Release of Rides

In early 1999, they released their third album, Rides , recorded at Ocean Way Studios in Los Angeles, used by the Beach Boys for Pet Sounds and Michael Jackson for Thriller . They swapped instruments on some tracks, with Stringer and Greensmith playing guitar and Bessant singing on one song. Working again with Glow producer George Drakoulias, the band also enlisted the skills of David Campbell (father of American artist Beck ) for the string arrangements. Rose Stone of Sly and the Family Stone fame acts as a backing singer. Jack told NME magazine that the album was showing a more mature side to Reef but they were still having fun, using slide guitars, and trying to achieve a “filmic” feel to some tracks. The album was well received by critics but did not match the earlier success of its predecessor, Glow .