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There's no crybaby posing here, no deployment of cliché. Even if SDRE had a hand in the popularization of the emo movement, the Fire Theft's music is much too personal to be anything other than a therapy session, both for Enigk and his musical co-conspirators and friends.
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Entertainment WeeklyOld fans may dislike their classic-rock ambition and orchestral gloss, but the Fire Theft could be the rare spin-off that equals its progenitor. [10 Oct 2003, p.124]
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MojoA vast, often splendid affair that recalls the lavish expanse of Roger Waters-era Pink Floyd alongside the psychedelic crash of The Who. [Dec 2003, p.122]
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FilterSome of the most grandiose music this side of ELO. [#8, p.108]
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Alternative PressYes, it sounds like Yes, and, no, I don't mean that in a good way. [Nov 2003, p.99]
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Hard rock that is neither hard nor rock.
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By trying to apply big rock riffs and 1970s prog structures to Enigk's bare and vulnerable style, the Fire Theft seem to be struggling for a new sound.
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Too much of the edge is gone, too much emphasis is placed on guitar solos, and the guitars sound, at times, rather flat and listless.
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The passion that once seeped from the group now appears manufactured.
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SpinA prog-rock field trip that will give Diary fans something (else) to cry about. [Dec 2003, p.128]
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Unfortunately, The Fire Theft actually sees the band indulging in ersatz approximations of Yes and Genesis' epic odysseys much more deeply.
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Oddly formless and forgettable, The Fire Theft finds Sunny Day Real Estate diminished in more ways than one.
User score distribution:
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Positive: 8 out of 9
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Mixed: 0 out of 9
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Negative: 1 out of 9
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RobMccDec 10, 2004
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wackymanMay 25, 2004
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PatMNov 18, 2003