After emo godfathers Sunny Day Real Estate disbanded (again), three of the four original members started a new band called The Fire Theft.

They said often and loudly that they were a completely different project, inspired more by rock bands like Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd than the punk bands that inspired SDRE.

But listening to the record, it’s pretty clear that the distinction is almost purely nominal—especially considering that this vinyl reissue uses the exact same typeface as Diary and The Rising Tide (and the same producer as Diary and LP2).

And let’s get one thing clear: Sunny Day was already inspired by prog rock bands. How It Feels To Be Something On borrowed a recurring riff from Pink Floyd’s “Shine On You Crazy Diamonds.” The Rising Tide had much more to owe Peter Gabriel than Joe Strummer.

But as The Fire Theft, the group indulges in their love of classical rock and roll with a little less self-consciousness. Sunny Day’s mythology always seemed to cast a seriousness on everything they did. On The Fire Theft, the group has a little more fun.

Jeremy Enigk’s peerless croon is as soaring as ever, but he throws some good old fashioned guitar solos to flex some muscle. Strings and synths fill out the atmosphere. “Oceans Apart” lands somewhere between Sigur Rós and Jimmy Page. “Chain” is as gleeful a hard rock song as the musicians have ever done together. “Waste Time” grooves with a growling synth borrowed from Bon Jovi. “Backward Blues” is literally just a few minutes of a blues jam played in reverse.

But just because they’re having fun doesn’t mean that there are no moving moments on here. That couldn’t be further from the truth. “Uncle Mountain” opens the record with an emotional scope that is more heart-rending than anything under the Sunny Day Real Estate moniker. The piano driven “Heaven” is a power ballad that might have become a karaoke staple if it was sung by someone else twenty years earlier. The lachrymose “Carry You” could have easily fit anywhere on the last two SDRE records, and no one would have been the wiser.

But at the end of the day, the taxonomy of and separations between The Fire Theft, Sunny Day Real Estate, and Jeremy Enigk’s solo output is moot. What matters is that this is an absolutely incredible record—the perfect stepping stone from The Rising Tide and Jeremy’s World Waits from 2006. And I am absolutely stunned that it was finally pressed to vinyl. After the dissolution of the label that put it out and its seemingly forgotten status among the SDRE fanbase, I was sure that I would have to deal with my scratched CD copy forever. But the vinyl pressing is absolutely gorgeous. The wax brings out the power they put behind these rock songs, and the new cover (with spot foil!) is stunning. Now if only World Waits could get the same treatment so I can complete my Jeremy collection.