Before I get to The Rising Tide, Sunny Day Real Estate’s new release, let me set the stage. From the beginning SDR was cloaked in mystery, a year after releasing their critically acclaimed 1994 debut, Diary, they broke up amidst rumors of newfound religion and defection to a big-name group (Foo Fighters). Like an urban legend of rock, the band’s popularity and mystique grew with the posthumous release of LP2. Rabid fans kept the band alive on the internet and in 1997 SDR reunited and released How It Feels to Be Something On, to critical acclaim.

The first thing that went through my mind when listening to Sunny Day Real Estate’s new album, The Rising Tide was how much they sound like Rush! The second thing was how much they sound like Rush. You can take that any way you wish. Rush was a great band in their day, ground breaking, influential, and they were from Canada. Hailing from Seattle, SDR seemed to have missed that whole “grunge thing” and are decidedly old school in their approach to rock.

The Rising Tide takes us back to the time of anthemic songs filled with vague lyrics about disenfranchised youth. Chock full of sweeping guitars, thundering drums and Jeremy Enigk’s Geddy Lee like voice, The Rising Tide would have been right at home alongside classic albums by Rush, Marillion or Kansas.