Classical unified field theories describe the properties of the electromagnetic field as a purely geometric phenomenon. Einstein tried to form a generalized theory of gravitation that would unify the gravitational and electromagnetic forces (and perhaps others), guided by a belief in a single origin for the entire set of physical laws. These attempts initially concentrated on additional geometric notions such as vierbeins and "distant parallelism", but eventually centered around treating both the metric tensor and the affine connection as fundamental fields. (Because they are not independent, the metric-affine theory was somewhat complicated.) In general relativity, these fields are symmetric (in the matrix sense), but
Unified Theory (band) only. "Unified Theory" went on to sell over 16,000 albums by 2002. "California" and "Wither" were both released as singles. However, with the exception of Seattle, most major market radio stations avoided playing "California." Critically, the album received generally positive reviews. Reviewing for Allmusic, Greg Prato stated that "Unified Theory's self-titled debut shows that Shinn has brought a more modern rock sound to the proceedings, mixing Jeff Buckley and Radiohead with Smith and Thorn's retro rock stylings" and that the "12-track debut is a refreshing break from the norm." Lina Lecaro, of the "Los Angeles Times", describes the album as