The Rising Tide

Sunny Day Real Estate

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 20, 2000)
• Original Release Date: June 20, 2000
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Time Bomb
• ASIN: B00004TQSN
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (121 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #25,669 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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  Music > Indie Music > Alternative Rock > Hardcore & Punk > Emo

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
When the defunct Sunny Day Real Estate regrouped for How It Feels to Be Something On in 1998, the band's fans were divided. Some saw it as a collection of frontman Jeremy Enigk's most potent songs, and others dismissed it because it didn't sound like the band's previous efforts. The Rising Tide will probably thin the herd even more, not because it's a bad album but because the band once again has gone traipsing through the fields to find a new pasture in which to graze. Tide engages their emo-antics with the kind of seven-cornered songs that made up Enigk's solo release, Return of the Frog Queen, but this time they're topped with a dose of progressive-rock overdrive. It sounds a bit hard to swallow, but producer Lou Giordano deserves a hand for making a shift of sound go down smooth. --Jason Josephes

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You people are rediculous, March 25, 2005

By	A. J. Hughes - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Let me start by saying, this is the BEST SDRE or SDRE-related album, no contest. Do NOT listen to these other clowns, lest you pass on this slab of sheer beauty and brilliance. Anyway...

Forging momentum from the stunning "How It Feels to be Something On," Sunny Day Real Estate manage to outdo themselves again despite the loss of bassist Nate Mendel. 2000's The Rising Tide offers a blend of accessible yet hardly commercial post-hardcore and indie rock. Cascading melodies effuse and then break over patchy, punchy drumming as vocalist Jeremy Enigk serenades the listener into oblivion. Its orchestration vociferates a more polished sound than previous efforts, while progressive elements have nearly vanished. Nevertheless, this is a fresh, utterly free sound drenched in creative genius and musical prowess.

Production: "The Rising Tide" marks the band's major label debut with Arista subsidiary Time Bomb; and let's just say: the funds for recording were sufficient. Producer Lou Giordano achieves god-like status with the album's enormous assembly and production. Of course, most emo dorks are uncomfortable with crystal production because it's, well, not punk enough.

Vocals: The talents of vocalist Jeremy Enigk reach new heights - literally - as his savory shrills resonate to the heavens with unmistakable warmth. It's this warmth, I think, that vindicates such a dicey vocal policy. In fact, it's Enigk's vocal policy that makes "The Rising Tide" so remarkable. For the sake of comparison, I might say Enigk sounds a bit like glam-crooner Kevin Cronin (Reo Speedwagon) in a very grotesque sort of way, though the comparison is by no means interchangeable. Unlike Cronin, Enigk's vocals possess a natural gumption, which compliments the instrumentation perfectly. Objectivism aside, surely this is the voice I was seeking.

Song Writing: Although guitarist Dan Hoerner is undoubtedly capable, Enigk is responsible for most of the song writing. Apparently, several of the songs - including the ethereal "Tearing in My Heart" and the vehement "Faces in Disguise," some of my personal favorites - were initially set to be released on Enigk's second solo album. It's unlikely, however, that they would've been executed so brilliantly without the help of both Hoerner and drummer William Goldsmith. In any case, "The Rising Tide" is a showcase of layered, mid-tempo guitars and atmospheric keys, ranging from delicate strumming with harmonious arpeggio to full-fledged power chords. What sets the mix apart, I think, is an overwhelming feeling that it's all constantly melting. I don't know how else to describe it. The music is undoubtedly lush; yet it's anything but organic. In fact, it's mechanized orchestration and execution and surreal ambience make it utterly alien. Imagine sailing the skies in a hot-air balloon on a crisp, clear night - the spectacle of a lighted city below - and the boy or girl of your dreams ensconced in your arms, as the most appropriate music imaginable gently seethes from the boombox on the floor of the carriage. "The Rising Tide" is that appropriate music.

Drumming: First off, if you're at all familiar with SDRE as well as the current state of the post-hardcore/"emocore"/indie scene, surely you're comfortable labeling drummer William Goldsmith a bohemian. His style is so securely misleading, as the man blatantly wallops his kit yet superbly manages the ever-changing ballistics of the melody. Furthermore, his beats are played with such conviction.

In all seriousness, fans of innovative, dreamy musical substance cannot afford to neglect this album. Its musicians are gods, its production golden. Like any delicacy, you must capitalize; like no other delicacy, you must indulge repeatedly. And you will.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars a note-worthy album, June 21, 2000

By A Customer

The newest effort by SDRE is by far not the best. But it is still beautiful in every way as every other release of their's. The album starts of with a bang with 'Killed by an Angel' and slows down a bit. Then 'Snibe' song #5 picks up with the normal SDRE effect. Followed by 'The Ocean'. It is tied with 'Faces in Disguise' as the two which are my favorites. Then the album ends with the title track, a good song to end an album. It leaves you wanting more. So you end up listening to the entire thing over again. Enigk's lyrics are still emotional and poetic as always, and end up singing or humming along. Goldsmith's drumming is magnificent as it is in the others. And Hoerner's guitaring leaves you unaware that of absence of Enigk's guitar since he plays the bass on this glorious release. All in all it is a great album, but it is a close forth to the other spectacular albums released by this unique and talented band. There have been only a few cds that I have bought on the day they were released and this is one I am glad I did.

15 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Ever heard of Indie-Prog? ****, April 7, 2005

By	Janson Kemp "jwk" (Dallas, TX USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

These underground bands have some rabid fans. Words like "Sell-out" and "Poseur" get used a little too often; as though the plebians shouting the profanities were being complimented by the accusations. No matter. Truth is I CAN hear why many fans would be disappointed with Sunny Day Real Estates last two albums. "How it Feels to Be Something On" sounds worlds apart from the basement recording "Diary." And "Rising Tide" deepens the gap. But something critics and fans will NEVER understand is that you can like two things. Punk and progressive rock are mortal enemies, polar opposites, like water and oil... or so we've been told. Try this - take a CD, put it into your player, listen to it, and ask yourself this question, "Do I like this?" Internet critics have taught people to ask "Am I supposed to like this?" or "Is this an acceptable genre" or even, heaven forbid, "is it COOL to like this?" Now try this: if you answered "Yes" to "do I like this?", your answer to "is this cool?" should also be yes. Feel weird? You'll get used to it.

Now back to the record. I love (absolutely love) both sides of the "heads-tails" coin that is SDRE's career. "Diary" is simply one of the great albums of the 90's and one of the greatest debuts in alternative music history, if not rock history. "How it Feels to Be Something On" was and is a masterpiece, both on paper and in reality. Most fans can accept this. But "Rising Tide" being a good record? "But, it meshes indie and prog! Those are polar opposites on the cool spetrum!" The music however, speaks for itself. The hat-trick worked. Jeremy Enigk emerges with the best vocals of his career, and this indie band melds punk concpets ("Snibe") that sound like Rush ("Television," "Rising Tide"). Recreating the wheel's not a bad way for the 90's best indie band to call it a day.

Overall: 8 out of 10.