Promised Land (1994)
Lineup:Lead Vocals – Geoff Tate
Lead & Rhythm Guitars/Vocals – Chris DeGarmo
Lead & Rhythm Guitars – Michael Wilton
Bass & Vocals – Eddie Jackson
Drums & Percussion – Scott Rockenfield
Pre-Promised Land OverviewFollowing Queensryche's one-off performance at the Rock the Environment show in June 1992, the band was not publicly heard from again for a year. Then, on June 8, 1993, the motion picture soundtrack for The Last Action Hero was released featuring “Real World,” a tune co-written by Queensryche and Michael Kamen. Although no real information exists on when and how the song was written and recorded, “Real World” was put out as a single and did very well for Queensryche, peaking at #3 in the U.S. Mainstream Rock chart.
Featuring both acoustic and electric guitars, the song begins fairly mellow before picking up in intensity toward the end with Kamen's orchestration. Lyrically, “Real World” is quite melancholy, ironically summing up where some of the band (notably, Geoff Tate) were at mentally at the time. The vibe would continue throughout Queensryche's next studio album,
Promised Land, which would be released 14 months later on Oct. 18, 1994.
To better understand why it took four years from
Empire to
Promised Land, a brief “behind the scenes” look is required. Following the long Building Empires tour, the band went their separate ways for a while. During that time, Geoff Tate and Scott Rockenfield both got divorced, Eddie Jackson's video game stores that he had invested in went under (or were on the verge of going under), investments made by Michael Wilton in chocolate and coffee went south, and Wilton was also trying to recover from some dependency issues (he had an alter ego called “SPIKE” back in the day that reared its head when he had consumed too much alcohol – on the
Promised Land tour, he had a statement that “SPIKE IS DEAD” on his guitar picks, if I remember right). Chris DeGarmo was the most stable of the group, but even he was starting to feel the strain of being out on the road and having a family grow up without him (Chris' dad left him, his brother, and his mom when Chris was young, and Chris didn't want to be an absent parent and husband). It was during this time that he earned his initial pilot's license, setting the stage for his future profession.
So, while Queensryche had its most successful period as a band, there were a lot of personal issues that the five guys were going through that affected their ability to get creative and write a follow-up to
Empire. In fact, Tate went from stardom to living on his boat, with his ex-wife having been awarded all his royalty rights to all material through the
Empire album (which was a tidy sum back then given how big album sales were and how popular Queensryche music was). Out of respect, I won't get into what led to the divorce, but trust me when I say -- don't feel bad for Tate on this one. It's rumored that DeGarmo helped keep a roof over Tate's head during this period, and ultimately, it was Chris that would help keep Queensryche together. Had he not,
Empire might very well have been Queensryche's swan song.
The Promised Land SessionsEventually, Chris was able to get all five guys together, along with whatever song ideas they had and they went up to the San Juan Islands in the Pacific Northwest to write and record. The initial idea was to get away from the distractions of home and focus on music. For the first few weeks, it didn't go as planned, however. The guys were consumed with various issues at home and it took a while to get everyone on the same page. According to some of the legal documents stemming from the Tate v. Queensryche lawsuit in 2012 (
https://www.anybodylistening.net/lawsuit.html), there were allegedly some violent outbursts by and issues with Tate and other incidents that really derailed the initial attempts at creating an album.
Band members (notably Tate and Rockenfield) also were getting into new relationships at the time, which began changing the dynamic between the band members. As Dan “Shag” Birchall (an old friend of the band) once said (paraphrasing): Not everyone liked and supported the new people now in their lives, which ultimately could have had an impact on the working relationship within the band.
As time went by, however, Queensryche's stay at “Big Log” started to pay off. The moodier direction the band was taking was embraced, and songs started to take shape. At the helm of the sessions was James “Jimbo” Barton, who acted as co-producer, engineer and mixer. He was more of a “sixth member” of Queensryche, helping Chris unite everyone. It wasn't easy, even when the band was being creative.
For example, according to a friend of mine who asked Tate about the song “Promised Land,” back in the late 1990s, Tate recalled that he couldn't quite capture the emotion that Jimbo Barton was looking for and it got extremely frustrating. The two went out drinking, Tate got hammered, came back to the studio and nailed the vocal in one take. Tate also (seriously) warned my friend to never listen to the song while in a depressed state, alluding to suicidal thoughts prevalent in the tune.
The Songs and ThemePromised Land is not a concept record. Fans initially thought (and wrote some interesting theories how) it was a sequel of sorts to
Operation: Mindcrime, but it isn't.
Promised Land is a theme that follows a person's life from birth to maturity, taking the listener on a trip through all the emotions of reaching the pinnacle of “success” only to learn how much that success cost a person. Although the record is not completely autobiographical, much of the record is driven by Tate's own self-examination, with some tunes featuring experiences by DeGarmo.
Although I hesitate to do song-by-song recaps, as they are obviously really subjective, for
Promised Land, to give an idea of the theme and what the band was trying to express, I decided to do a brief one, for clarity and discussion purposes (again, these are only my interpretations):
9:28 a,m. - birth. This is actually the time Scott Rockenfield was born, and he composed the instrumental interlude that starts the record.
I Am I – The lead single from
Promised Land. A song about self awareness. Coming of age. Making that statement that you are your own person and committed to being that person.
Damaged – the title pretty much sums up the song meaning. The recognition of a traumatic event in someone's life that has injured them mentally, emotionally, and having to pick up the pieces of their life and move forward.
Out of Mind – this song deviates from the first person narrative of the record. During Tate's 2017 acoustic tour, he talked about the genesis of this tune. Apparently Tate's mother worked in a mental hospital, and back in the 1960s, she took Tate to work with her. Tate explained what he remembered of the patients' behavior to DeGarmo, who got inspired and came back the next evening with “Out of Mind” completely written.
Bridge – this song was the second single from
Promised Land and tells the story of a deadbeat parent who comes back into the life of their grown child, wanting a relationship after having abandoned the child years before. Tate introduced this song in 1997 by saying: “This song was written by my good friend Mr. DeGarmo here, who was man enough to write it, and share it with us all. This is called “Bridge.”
Promised Land – the centerpiece and title track of the record, “Promised Land” is a mixture of Tate's personal angst upon achieving success with
Empire, and the band members' experience. In a nutshell, the track examines life after the pinnacle of what people call “success” and what's left once you reach that mountain top. It showcases the darker side of success, touching upon alcoholism and suicide.
Dis-con-nec-ted – Lyrically, it's pretty self-explanatory. A person, after going through whatever life troubles they have, is in a bad state, is likely loaded and self-medicating to get through life, coming to the realization of the shape he or she is in. It was the third of three videos shot for the album. Obviously, everything is open to interpretation...
Lady Jane – probably to some the track that would lyrically be the most debatable on the record. I've seen synopsis that range from as simple as a child getting high to sexual abuse. You'd have to ask DeGarmo, but given the amount of drugs the band consumed at one time (they didn't earn the nickname “Krellryche” from Metallica for nothing), there's certainly a theme of self-medicating going on...
My Global Mind – the one track (maybe two if you consider Lady Jane) that doesn't quite fit the overall theme of the record, unless you stretch it. Social commentary by Queensryche on the way the Internet is changing the way humans interact with one another. Pretty interesting if you look at it through a 2017 lens...and how right they were...
One More Time – a song of regret, of wisdom, of second chances. Are we better off than our parents were at the same age? Yes...and no. As we wind down, the character present throughout the theme of the record is awakening to find himself.
Someone Else? - a tune about finally coming to peace with who you are, Realizing the mistakes made in youth, and the sacrifices that were made were, in some ways, regrettable. Looking back at the life you led and not recognizing the person that's there. The move forward into the second half of life.
CD Singles
The MusicIf
Operation: Mindcrime was the more Iron Maiden/Judas Priest side of Queensryche, then
Promised Land features the more cerebral hard rock, Pink Floyd-like portion of the band. It retains some aggressive, metal moments (“Damaged” in particular), but embraces a more introspective, dark and mid-tempo vibe overall.
The writing for
Promised Land took place mostly in 1993 and spring/summer 1994, during the height of the “grunge” movement. Curiously, while past records from Queensryche incorporated elements of whatever trend was popular in music at the time (the band always changing styles to a degree from album to album),
Promised Land was an oddity. The 11-track effort builds off of
Empire to a degree (mostly in production), but the songs are clearly not influenced by grunge, nor do they harken back to Queensryche's “metal years.” They stand alone as what could arguably considered the most “pure” snapshot of the band's “own” sound.
Acoustic guitars played a critical role on tunes such as “Bridge,” and “Out of Mind” (to this writer a clear attempt to capitalize on the success of “Silent Lucidity” and the MTV unplugged sessions - albeit a natural artistic progression for DeGarmo), but the record as a whole really seemed built more on creating an overall mood than looking for a hit single. The result is a roller coaster that really runs the gamut of emotion and style from the quirky sitar-laced opener “I Am I,” to the aggressive metal guitars in “Damaged” to the piano-only closer of “Someone Else?” Instrumentation-wise,
Promised Land was the most adventurous in the band's career to this point, also featuring cello, saxophone, and keyboard arrangements.
Of note is “Dis-con-nec-ted.” Although a single, albeit not a popular one, it is distinct in the Queensryche catalog. It features a shuffle beat and a quirky spoken word vocal delivery by Tate (not the first time – think back to
Rage for Order's unreleased demo title track). As the story goes, Rockenfield composed the song on keyboard, and DeGarmo translated it to guitar. I don't recall exactly, but I think there was some disagreement on that move between the drummer and guitarist. Rumor has it Rockenfield had gotten a little jealous of DeGarmo's status after the success of “Silent Lucidity,” and made a focused effort to become a full-fledged songwriter starting with
Promised Land. He'd gravitate toward film/game/TV scoring in the future on side projects and achieve some success (more on that later).
It should also be noted that
Promised Land marks the decline of Michael Wilton as a major songwriter in Queensryche. From the
EP through
Empire, Wilton was a significant writing force for the band, both on his own or in tandem with DeGarmo. Wilton usually provided the more aggressive, straightforward metal riffs and you could tell a song was likely something he wrote when you heard it. He was typically credited on at least half the tracks on all those previous records. But on
Promised Land, Wilton took a back seat, getting just co-writing credit with the entire band on the title track, and with Rockenfield and Tate on “My Global Mind.” Wilton's contributions would ebb and flow from this point forward, until Queensryche's self-titled release in 2013. At that point, he became a steadfast major contributor again.
Interesting fact: If you search YouTube, or play the Big Log disc of the Promised Land CD-Rom game (see below), you'll catch a clip of DeGarmo singing lead vocals on “Bridge.”
Four b-sides exist for the record. The aforementioned “Real World,” is the first (I count it as such, some may not). Another is a track called “Dirty Lil' Secret” that was erroneously (in my opinion) placed on the
Empire remaster in 2003. That tune was written at some point in 1993, and has a vibe (albeit using some social commentary lyrics) quite like “Last Time in Paris.” If you haven't heard it, I encourage checking it out. That vibe probably is why it was put on the
Empire remaster, even though chronologically, it doesn't belong with it. It has a snarky feel to it that didn't fit
Promised Land, but it is a lost “gem” of a tune.
The third b-side is the full band version of “Someone Else?” What folks may not know is that “Someone Else?” was actually originally written with the full band, and that version (which has extended lyrics and running time) was to be the closer of
Promised Land. However, with some extra time on his hands at the end of the recording sessions, DeGarmo ended up doing a piano version of the song and was so enamored by the emotion of it, he and the band decided to use it as the “main” version of the song to end the record. So the originally-recorded full-band rendition became a b-side.
The final b-side is a little acoustic ditty called “Two Mile High” that I consider to be with
Promised Land. We'll get into what this track is a little further down below. However, it was technically written after the
Promised Land sessions.
Interesting fact: The vocals for the piano version of “Someone Else?” were not re-recorded. Chris and Jimbo Barton simply spliced the vocals onto the piano track from the initial full band version. That's likely why it sounds like Tate is singing a little harsher at times on the track than the piano really calls for - he never had a chance to re-record those parts for the more low key version.
In addition, a third version of “Someone Else?” exists. When the band played the song live, they combined the two versions, with DeGarmo and Tate starting it, with Eddie and Scott coming in gradually (and understated), with Wilton coming in and accentuating the emotion of the song with a lead guitar. This version was played throughout the band's 1995 tour in support of
Promised Land.
Queensryche released three videos for
Promised Land: “I Am I,” “Bridge” and “Dis-con-nec-ted.” While the first two got fairly regular play (at first) on MTV, the latter was barely played at all. In addition, as seen above, "Someone Else?" was a promotional single.
MiscellaneousThe iconic tri-ryche totem pole was created by Victoria, British Columbia artist Harold Alfred –
https://haroldalfred.com/. It was then digitally illustrated by Hugh Syme for the cover of the record. Taking the liner notes from the CD, it opens to reveal the full cover art, which acts as a poster on one side, and the lyrics on the other. On the opposite side with the lyrics, is the “nailhead” guy, inspired by the line in “Damaged” that goes “driving the nail into my head, memory flows...like a river.” Both the totem cover and the nailhead guy served as popular t-shirts during the record's support tour.
See Part II below (original post was too long)
Topic: The Queensr˙che Discography Thread (Read 107102 times)
