The Shade of Poison Trees

by

Dashboard Confessional

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First off, I'm a huge Dashboard Confessional fan and have been since I first heard "The Places You Have Come To Fear The Most". I have listened to and own everything Chris Carrabba has released. He is a great songwriter and artist. With that said this album is a sequel to "The Swiss Army Romance" and the aforementioned "Places". This to me is fan service for those who have been unhappy about the departure of the acoustic "emo" style that he pioneered. I had no problem with the move to "A Mark A Mission ...." and "Dusk And Summer". "Dusk and Summer" is one of my favorite albums but I do still listen to the older records because of that raw acoustic feeling of pure emotion. With that said, I hope you (the reader) understand where I'm coming from.

"The Shade of Poison Trees" is a great Dashboard album. The acoustic guitar is back, but there is something brighter and more alive in the sounds. The melodies and lyrics are as powerful as ever and the songs are catchier than ever. "Thick As Thieves", "Little Bombs", "Fever Dream" and "Where There's Gold..." are some of the standout tracks, but if you like Dashboard Confessional then you will like the entire album.

Why only 4 stars?

As great as this album is, nothing can turn back time. I get memories of high school and college when listening to "The Shade", but it just can't bring me back to that moment when I was 18 and heard "The Best Deception" for the first time. I have grown up. I enjoy listening to this album and will add it to my rotation of Dashboard songs, but it can only remind me of those feelings. "The Places" is where my feelings and memories lie. However, for the Dashboard "novice", this isn't a bad place to start. It doesn't hit you as hard as "The Place" and "The Swiss" and that might be a good thing for the younger crowd. The first 2 albums were pretty dark at times and even though there are some darker tracks found here, nothing is as dark as some of the stuff off "The Swiss Army Romance" album.

This is a great album that is hurt only by the time that has passed. Original Dashboard Confessional fans take note: This will bring back memories of the time before you "grew up".

The story of Dashboard Confessional so far has been a dizzying ascent into pop culture following the timid but heartfelt debut release "Swiss Army Romance" in 2000 and 2001's "The Places You Have Come to Fear the Most" (which was a partial re-recording of the debut release), and then punctuated by 2003's "A Mark, A Mission, A Brand, A Scar" album, which perfectly summarized the band's acoustic sound, yet expanded it nicely into a bigger (and sometimes electric) sound. "A Mark" is a highlight among the emo-releases of that era. Expectations for the next album were huge and when finally "Dusk and Summer" cames out in 2006, it was a commwercial letdown for whatever reason, sending the band's singer-songwriter back to the drawing boards. Now comes Dashboard Confessional's 5th studio album.

On "The Shade of Poison Trees" (12 tracks, 33 min.), Carrebba abandons the electric guitar entirely, and tries to rekindle the energy of "The Places You Have Come To Fear the Most". On the opener "Where There's Gold" the sound feels refreshing, as does "These Bones", but as the album carries on (in a flash, with only about a half hour of music), it becomes clear that the songs are missing the hooks from the earlier albums, in particular when you compare this to "The Places" and "A Mark", where it sounded like just about every song could be a hit. After playing "The Shade" a number of times, it is hard to recall any of the individual songs on the album.

Success (or the lack of it) is a curious thing. After the commercial disappointment of "Dusk and Summer", Carrebba felt compelled to retreat to the band's earlier sound, rather than continuing to evolve to whatever would be next. As a result, this album sounds uninspired, even contrived, and "The Shade of Poison Trees" simply does not live up to the band's earlier material, inviting the question where Chris Carrabba and Dashboard Confessional will go from here.