Tidal Wave is the seventh studio album by American rock band Taking Back Sunday.

In February 2017, a music video was released for "Call Come Running", and the group went on a UK tour.

Taking Back Sunday released their sixth album Happiness Is in early 2014 through Hopeless Records.

[4] In an interview with The Aquarian Weekly in early December 2015, vocalist Adam Lazzara reckoned that there would be another writing session before the group goes to record their next album.

[5] During a holiday show in late December, Taking Back Sunday performed a new song entitled "Tidal Wave".

[6] While in preparation to record their next album, guitarist John Nolan was expecting a second child and wanted to be nearby.

[7] The remaining band members that resided in other states – guitarist Eddie Reyes in Ohio, and drummer Mark O'Connell and bassist Shaun Cooper in New York[9] – lived between Lazzara and Nolan's houses in Charlotte.

[12] Nolan said Sapone had frequently talked about Achtung Baby (1991) by U2, how it was that group's seventh record "and it challenged people's idea of who they were".

[13] It subsequently became a reference point for the group, in addition to INXS, Robert Palmer and the Cure, which "isn't necessarily obvious when you listen to Tidal Wave but on some level did influence it".

[21] Allie Volpe of Nylon wrote that the album "deals with the trials of homesickness as an adult and the changes that come with maturity".

[21] Lazzara said the song's intro was originally placed prior to one of the choruses and that it was "almost like you were running as fast as you can someone just ripped the carpet out from under you and all of a sudden you're just floating, or like you took flight".

[10] Nolan said "I Felt It Too" was one of the slower songs on the album and it "really grabs me in a certain way: it makes me feel something every time I listen to it".

[32] Cooper said O'Connell spotted the picture on Lazzara's Instagram account – "it's one of those happy accidents type of thing".

[18] Nolan said the group "liked the juxtaposition of it being this calm serene thing but then since the album is called Tidal Wave it gives you the feeling that something might go wrong in that scenario".

[17] He added that the photo was originally "more colorful and vibrant", until the group "dulled it out and made it look like it was on an old weathered album cover".

[17] Also on the same day, a music video was released for "Tidal Wave",[38] which consisted of concert and behind-the-scenes footage from the Taste of Chaos tour[39] and was directed by Greg Hunter.

[42] Leanne Aciz Stanton of The Aquarian Weekly said the video "revolves around a good-looking couple that goes to the beach for a campfire party" where the band members hang out, then "All of a sudden, [Lazzara] start[s] spewing blood everywhere".

[43] On February 7, 2017, a music video was released for "Call Come Running", directed by Brawner[47] and filmed in Lazzara's neighborhood in Charlotte.

[55] AllMusic reviewer James Christopher Monger called the album "their most mature and diverse -- yet seamless -- set of songs to date".

[24] Contactmusic.com's Alex Lai wrote that for most of the album, it "moves along pleasantly enough, broken up by equal measures of excellence and tedium".

[56] The Denver Post writer Ian Gassman said that the album "might be a rush of nostalgia for the band itself, but not for their fans ...

reviewer Adam Feibel said that the album had a "polished sound with a slight edge" to it that was "shaped by some newly tapped influences.

[25] He also said that it was "about time Taking Back Sunday shook things up, so the high points make Tidal Wave an effort that should please dedicated fans and appease the sceptics somewhat".

[25] Newsday's Glenn Gamboa said the group managed to blend a "number of rock genres to their wills to create their most diverse album yet while still maintaining a cohesive sound".

[30] Rod Yates of Rolling Stone Australia wrote that the album "feels cut from the same cloth" as Happiness Is, "only it's not quite as well tailored".

[58] Sputnikmusic staff member SowingSeason wrote that at its "core, Tidal Wave feels like a reinvention of what this band represents" and "the most complete recording" of their career.

[28] He added that none of the group's other albums have "such a varied approach without sacrificing any quality or altering the record's comprehensive aura".

[27] Upset reviewer Heather McDaid wrote that there was "a marked change" for the album: "the choice to take a leap into something new or stay on the same path, and they chose to evolve".

[60] GIGsoup contributor Simon Carline wrote that the group had "a back catalogue that most bands of their age and genre would kill for, 'Tidal Wave' simply adds a few more favourites to the ranks".

He said the album was "perhaps the biggest pivot in Taking Back Sunday's career—away from the scene that made them famous and toward a more wide-ranging brand of rock".