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 JosephesPrice: $13.98
