Promised Land

Queensrÿche | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 18, 1994)
• Original Release Date: October 18, 1994
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: EMI Records
• ASIN: B000002TTH
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  CD-ROM  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (72 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #221,706 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Heavy Metal Pink Floyd, January 3, 2002

By 

Eric Barker (Fairbanks, Alaska USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Promised Land (Audio CD)

I'm not much of a Queensryche fan, at one point I was and quickly bought up all of their albums (save the EP and Hear in the Now Frontier), but quickly got bored with most of their material, yes, even "Operation: Mindcrime" (which seems like a adolecent rebelion album) and their Radio friendly "Empire", since I've never cared much for commercial stuff.

The story goes that after their commercial success with "Empire", Queensryche felt really lost, as if they'd reached their goal only to find that it wasn't really what they wanted, hence the dark thematic semi-concept album (at about the level you would call the average Rush album, like Counterparts, a concept album) that revolves around themes of incontentment and depression.

A friend of mine meantioned Promised Land, which he wasn't very much into at the time, but in my haste, I picked it up anyway, and I'm glad I did. With a band that offers a totally new sound every album, like 'Ryche, you're often left wondering, "Why didn't they stick with this and develope off of this style?", to me, at least, this is the album they should have developed their style off of. I keep thinking I'm going to hear other songs on other albums that remind me of this, as most bands don't just pick up a new style all at once, but aside from some tinges on O:MC and Empire, there is no Promised Land aside from Promised Land.

It's not the sort of album that I find myself putting in the player every other week, I tend to have PL binges when I rediscover it's incredible energy and extreme depth of sound. I don't take fault in this, it's not an album for every mood or time in your life, and rediscovery only hightens it's amaizment.

A few weeks ago, I rediscovered this album after getting really into Pink Floyd, and realized the influence Floyd really have on this album. In many ways, the title track could be a cross between Animals and A Momentary Lapse in Reason ("Just Another Movie" or the "New Machine" trilogy come to mind), if you close your eyes, Tate even sounds a bit like Gilmour, and it's got wailing sax and everything! Other songs offer similar colors and moods. "Disconnected" reminds me a lot of modern day Tool, but with a uniqueness all it's own... in fact, this song really comes out of the blue for 'Ryche, there's nothing else remotely like it. "I Am I" is probably the one that comes anywhere near sounding like "Disconnected", and has a lot of great hooks, as well as some infinitely deep production. "Damage" is a highly overlooked track that has one of the heaviest bass riffs I've ever heard. Some other great tracks include "One More Time Around" which is probably the most "Empire" sounding track on this album, and "Someone Else?" which has also recently been re-released in a full band version that is very cool, both versions are very good, and are very beautiful. The only track that doesn't do it for me is "My Global Mind" in which some pretty terrible lyrics just get in the way, which is uncommon for Queensryche.

Now, I know that many diehard Queensryche fans don't hold this album very highly, and if you fit this description, you may or may not be pleased by it. I contest to being a pretty big old school (as well as the new stuff) progressive rock fan, and this album fits right in there. It isn't progmetal the way Dream Theater or Fates Warning are, it's much closer to early Marillion (as well as Brave) or, as I said earlier, a heavy metal version of Pink Floyd.

If you really like this album, I highly recommend the following, which include some similar qualities:

Tool - "Lateralus" or "Ænima"
Pain of Salvation - "The Perfect Element part 1"
Devin Townsend - "Ocean Machine: Biomech" or "Terria"
Pink Floyd - "A Momentary Lapse in Reason"
Marillion - "Clutching At Straws" or "Brave"
Fates Warning - "A Pleasant Shade of Gray"
Behind the Curtain - "'Till Birth Do Us Part"

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What... no 6 Stars?, September 6, 2001

By 

Michael Vogel (Florida, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Promised Land (Audio CD)

Promised Land is an incredible album that stands strong on its own merits, even outside of comparison to other QR efforts.

As others have observantly stated, chances are Promised Land will not "grab" you on the first listen.. It didn't grab me at first; something I believe owes alot to its being so opposite a release than Empire. There's *so* much going on that you *couldn't* get it all on one listen. It isn't possible. But given the chance, reading the lyrics and listening to it atleast *once* with a good set of headphones.. it *will* grab you. It is by far the most personal of their efforts and is, in my opinion, the most masterfully crafted.

From the songwriting to the performances, arrangements, "ambient layering" and production - everything is top-notch. The music, lyrics and Geoff's vocal delivery of each song are perfectly matched. If the raw emotion conveyed in the last verse of "Promised Land" alone doesn't draw some derivative of "whoah" out of you... little else will.

If, as many people seem to feel, "Mindcrime" was the peak of 'ryche's career, then Promised Land is undoubtedly their second wind.

My personal favorites are: 'Damaged', 'Bridge', 'Promised Land', 'One More Time' and 'Someone Else?'.

All eleven tracks are brilliant and Promised Land is a work that no lover of deep, intelligent and masterfully conceived music should pass on giving a chance... or two... or three :-).

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Led Floyd II, a lush polished classic, January 14, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Promised Land (Audio CD)

People whine about HITNF but the truth is Queensryche's sound has evolved considerably all along. The EP was metal. The Warning was metal tinged with progressive. Rage was metal tinged with more progressive and some pop. Mindcrime was metal -- progressive in the sense of telling a story, but musically, metal. Their masterpiece. Empire started the shift to a more lush pop sound, very much in Pink Zeppelin/Led Floyd sort of way while retaining some metal. With Promised Land, the metal was polished to such a smooth mirrored finish it's not really metal at all, but a masterful popcraft and one of the most listenable albums of the last decade. From here things went arguably south, but Promised Land is the Queensryche album the boys and girls, fans and non fans, critics and MTV viewers, can all agree on. Apart from Mindcrime, if you have one 'Ryche, have this one.