For the longest time I thought Sunny Day Real Estate was how rock music was supposed to sound. I patterned my early songwriting off of what I felt was their intent. This band, along with Smashing Pumpkins, are one of the very few that I can say I was ever drunk on. I ate up every note of everything that the did.So what happened to them?Personal take, they stopped rocking. I don't want to sound like a Jack Black wannabe here, but if you start out rocking you kind of have to keep rocking. For example, here is a clip of William Goldsmith recording drums for the song, "The Ocean" from the record "The Rising Tide".William Goldsmith records drums for "The Ocean"For anyone who knows the song like I do, it's pretty safe to say you were a little surprised at the intensity with which the drums were played. I mean, he is honestly beating them skins like they owe him money. Now I know there is probably little chance that this is the take they used, but I still think it makes my point. At some point the band started to move into this kind of "soft rock" territory which, while beautiful and enjoyable to listen to, doesn't stand up there with their earlier work. I don't know if it was age, or experience or the fact that the singer found Jesus (and you know what, FUCK Jesus for constantly screwing up the work of great performers) but they lost their edge at some point after the release of LP2. As contrast, here is the song "Seven" from their first album "Diary". (It's truncated from it's album running time to get the video under 4 minutes. Yes, there was a time when it was believed that no one would watch a video that was longer than 4 minutes)It stands in great contrast to songs from "The Rising Tide", which wasn't recorded that many years later. The songs from "Diary" and "LP2" still make my blood boil, while the stuff on "How It Feels To Be Something On" and "The Rising Tide" are pretty, but don't evoke the same gut reaction ( with a couple of exceptions).Now I'm not someone to be talking about making a flat out rock record- I have a pertty bad habit of over-thinking my own work and trying too hard to make it "balanced"- but then again, I'm not loved by many for my emotional intensity.I saw them the last time they played the Detroit are at Clutch Cargos in Pontiac. This is one of the few truly enjoyable concert experiences of my life, matched only by the fact that my girlfriend and I sat about six feet from the stage when we saw U2 (I could have jumped from my seat and practically landed on Larry Mullins drum riser). Dan Hoerner, the main guitarist, played the whole show with the biggest smile on his face- I had never seen anyone who looked so happy just to be making music. Jeremy Enigk's voice was damn near pitch perfect this night. The bass player for this tour, who was not an original member, and I made a connection. I was making sure to support him since he was just kind of a replacement, so I made sure he knew he was loved that night. It was one of the best times I have had at a show and one of the few good memories I hold on to of me and my ex.I don't know what it is, but the Fire Theft just never did it for me; I thought they were just trying to hard. I think that Enigk's solo work began to pull on everything he did and it affected the way all the band material sounded from the last Sunny day records to the Fire Theft. It's too damn bad. I was really moved by Sunny Day; they were professors in my personal music school. I'll always have their old lessons for review, but they have nothing left to teach me. They didn't abandon me, but I sure feel left alone.Can't Stop The Signal