The Rising Tide
by Sunny Day Real Estate
Metascore
72

Generally favorable reviews - based on 13 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 8 out of 13
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 13
  3. Negative: 0 out of 13
  1. AllMusic
    80
    It's some of the band's fullest-sounding work, rich with strings and keyboard flourishes... The Rising Tide is one of Sunny Day Real Estate's -- and 2000's -- most impressive albums.
  2. Billboard
    50
    There's an odd allegiance to the overblown prog-rock theatrics of Rush... and Yes... that seems incongruous alongside earnest Beatles homages... and straight-up, gloom-rock confessionals.
  3. CDNow
    50
    The album, as a whole, is not a washout; it just doesn't live up to the hype and expectations.
  5. Ink Blot Magazine
    90
    It is a strange album for Sunny Day in that it lingers in an abstract realm that the band previously only hinted at.... album is SDRE's most mature work to date. It is so musically dense and complex.
  6. Magnet
    80
    It's as if SDRE was trying to make every album it thought Rush should have cut after Moving Pictures - simultaneously dark, textural, riff-based and cliche-free, yet filled with the sort of sweeping gestures and lofty arrangements you usually find in vintage prog.
  7. MTV.com
    70
    The slick strings and piano emphasized later in the album aren't as moving as the cascading guitar and Enigk's vulnerable-boy vanity.
  8. Nude As The News
    60
    SDRE has always flirted with prog-rock machinations, but some of these songs are just too over the top to be written off as experiments in musical nostalgia.
  9. Pitchfork
    59
    So, essentially, this is the pop record '70s prog bands would make in the '80s-- Big Generator and Power Windows for a new generation. Aside from two major blunders nothing is overtly offensive, but simply lachrymose and lactose.
  10. Rolling Stone
    60
    The grandiose production, by Lou Giordano (Goo Goo Dolls, Live), matches the quasi-mystical visions mapped out in the songs....
  11. Sonicnet
    70
    On this latest offering there's hardly any indication that the band was ever the product of post-grunge Seattle.... But this refined sound is also where The Rising Tide starts to sink.
  12. Spin
    70
    But it's like the guitars have had their teeth fixed and bleached, like a extremely loud Colgate commercial.
  13. The A.V. Club
    80
    Another remarkable, evolutionary chapter in the stormy history of one of rock's best young bands.
  14. Wall of Sound
    71
    The band is beguilingly hypnotic, making music that is decidedly off-kilter. Guitars swirl, grind, and mesh with fluid rhythms and haunting melodies.

Awards & Rankings

84
#84 Best Album of 2000
55
#55 Most Discussed Album of 2000
29
#29 Most Shared Album of 2000

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
8.7

Universal acclaim- based on 15 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 14 out of 15
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 15
  3. Negative: 1 out of 15
  1. hassageene
    Apr 27, 2022
    10
    There are simply no bad songs on this album, everything in its place. I love it so much!
  2. WamiqC
    Feb 26, 2007
    10
    There are actually a couple of weaker moments. But in large part this album is the shimmering realization of everything that makes this band There are actually a couple of weaker moments. But in large part this album is the shimmering realization of everything that makes this band so loved and so revered. Mature and musically complex, and Jeremy's voice has never been better utilized or produced.… Full Review »
  3. JonathanH
    Feb 4, 2006
    7
    great songs that seem to miss the mark at some points, due to the production. the reason why this is so fascinating is because of the fact great songs that seem to miss the mark at some points, due to the production. the reason why this is so fascinating is because of the fact that it came from this band. not a blunder, but another chapter. this band has been moving sideways since it started, upwards when they re-united- and then sideways again... so they've actually been moving diaginal, which is the best way to move.… Full Review »
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