<<they are very genuine, very humble and yes, musically ambitious>> As for the band being genuine and humble, I've never seen any aspect of this after meeting them. I've bumped into Dan and Jeremy twice, both times Dan gave me a big "I'm a rockstar, I know I'm wonderful" act, and Jeremy just ignored me and treated me like an asshole (there were three of us and him outside Slim's this last time, the only people on the street, and he still did not say one word to us even after we said hi and complimented his band). SDRE has turned into a huge conglamorate "rawk" band, a band who knows they're good, and has let it go to their heads. This is not the friendly, likable group of artistic pioneers it once was. This is a band who has left behind any artistic integrity they had in search of the almighty dollar. I used to think there was nothing worse than a mediocre band who thinks they're great. Sunny Day's worse then that; they're a medicore band who used to be great and thinks they still are. The Rising Tide is a joke. The prog-rock finger is pointed simply because the album is a wannabe prog-rock album, from the cryptic, mystical lyrics, to the overblown production, to the neo-new age artwork, right down to the "artistic" pictures fo themselves in the liners. They list every goddamn instrument and who plays what on each track, like someone would care that on "The Rising Tide" Jeremy did vocals, bass, guitar, piano, and keys, or that Dan played a lap steel on "Killed By an Angel." Prog-rock ultimately brings around an image of pretentiousness, and that's exactly what SDRE has on an unprecedented level. They got lazy, they claimed importance and respect they didn't deserve, and this is the result: a half-assed album with gobs and layers of production and added crap to cover that THERE ARE NO REALLY GOOD SONGS ON IT. Maybe the ho-hum-nobody-gives-a-shit reaction to it will give the band a wake up call and they'll stick to the music instead of fantasy visions of arenas and devil signed hands flung up in the air. But since they're already at work again(!) on another album, I really doubt that. To see what I listen to, go to my blog and click "music." from Charlie Wagner | AIM=themadlord np: Enon, "Believo!" band=http://speedlab.cjb.net/ blog=http://thepleasuresofzero.tripod.com/ zine=http://scientificreviews.tripod.com/ _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com
Since it seems everyone is putting their own .02 cents in on this subject, I figured I should as well.
I should say that first of all I like TRT. It is not my favorite SDRE album (that would be HIFTBSO), more like second or third. Some of the things you guys are complaining about are the things that I think are charming about TRT:
the"overproduction"- i am not one to always like glossy production, but I really like how the album was produced. I think it fit with the direction that the songs were taking. Frankly, its refreshing to hear an "indie" band put out an album with sharp production. I thought the piano parts that are lower in the mix are some of the most appealing parts of the songs. Lastly, its not like they arent backing this production up with awesome live performances of the songs. Production is (usually) only bad when you cant measure up live.
the lyrics, vocals - true, the lyrical style is a bit of a departure from past albums, with Dan doing much of the writing. I wouldnt mind seeing more of a mixture (50/50) of styles in the future. And yes, the album has its cheesy points (...and its candy?) but altogether I have come to enjoy much of the writing. "The Ocean" is near tops for them for writing, as is "Rain Song", and "Dissappear". Those songs move me and so do many of the others. One other thing that I must say is that I think the albums vocals are awesome - especially on the chorus of "rain song" and before and during the verses on "dissappear" (Lost and tired...). The melodies are very well thought out - a strength, not a weakness, in my humble opinion.
the eternal "prog" factor- you know, Ive heard this over and over. It seems that everytime a band gets the least bit ambitious in their sound somebody labels them as a new "yes" or something. I can see where people are coming from in saying TRT has a PROGRESSIVE sound - hell, i thought HIFTBSO had a progressive sound - but what you have to do is try and separate yourself from visions of neon spaceships and realize that SDRE is not that kind of band. They are very genuine, very humble and yes, musically ambitious.
Overall, i think TRT is a great album - not their best, certainly. What it does is makes me wonder where they are going from here... thats the cool thing about TRT. It is a little awkward, but to me it sounds like they are on the edge of something good and they have to grow just a little bit more into it.
in case anyone is still curious, I listen to a lot of different stuff: radiohead, fugazi, bad religion, deftones, built to spill, pavement, springsteen, the clash, etc. etc.
Phil
Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com
