Customer Reviews

Promised Land

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I'm a pretty big Dar Williams fan--I have all of her albums and I've seen her in concert a few times. I like Dar Williams because of her funny, storytelling folk rock style; for me her best songs are always the ones like "The Babysitter's Here", "Christians and the Pagans" and "Spring Street" which capture a narrative in song.

I was a disappointed by Dar's last album "My Better Self" which I thought lost some of her signature narrative style in favor of adult pop appeal. "Promised Land" brings that narrative style back. While its not quite as strong as it was in some of Dar's earlier albums, it is clearly there, taking you back to the old Dar. The album is enjoyable to listen to and sing-able like the best of Dar's work.

I would recommend this album to fan's of Dar William's older work. People who are only familiar with "My Better Self" may be surprised, but I think this album is still worth a listen.

I've been a fan of Dar's since the beginning. I purchased the Honesty Room before it was on Razor and Tie and I think her first three albums are some of the best albums of the nineties. However, unlike Diane Zeigler whose debut album came out around the same time as the Honesty Room and has remained consistent although not as prolific, Dar's work has gotten progressively less interesting. I still like it -- just not as much as I did.

I was excited when I read that she was working with producer Brad Wood and was going for a more pop sound on this record, but the results were more to the folk end of the spectrum. Don't get me wrong - I love folk music -- but this album was just not very interesting.

It's funny. When I got this record I popped it in my car player and one song really jumped out at me -- Troubled Times. I thought, "Wow. That's the best song that Dar has written in years. What a great melody." Then I read the liner notes and found out it was written by Collingwood and Schlesinger of Fountains of Wayne. No wonder it had a great hook.

I don't dislike this album; I just don't like it that much either.

I have been a fan since the early days. I had the pleasure of meeting her when she came to Tampa several years ago, opening for Patty Larkin. She visited a local record store to promote her appearance, singing two or three of her songs for me and five other people... I was enchanted, by her lyrics, her distinctive melodies and her delightful voice. In my opinion this is her strongest album since the 'babysitter' days; appealing both to her die-hard devotees and now to a wider audience of the more 'pop'-oriented enthusiasts. All the songs are strong, lyrically and melodically... the reasons for her success thus far. Highly recommended!

It seems funny to me that whenever someone branches out and tries different things...or god forbid becomes more popular with the masses that they are either a sell-out or not as interesting as an artist any more.
It is true that this CD has more of a pop element to it, but it is very well done. The songs are well written and catchy as one would suspect from Dar Williams and as a whole the entire thing sounds gorgeous.
I would certainly steer people who are new to Dar Williams back to her earlier work if only to see how she has moved stylistically from that point to this one.
The bottom line is that if her name is on the cover, you can be sure that you are in store for a pleasurable experience from one of this generations truly gifted singer-songwriters.
I for one am glad that Dar Williams has just not stuck to one sound and aimed to churn the same album out time after time.

I had never heard of Dar Williams before hearing an interview with her on NPR. Intrigued by the pieces of songs played as part of that interview, I bought Promised Land.

It contains a wonderfully varied set of songs, all with interesting settings and well sung. Williams has a wonderful voice that she uses well to enhance both the sound her music and the meaning behind the lyrics -- although sometimes that makes it hard to hear the exact words. I quickly found myself singing parts of them to myself during the day, Some, like "The Business of Things" can really stay with you.

As a university professor of psychology, I was bowled over the first time I heard "Buzzer." I can think of know other recording based on a psychology experiment, even one as famous as Milgrim's work on obedience.

I have only been familiar with Dar Williams for a couple of years. My boyfriend has been a big long time fan. This is my favorite CD thus far. This past summer, we saw her at an small outdoor concert and where she performed these tracks without accompaniment. We couldn't wait until this CD came out and have enjoyed every track.

IMHO, Dar just keeps getting better & better. This is great songwriting, supported with great arrangements/production, and a beautiful voice. I think this CD will satisfy folkies and rockers alike. Dar's songs are intelligent & insightful, so it is likely they will never be played on dumbed-down-I-struggled-thru-eighth-grade Commerical FM. And that is too bad because this is excactly the kind of stuff we should play for our friends who think there has been no good music since they left college 20-30 years ago. I like every song on here, although "Buzzer" is particularly appropriate to the turmoil & political failure we are experiencing in the US today. I highly recommend this to everyone.

While some reviews may suggest that this album didn't quite live up to Dar's previous efforts, I have to say, I LOVE this album. It hasn't left my cd player since I finally got the chance to listen to it a couple of weeks ago. Every track seems to have some ultra-clever snippet of lyrics that just draws you into the song as you wait to hear what's coming next. This, plus the catchy tempo of "It's Alright" hooked me with the first verse. My favorite track has to be "Into The Woods". How can you not love a song with lyrics that include a "windy-path, angry a@@ woman who will eat you?" The unexpected vocals by Suzanne Vega on this song was also a wonderful surprise. Dar is capable of some amazing ballads as well. Her vocals are particularly beautiful on "Holly Tree", whose folksy style blends perfectly with the lyrics about a farmer's pregnant widow. "Buzzer" is another one of those lyrical gems, this one about a test subject in the Milgram social psychology experiments from the early 60s. Like Kris Delmhorst, one of my other favorite songwriters, Dar Williams is one of those rare artists that can paint entire landscapes with only the lyrics to her songs. That she can set them to such well-crafted tunes is just an added bonus indeed.

Can Dar Williams present anything less than brilliant? Perhaps, but don't look for anything less here. This album is just one more example of why Dar is one of the greatest folk musicians of our time, perhaps even one of the greatest musicians period. It's not just the music, it's also the message that sets apart Dar. Like the lyrics of It's Alright: "I know change is a bad thing, Breaks me down into a sorry sad thing, not some iridescent grateful butterfly." One of my favorite songs, Troubled Times, is a cover, but I almost didn't know as Dar's presentation of it was all hers. Dar Williams has always been an exceptional artist, but follow her work and you can see how her maturity is shadowed in her art.

Not Dar's best, but close to it. Very well recorded, with great folk-pop energy on "It's Alright" & "Troubled Times". Dar at her sweetest in "The Tide Falls Away" and "You Are Everyone". An unorthodox song & recording in "Buzzer", but the more I listen to it, the more I respect it; a great piece of history about disturbing psychological testing. Well-produced, featuring brass instruments on "The Business of Things" and "You Are Everyone". Not quite her best CD, as there isn't any standout song here on the scale of "When I Was a Boy", "February", "Spring Street", or "The Beauty of the Rain" that knocks 'em dead, but impressive enough.