fight Here” is another standout because it’s the type of scream along he excels at, and you can hear the emotion in his voice. But some of the other songs didn’t receive rave reviews, especially on social media. The collaboration “Belong” with electronic group Cash Cash is far more pop than any prior singles, and some fans took issue with it, accusing him of selling out. Essentially, “Belong” sounds like it belongs in a car commercial. 

This record skews more alternative rock than emo — and while certain songs are standouts, the rest tend to blend together. This album, which was recorded over 10 days in Florida, was a return to his acoustic roots. It’s far more mature than prior releases, but its lack of specificity makes it sound like any artist could have written it. Even if you’re a massive Dashboard fan with the DC lightning bolt tattooed on your body, you’re probably not playing this one on repeat. Carrabba doesn’t even play many of these songs live today. 

Carrabba seemingly reflects on growing up in Boca Raton in a few of his songs referencing wealth and privilege, which is a theme that stands out on this record. The topics come up on the first track “Where There’s Gold” before being repeated on “Matters of Blood and Connection.” The frontman told AltPress that making the album was “a way back in” after he felt a “little disgusted with the music scene” and curious about his “own place.” It’s an alternative album that would feel right on adult rock radio stations.

This album was a post-lockdown comeback after he experienced a terrifying motorcycle accident and had to relearn how to play guitar in 2020. This album is peak elder emo, with “Burning Heart” sounding like it could be interchangeable with “Heart Beat Here.” “Here’s to Moving On” could easily be on an earlier album. It’s cohesive and extremely listenable but doesn’t have quite as many standouts as past releases. Carrabba celebrated its one-year release on Instagram, calling the songs “very personal” and celebrating how they “found a place with our fanbase.” He also compared the album to The Places You Have Come To Fear The Most, telling AltPress he asked himself, “If I had never made that record, how would I make that record now?”

Shockingly, some of the lyrics were actually cheerful, making it a vast departure lyrically from earlier albums. “Don’t Wait” and “Stolen” are love songs worthy of elder emo weddings. On “So Long, So Long,” he embraces arena rock with backing vocals from Adam Duritz of the Counting Crows. With Dusk and Summer, the band move away from reflecting on loneliness and alienation, and the entirety of the album is far more uptempo than what came before it. Of course, the closing song might be his most famous yet — “Vindicated,” which swept the nation as part of the Spider-Man 2 soundtrack. While it might not be his most emotional, meaningful, or moving album, it’s still perfect for summer road trips and long drives down A1A.

This album was more pop punk than emo, with more electric guitar and less acoustic. And it’s still just as potent today — Carrabba finishes his shows with “Hands Down,” along with the story behind it. While it was not quite as outwardly emo as its predecessors, it certainly had plenty of AIM away message-worthy lyrics, like “Now that I can see you, I don’t think you’re worth a second glance” from “Rapid Hope Loss.” This is a strong, cohesive album that’s just as emo in its lyrics as earlier records but a bit more grown-up, with a little less wailing. This continued the transition from acoustic emo to a brighter, more guitar-driven sound. 

Many of these songs are featured on MTV Unplugged, which introduced Carrabba to a much wider audience because it showed fans everywhere exactly what his live shows were like (summer camp singalongs with your coolest counselor). Even 20 years later, fans still love the songs, regularly ranking them on Reddit. While it evokes nostalgia now, at the time the acoustic guitar paired with raw lyrics about growing up felt completely fresh. It was less electric than the pop-punk bands putting out music at the time. 

This MTV2 favorite is the definition of early 2000s emo — hyperspecific, majorly vulnerable storytelling that still manages to resonate with audiences everywhere. Carrabba’s songwriting is strong here, especially on “The Brilliant Dance,” “Saints and Sailors,” and “Again I Go Unnoticed.” If you didn’t have this blasting on repeat in middle school or high school, you were probably well adjusted. But if you did, and made it to one of his early day concerts, you felt like you finally found your people. 

This Fiddler release remains a fan favorite for a good reason, with songs like “Screaming Infidelities” and “Again I Go Unnoticed.” While the lyrics might sound (at times) overwrought or trite in 2023, in 2000 they were everything teenagers all over the country wished they could say out loud (so they said it in their away messages instead). This album still inspires singalongs when Carrabba plays it live, and fans know every single word 23 years later. 

The emo mainstay was first released on Fiddler in March 2000 and then sold by Drive-Thru and later Vagrant. When it was re-released in 2003, it included “Hold On” and “This is a Forgery.” "Screaming Infidelities" even won an MTV2 Award, beating the Strokes. The ode to fake IDs and yearning to be older made it a must-listen for suburban kids everywhere. While listeners now might be far past 21, it now feels particularly nostalgic. Plus, plenty of Swiss Army songs deservedly made their way to The Best Ones of the Best Ones, which highlighted the hits and was a cheeky reference to his song “Stolen.”