798. Queensrÿche / Promised Land. 1994. 1.5/5

By the time 1994 had arrived, Queensrÿche had made an indelible impression upon my music loves. Their first three albums had improved on each other, the latter of those which by now had reached legendary status, whilst its follow up had taken a little more time to grow on me, but before too long had also reached a status of invincibility. It had been four years since the release of Empire, and now finally the follow up was being released. Aware that I had put too much pressure on the last album early, expecting it to be a masterpiece like the album that had preceded it, I was adamant that Promised Land would not be judged too quickly or harshly by myself, that I would give it the time required to grow on me and no doubt become as indispensable as those other Queensrÿche albums had become.

To be honest, I am glad that I took this approach with this album, because on those first couple of listens when I first put the CD in my stereo, I could easily have taken it out, put it back in its cover and thrown it out the window, never to listen to it again. If not for Geoff Tate's distinctive vocals, I would barely have believed that this was a Queensrÿche album.  To say it was a shock would be understating the disbelief that I had while first listening to the album. It wasn't a shock it was SHOCKING! Where were the drums?! Where were the duelling guitars?! Where was ANYTHING that resembled the Queensrÿche I had come to love? Surely this was a mistake, that I had been given the wrong CD in the wrong cover? Yes, I could easily have put this back on the shelf never to be pulled out again, but I recalled my promise, my need to give this album time to grow on me like Empire had, and to then become as beloved to me as that album is. So I kept giving it every chance - at work, in the car, at home.
"9:28 A.M." is a concoction of sounds and noises used as an intro to the album. I don't like it, I think it just sucks a minute out before you finally move into "I Am I". Perhaps that was necessary to prepare you, because this isn't the most interesting song Queensrÿche has ever recorded. Reasonable vocally, but as a song it still seems to be lacking something. The fact that Chris DeGarmo is using a cello and even a sitar during this song gives it a very middle eastern sound, something that doesn't make it beholden to me. "Damaged" is by a long shot the best song on the album, though that may not be saying much. It is the closest by far to a traditional Queensrÿche song, and really should have been a springboard for the rest of the album, the lead off to be followed by the strong middle section of up-tempo songs. Instead, we get "Out of Mind" which is a soft ballad, with the lack of power immediately noticeable. The hopes of the album start to fall from this point. "Bridge" provides more of the same, a lacklustre song that crawls at a snails pace and very nearly drops you off to sleep.
"Promised Land" and "Disconnected" are almost a throw back to the past, to the 1960's and 1970's when the progressive rock movement was taking shape, and was all about songs like this. Someone once mentioned to me that they thought it reminded them of Pink Floyd, with the big musical expanses with little occurring except the progressive-like freeform instrumental extensions. Perhaps I should mention here that I HATE Pink Floyd and that kind of expansive crap! No doubt some members of this band use Pink Floyd as an inspiration. It's not for me, and if this is the future, then let me off here please. Geoff Tate even contributes saxophone on both of these songs. It's almost like really bad elevator music. "Lady Jane" reintroduces the piano element and still misses the mark by a long way.
The closest the band comes to producing anything remotely interesting and like their earlier work (apart from "Damaged" is on a song such as "My Global Mind", where Tate's doubled harmony vocals are joined with a slightly more noticeable solid rhythm and then a brief spurt of the harmonic guitars. But even here we move along in a stagnant mood, hardly getting out of first gear, before having the reflecting middle section again. "One More Time" ends that journey as well, delving back into places best left unturned.
"Someone Else" is the album closer, and is performed only by Tate on vocals and DeGarmo on piano. It is a hundred miles away from what you would expect. Compare it to the closer on the previous album, "Anybody Listening?" That had everything, and was such an uplifting song that you couldn't wait to play the album again. Here, with no band backing, only the piano, it is almost like signifying the end of a funeral. In many ways, looking back from this distance, perhaps that is exactly what it was doing.
The power of the music has been eradicated from every song on this album. There is little to nothing remaining of the progressive metal element that made their previous albums so enlightening, so unique and so listenable. Yes, they are a Seattle band, a city that harboured the majority of the grunge movement that had become so popularised over the past five years, but they pre-dated this movement, and had had success with what they were doing, so surely there is no point in trying to use this as a reason why the band's sound has changed so significantly on this release. It can only be surmised that the writing team of Tate and DeGarmo had decided this was the direction they had wanted to go in.

So I gave this a go. I gave it my best, and for a period of about two weeks I listened to this album at least once a day, more often at least three times a day. The result was that, despite my best efforts, I could find nothing on here that could draw me back to this album.  I was at least pleased that I had given this album every opportunity to grab me, to show me it was more than I initially perceived. On the (very) rare occasions I have drawn this CD out of my shelves since that time, my thoughts have not changed one iota.

Rating:  Searching for the answers, all I see is damage through the haze.  1.5/5