Paging TAC (and others). Wilton would like you to know that PL is QR's most underrated album.
Wilton's opinion aside, based on what I read here, I'd say it's overwhelmingly the most overrated. The Warning seems to be criminally underrated.
Promised Land IS underrated by the time it came out, grunge was all the rage, and those not into the grunge scene wanted old school metal with modern production. So it's not surprising it lost a lot of people, TAC, you included.
But if you understood and craved the Floyd side of the band, the more art rock elements in Queensryche, Promised Land was a home run. I admit, I didn't get it at first. I remember being turned off by the mid-tempo flow of the album the first time I bought it, got home and put it in the CD player. But then a few nights later, I was home, relaxing with the lights off trying to fall asleep, and put on the album. And it hit me hard. I understood the theme (although I couldn't relate to it at the time), and then I heard the majesty in Queensryche's sound, the thump of Ed's bass, the entwined guitars that were a touch simpler, but lush to complement the song. Scott Rockenfield at his height as a drummer, and Tate...whose vocal range wasn't quite what it was, but the desperation and honesty in his performance just made it all connect together.
I really do feel bad for those QR fans who just don't get, or don't like the direction QR took on Promised Land. I get it. But to me, that album was definitively Queensryche, with all elements of their sound present. They just chose to emphasize the non-expected elements, and dialed back what folks thought they knew about the band. It was bold. And while it did them absolutely ZERO favors commercially, it did wonders for those that had an affinity for that side of Queensryche.
I also thought the single choices were really poor, and did NOT help them. I blogged about this a few years back -
https://anybodylistening.net/promisedlandsingles.htmlRegarding The Warning - I also think that album is underrated in terms of the songs and performances. The problem is, it has a really dated mix that doesn't emphasize the guitars the way it should. The Warning and the EP were records I picked up AFTER Empire. I started with Rage and Mindcrime in the late 80s. I want to say Summer 87, so it was likely Rage. Then I rented "Live in Tokyo" from the local video store. I HATED it.
Then I got Empire, loved that, and finally went back and listened to The Warning and the EP...and liked them. But the production was just too flat. But then the brilliance of The Warning hit me, and I "listen around" the bad mix and think it's probably my second favorite Queensryche record after Mindcrime.
I also changed the track order to what the band intended, and to me, the flow of the songs is 1000x improved, and it really helped me connect with the album as a whole.
Re: Live Evolution -- Kelly may not have been the best fit, but like ShadowWalker, I have fond memories of the whole Q2k-Live Evolution era, so I look past it...except on the Jet City Woman solo. I always cringe.