Customer Reviews

Wounded Land

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This is one of my absolute favourite CDs. Not only is it my favourite among my Threshold collection - and not a shabby one among them - it is one CD I am always in the mood to listen to.
This also ranks as one of the best debut albums of all time. Based on the ideas and themes in Stephen Donaldson's Thomas Covenant trilogies - see "Lord Foul's Bane" and "The Wounded Land" (from which the title of this CD came) for starters.
Features the excellent vocals of the unparalleled Damian Wilson, who left the band and later returned for the album Extinct Instinct. You can also hear Damian's contributions vocally to Star One and Ayreon. Those are also highly recommended. The Wounded Land is also a great introduction to the duel metal guitar craft of Nick Midson and Karl Groom.
Highlights (if forced to choose some favourites) include: Mother Earth, Sanity's End, Paradox, Keep It With Mine.
Definitely a must have for the serious music fan.

This is Threshold's first album on a remastered CD, with one additional track. And what an impressive debut this was! From the start, Threshold established themselves as one of the best bands in progressive metal. Although similar in certain respects to early Queensryche, their style is actually quite original. Their trademark sound features a combination of heavy rhythm guitars and keyboards, creating a very full background. The lead guitar and upper-range, cream-textured vocals trace out complex melodic themes. The lyrics are intelligent, dealing with such themes as environmental degradation, and the Gulf War. The songwriting is consistently strong; every track on this CD, ranging from the epics to more concise hard rock tracks, is a pleasure to listen to.

Originally released in 1993, Wounded Land was the debut album by British progressive metal band Threshold. I first heard Threshold in 2002, just after Critical Mass was released, and worked my way backwards to this album. Wounded Land is quite a departure from those later efforts.

The things I love most about Threshold's style are absent from this album - Mac's vocals and Richard West's amazing keyboards. I know West did play on this album, but he doesn't have as prominent a role, especially in terms of songwriting, and that makes a huge difference.

Wounded Land is still a very solid progressive metal album, particularly considering it was the band's first release. And let's face it; quality progressive metal albums were few and far between in 1993. The album stands out for its quality songwriting and intelligent lyrics, which take an unflinching look at the day's major issues, including the environment and the first Gulf War. It's also musically a very impressive album with a progressive style that never strays too far into technical self-indulgence. I'm not a fan of Damian Wilson's vocals, but he does a decent enough job here.

I'll confess to absolutely hating this album when I first heard it. It definitely grows on you after a few spins, but there's something in my mind that prevents me from thinking of it as a "real" Threshold album.

NOTE: The 2001 Special Edition release of Wounded Land features digitally remastered sound, the bonus track Intervention (which pre-dated the album), and a host of multimedia extras. At this point, the Special Edition is a lot easier to track down than the original version, so if you haven't already purchased Wounded Land, this is the version to get.