The Queensr˙che Discography Thread

[Mebert78]

Great write-up on PL, Brian, and love the stories about your mom and the Wiz, etc.  Anyway, PL is my all-time favorite album.  In short, Brian's line about PL "not being an album you rock out to, it's an album you immerse yourself in" is so true.  I couldn't agree more.  It's such a work of art -- from the lyrics, to the sound effects, to the thought-provoking artwork.  I have a PL totem pole poster framed and hanging above the staircase in my living room.  That cover art is so powerful and makes the album much more special for me.  The song "Someone Else" still gives me chills to this day. 

Unfortunately, I never got to see this tour because I was still only 16 and hadn't yet started going to shows, but I've seen footage of the tour.  It's still a shame that this album didn't get a proper live video release that it deserves.  The video game was cool and I played it a lot at the time, but looking back I'd much rather have gotten a live video.     

[TAC]

Brian, WTF??

Holy Writeup, Batman!

I just looked at it. I'm gonna need a bit to get through it! Be back tonight!

[PowerSlave]

I was working at a plastic extrusion shop on the edge of my home town when the album came out. One of my buddies was delivering pizza, and we had made an order from the place he worked at that evening. I remember him having a shit eating grin on his face when he came into the shop to bring us our food. He told me that I had to come out to the parking lot for a few minutes, so I snuck out with him. I Am I was about to be premiered on the local rock/metal station, and I made it out to his car just in time to hear it for the very first time.

I wasn't sure what to think, initially. It certainly wasn't what I had expected, and the rest of the album followed suit when I heard it all the way through a week or two later. But it didn't take long for me to get into the album. I've always been a moody bastard anyways, so the album was right up my alley.

On a side note, I know that many people don't like Disconnected. However, I think that they really nailed the feeling that they were trying to achieve with that song. Anyone that's ever been over-medicated on anti-depressants and emotionally blunted by the experience will probably have a good understanding of the song, and experience.

[Samsara]

Brian, WTF??

Holy Writeup, Batman!

I just looked at it. I'm gonna need a bit to get through it! Be back tonight!

 

Boom. I am pretty sure that nothing will be as lengthy as this PL one. I tried to nail down every detail I remembered, in order to paint as comprehensive picture of the album and time period within the band as possible. I think the album is very misunderstood. It's not everyone's cup of tea, but there's so much around it that helped shape what it became.

To be brutally honest, the fact they were able to create that record, in the circumstances they found themselves in, is incredible. I think some may argue that Empire should indeed have been the swan song. But the fact that Chris was able to rally everyone and make a record and continue speaks volumes -- both positively and negatively. As we get to HITNF, you'll see how that sort of led not only to that album's creation, but decisions made following it.

More in a week or so (I need to sit down and write it!)

[TAC]

More in a week or so (I need to sit down and write it!)

That's good cuz I'm going to need a week to get through it!

[Lowdz]

What I found very unique about PL, and I mentioned it in the write up, was that in terms of sound, didn't set any or absorb much stylistic trend, apart from a heavier use of acoustic. Grunge was big in 1994. But it really didn't have any whiff of grunge to me. It had acoustic stuff, and that was in-style, but it wasn't really grunge-like. That would change a couple years later, but to my ears, PL was very "true" to what was going on with the band at that point.

Oh I agree that PL didn't sound grunge, but it has a dark and somewhat miserable tone to it which fit the grunge mood.

[romdrums]

I had no idea that when I saw them in Kzoo that it was the opening show.

Samsara, I also didn't know that you could top your previous album write ups and background information.

Thank you.

I was at the Kzoo show as well.  Still one of the best concerts I've ever seen, and far and away the best QR show I've seen.

Samsara, great write up on this record.  1994 proved to be a defining year in music for me.  By the time PL rolled around, I was a senior in high school and I remember hearing I Am I on the radio just before homecoming.  I was living in Grand Rapids, MI at the time, and I remember they used to have a show on WKLQ on Sunday nights called New Music Breakout, where'd they play about 4-5 tracks from whatever albums were coming out in the coming weeks.  I can remember hearing I Am I, Damaged, Bridge, and My Global Mind.  It sounded like the logical follow up, in my opinion, to Empire. I was also listening to Marillion's Brave and DT's Awake pretty heavily at that point, so Promised Land fit right in that headspace for me.

I loved the record almost immediately.  I know a lot of fans struggled with it, but I was on board with it basically from the moment I pressed play.  As I said before, I'm sure having Brave and Awake on heavy rotation contributed to that, but I loved the details they put in.  I did lament the diminished contributions of Michael Wilton, as he had written a lot of my favorite QR songs to that point, but as a drummer, I was excited to see Rockenfield sort of fill that space.  I love all of the layers and ear candy on this record.  In particular, I was impressed with the diversity of the instrumentation, most of it provided by DeGarmo. 

Promised Land is probably my personal favorite of their records.  I thought it was a pretty strong artistic statement from them and I thought it really showcased their versatility.  I was hoping for more records like it.  I think if they had continued down the path of balancing the elements they showcased on Empire and Promised Land, they would have been able to carve out a career similar to DT's, just with a larger audience.  I wasn't ready for what actually came next, and from the sounds of it, neither was the band.

[King Postwhore]

One hell of a write up.

I didn't know of the personal strife going on at that time.  Great insight.  Thank you!

[TAC]

I've been thinking about how I would comment, but I'll just do a little at a time.
Obviously, I have never "gotten" Promised Land.

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.

Brian, thanks for the backstory here. This all makes sense. Especially when listening to the album. The album comes off as disjointed. You can really hear the calamity though. IMO, which is obviously a minority opinion, is that Promised Land has zero cohesion.

[ReaperKK]

I just listened to PL and I really enjoyed it. The mixing was great, and the music was fantastic.

So far my album rankings:

Empire
Promised Land
Rage for Order
O:M
The Warning

[KevShmev]

Best Queensryche album ever. Easily. It was a tough nut to crack at first, because it was so different than what any of us were expecting, but once it hit me, it was like winning the musical lottery.  This is still a top 25 all-time album in my eyes and is perfect from start to finish.  Their undisputed masterpiece. 

[TAC]

I am actually jealous of you guys that feel this way. I feel like I'm missing out.

[bl5150]

I am actually jealous of you guys that feel this way. I feel like I'm missing out.

I'm with you Tim .  One track aside (One More Time - which I love) I've always been Disconnected with Promised Land     Good to see One More Time get a gong from Samsara as it rarely rates a mention .

Having said that I liked PL a bit more than I used to on my most recent listen.   I certainly don't hate the album (it's the last Tate era album I would listen to these days) but it's not something I ever really want to play.   I tried hard with PL and then HITNF (both have moments here and there) but after those two I basically threw in the towel and decided to just live in the past when it comes to the Tate era.

[Setlist Scotty]

Like many fans, when I first got PL, I was less than thrilled. I had already heard IAI on the radio, which was kinda meh to me (still is), which wasn't a good sign. But when I listened to the CD and Damaged quickly followed, I was like "OK, now we're going in the right direction" only to fail once again afterward. Not that the music was bad, but it was so mellow in comparison to what came before it. When I finished listening to the album for the first time, I remember thinking "wait - that's it? Where's the other heavy tunes?!?"

Ironically enough, the other song that grabbed me right from the getgo was Disconnected (sorry Lowdz!). I guess I can understand the hate for it, but I loved the song then, and still do today. One of my favorites from the album - I'd love to hear the original demo.

Over time, as I've gotten older, and as I've listened to the album more, I've come to appreciate it much more so than I originally did. I still don't think I'd put it above RfO/O:M/Empire, but it would follow right behind those 3.

The PL tour was also my first time seeing QR live. We had crappy seats way at the opposite end of Mecca Arena in Milwaukee, but it allowed for us to see the whole stage pretty well. Blew my mind seeing Screaming in Digital (well, half of it) - with the updated computer vocals and visuals, I finally could appreciate the song. And getting to hear half of my favorite QR song, Neue Regel, was a very unexpected surprise - again, why they couldn't play the whole thing was a bummer, but something's better than nothing. And I too echo the disappointment that there was never a proper video documenting this tour - would love it if there was one.

[wolfking]

I've always liked PL a lot, but I don't rate it as high as a lot of the diehards do.  It's a great listen but nothing in comparison that everything that came before it.

I do also think that One More Time is one of the bands best songs.

[Lowdz]

Ok, ranking time, as what comes after isn't worth ranking in the same list as it's so inferior

O:M
RFO
Empire
Warning
Promised Land

[Cruithne]

Promised Land is one of the last few records I can directly remember buying... right down to the shop I bought it from that's no longer there on the main street I used to walk along to get to University buildings for lectures, and then the disappointment of it all...

At that time the only QR I really knew was Mindcrime and Empire (which were amazing) and I was, in my teenage lack of experience, expecting more of the same. I didn't get it. What I got was a waste of space intro, about 4 good songs - I Am I, Damaged, My Global Mind and One More Time - that weren't quite as good as anything on Mindcrime and only really about as good as the weaker stuff on Empire, too many slow songs and a song that was a load of noise that was as far from what I wanted to hear Geoff Tate sing as was possible to get...

Over time I have warmed up to the record somewhat. One More Time is now right up there amongst my all time favourites, Lady Jane has gained much more traction that it did initially and Someone Else? has become a much more significant tune to me with age.

But still, Out Of Mind, Bridge, Promised Land and Disconnected is not exactly my favourite run of songs. I appreciate Disconnected significantly more than I did on the first few listens and Promised Land is good if I'm in the mood for it, but Out Of Mind and Bridge remain fairly bland efforts to my ears. Overall I tend to give the album about 7/10 now, though if you'd asked me within the first few months of its release and I'd have given it 4/10.

The lack of Michael Wilton song writing credits on the album didn't escape my notice back then. At the time I just assumed a bit of writer's cramp had kicked in, but recent revelations suggest there was no lack of creativity on his part, it was just that Tate started refusing to work on the majority of the heavier material being written, which conveniently marginalised Wilton's contributions. It is the general lack of Wilton's heavier side that puts Promised Land in the basket along with HiTNF and Tribe that's labelled "good, but not quite the full QR".

One thing that I really will give Promised Land is that it sounds fantastic.

[Polarbear]

I just listened to PL and I really enjoyed it. The mixing was great, and the music was fantastic.

So far my album rankings:

Empire
Promised Land
Rage for Order
O:M
The Warning

Switch Mindcrime and Rage For Order, and you have my ranking.

[DragonAttack]

Promised Land is one of the last few records I can directly remember buying...

I'm assuming that 'Dis-con-nected' opened side 2?

I bought the 'Last Action Hero' soundtrack because I was pretty sure 'Real World' would not be on the album (the Alice in Chains, Aerosmith, Tesla, and Kamen/Buckethead tracks were worth the purchase).  PL album sales had to take a hit when potential buyers would look at the track listing, and not see 'Real World' included.  The stark departure from their previous release and dark mood didn't help as well. 

sidenote:  just listened to 8vm and thinking of it during the 'Empire' thread.  There's nothing wrong with toning things down a bit.  Having really good hard driving music with melodies that work, a good 'flow' to an album, and having occasional parts the listener can sing along to, as well as relate to, isn't all bad. 

My edited version of PL for the past 20+ years: 
'Side One':  15 seconds of 9:28 / I Am I/ Damaged / Out Of Mind / Promised Land
'Side Two':  Real World / Lady Jane / My Global Mind / One More Time / Someone Else?

After reading the great recap, I tried the extended Someone Else as the closer.  I always thought it was 'extra' that they held aside, or was put together with pieces for the 'Hits' CD.  It would have worked.

Oh, and 'Bridge' hit too close to home.  I lived it.  Don't need to be reminded.  Gave it one listen.  I also saw the 'Disconnected' vid for the first time last night.  It's pretty darn good, and the song sounded better than I remembered.

And the concert at good ol' Wings Stadium (Center?):  not as great as the 'Empire' performance.  I wasn't familiar with some of the set list, not thrilled about some that I was familiar with or the arrangement.  'Real World' sticks out as an angry, almost punkish 'let's kinda screw this up' version.  The stage extras throughout, including the PL bar scene, were kind of WTW? moments. 

Or, maybe I was burned out and tired.  My ex and I had just moved out of her house that we'd lived in for seven years, and into 'our' own home the week before.  Unpacking after regular work and OTs, etc etc, plus she stayed home for this one. 

[Kwyjibo]

Thanks Samsara for the great write-up. A lot of info about the sessions and what went on in the QR-camp at the time that I didn’t know about.

Promised Land is a mixed bag for me. When I first heard it, I got the impression that they were trying two different things: a) continuing in a somewhat mainstream direction like Empire and b) getting more experimental or progressive like Rage For Order. But they didn’t embrace either direction wholeheartedly and thus the record is a mixture of both. Sadly it’s the more experimental songs that don’t work with me. I Am I is solid but nothing more, Disconnected has an interesting rhythm but just doesn’t work as a song and Promised Land is too long, too boring and too plodding for it to be a good song.

The more melodic songs aren’t bad but mostly not on the level of Empire. I really like Damaged and Lady Jane, my favorites. The two ballads after Damaged are again solid (I like Bridge better than Out Of  Mind) but nothing special and sadly take the momentum out of the album’s flow.

In my opinion the album doesn’t sound cohesive and really doesn’t flow well, like TAC said it feels disjointed.

Interesting tidbit regarding the recording process of Someone Else?. I always thought that Tate didn’t sound that good only accompanied by piano. That his vocals were recorded for the full piece may explain that. He probably would have sung different for a piano ballad. And his voice is audibly cracking on some notes, but I’m not sure if it’s his degenerating singing abilities or done on purpose.

On the whole Tate delivers a good vocal performance but he doesn’t have the range anymore, or he just doesn’t use it.

All in all a decent enough record. I’ve spun it countless times but it doesn’t really click with me. I like it but don’t love it.

The cd booklet was a pain in the ass. In theory it was a nice idea to put in this fold out poster, but as someone else has said it was a chore to fold it up and put it back in. Mine’s now looking like my (non-existent) dog had its way with it.

Never really heard of the cd-rom.

On the Promised Land tour I saw QR for the first and only time. Great gig, great performance, but the venue was seriously overcrowded, there were a lot of people standing in the anteroom, hearing the concert but seeing nothing. And for my liking is was a little bit too much focused on PL and Mindcrime, with not much room for anything else.

I especially found the Mindcrime thing to be a bit strange. They played almost all of it, from the intro to The Mission in order, then leaving out Suite Sister, Needle, Requiem and Breaking The Silence and switch right to the rest of the songs, including the segue pieces (Waiting for 22, Empty Room) with Real World thrown in before playing Eyes Of A Stranger.
It left me (and others I know) longing for more and a bit disappointed. Either play the whole thing, or play some songs but not ľ of the whole record and leave out the center piece(s).

Ranking so far:
Operation Mindcrime
Empire
Rage For Order
a LaTorre fronted record
The Warning
another LaTorre record
a Tateryche record
Promised Land
Queensryche EP

[TAC]

I had said that even though I liked Empire, I was concerned where they would go next. I was interested in a new QR album. But I did not like I Am I. A garbled mess if you ask me. And when I heard Bridge, forget it. Not interested. I was heavy into Dream Theater, the most exciting band I'd ever heard at the time, so I just kind of ignored this release. I ended up going to the show, and was blown away. I had seen then 5 times already but I didn't consider them a great live band. The promised land show was amazing, and I ended up buying the album right after the show. Unfortunately I was quite disappointed in it.

So for the record, the only song I really love is Damaged.

I like both One More Time and Someone Else. What Sam said about the SE vocals makes sense. To me, there was always something a little off.

As far as the title track, I think it's OK. There are times when I enjoy it, and there are times where I find it plodding. It's like a song that keeps reaching but never gets there. Probably the point of the song anyway, right?

After that, everything else is sub par Queensryche.

Oh, as far as Out Of Mind, I thought it was amazing live, especially outdoors on a hot July night, but it is so lame on the album.

[Phoenix87x]

Promised Land is my favorite QR album, and it really comes down to the emotion and the dark heavy themes going on. That aspect really resonates with me.

When I first heard it, I really was like WTF. I had loved Mindcrime, their very early stuff and really enjoyed Empire so I was very knocked on my ass the first time I listened to PL, but slowly after each repeated listen. I just liked it more and more.

And songs like bridge, to someone who's father also walked away, mean more to me than you can imagine. Overall, Promised land is a hauntingly beautiful album.

[T-ski]

I think the shock of it not sounding like previous QR albums is the crux of the issue of PL's popularity.

I believe the album is amazing.  Not surprised to see Damaged listed among everyone's favorites, as its the closest thing to what QR fans were familiar with to that point. Promised Land the song is among my all time tunes.  The emotion that goes through me when I hear it can't be described.  I also believe Disconnected is a good song, but then again, I'm a sucker for rock music incorporating the sax.

Second favorite QR album after Mindcrime.

[Samsara]

Glad you guys are diggin' the write up.

Yeah, one thing I'll give PL is that it sounds amazing. Out of all the Queensryche records. Empire and PL sound the best, which I guess isn't surprising, given the likely humongous budgets they had to work with, and the creative teams involved. That "warmer" sound we first talked about on Empire really suited the band, and Barton's mixes were phenomenal.

Re: One More Time -- those of you who shared my immediate love of that track...it certainly is an underrated gem in the catalog. The original lineup never played it again. And the Tateryche era of the band...if they did play it, it was on the ill-fated Cabaret tour (not sure). And we'll be skipping that tour discussion as mentioned above (as it wasn't done to support a particular record).

Also, keep in mind how short the tour for PL was. That will be discussed when we get to the starting point of HITNF...

[Kwyjibo]

I think the shock of it not sounding like previous QR albums is the crux of the issue of PL's popularity.

Nah, from the beginning QR changed their sound and style (within limits) for each record. The Warning doesn't sound like the EP, Rage For Order doesn't sound like The Warning, OM not like Rage, Empire not like OM, so I don't think that was the problem.

People who knew only Empire at the time may be thrown off a bit, but we are all more than casual fans and I dare say it's not the shock of sounding different that's what causes people to not like it.

[TAC]

Right. I agree with Kwyjibo. If I feel like a band "mails it in", that puts me off. Even though RFO was different, you could hear the band still stretching. I don't hear that with Promised Land. I hear retraction.

[Samsara]

Right. I agree with Kwyjibo. If I feel like a band "mails it in", that puts me off. Even though RFO was different, you could hear the band still stretching. I don't hear that with Promised Land. I hear retraction.

I think they looked inward, which isnt a bad thing, per se. The band stretched their sound on the next record, which had a big backlash. 😉 but we'll get to that...

[TAC]

Not sure I'd use the word "stretch", but well.... we'll get there. I actually have positive things to say about HITNF.

[Kwyjibo]

I have two positive things to say about HITNF. I like exactly two songs on that disc.

[SoundscapeMN]

their Best record and peak.

No idea, but I always wondered if DeGarmo could write a full album/concept album again with the band, if something similar could have come from it.

Lady Jane 

[?]

Nice writeup, Samsara! I had never heard of Eddie and Michael's business investments or Michael's drinking before. I knew about Chris's childhood and the meaning behind Bridge, but I never thought about the way it affected his own parenthood, so his decision to quit the band and leave touring behind a few years later makes even more sense now in that light - he wanted to be there for his family, because his father never was there for him.

I haven't posted in this thread earlier, because I didn't notice it until you guys were at RFO already due to having been away for a while, and I didn't want to derail the thread by going back to the first releases. Anyway, I've been catching up lately and it's been interesting to read everyone's thoughts and memories of each release.

PL is my favorite QR album, though Rage comes close. I feel it's their most timeless release, because - as mentioned in this thread - it was a departure from the earlier 80s metal sound, yet not grunge-y like its successor. The personal themes are also easy to relate to, and One More Time and Someone Else? in particular speak to me. For some reason I seem to have a soft spot for introspective and dark albums like this, Awake by DT and Unia by Sonata Arctica that have been made in the wake of a big breakthrough and as a kind of reaction to it.

The production of PL is pristine just like on Empire, but I prefer the sound of PL by a smidgen, because there's more sonic experimentation going on. It's hard to name any individual favorite songs, as the whole album is so even and the atmosphere is so consistent, though My Global Mind is the odd one out. However, I particularly love Damaged, Out of Mind, Bridge, the title-track and Someone Else?, and Disconnected is cool as hell IMO.

[bosk1]

Promised Land...  Like many, I wasn't ready for this curve ball and didn't get it when it broke. 

My fandom led me to buy the Last Action Hero soundtrack.  This should have been a sign that things were different in the Queensryche camp, as this song was something truly different for them in many ways.  And yet...it wasn't THAT big a departure from Empire either.  But it was...as I said, different.  I didn't love it, but didn't hate it either.  And the soundtrack, being kind of hit and miss across the board, as soundtracks often are, was still a great buy, not only for the cool Queensryche rarity, but also for a MASSIVE Megadeth song.

Anyhow, we of course got PL not too long after.  As I listened to the album, I Am I was one I immediately liked, odd as it was.  Then came the second half of the one-two punch with Damaged.  So far, so good.  But from there, nothing really grabbed me at first.  Like someone else said above, I was left at the end of the album saying, "That's it?  Where's the hard stuff?  It all but disappeared after Damaged.  But I didn't abandon the album either, even though it didn't immediately click.  Like so many others, as I listened, the emotional power and atmosphere just clicked, and it wasn't long before I appreciated every single song and this became my favorite Queensryche album.  This is definitely an album where the payoff for patience was huge for me.  The more I listened, the more I learned to appreciate it.

I was at the much-bootlegged San Jose show.  All I can say is, what a spectacle it was.  It not only helped me appreciate the songs on Promised Land, but it again cemented the Queenryche could put on a live show like no other.  ...at least, for awhile.  This tour following on Building Empires really took them over the top as a live act.  The only issue was Tate's voice at that show.  I could not hear him at all at the outset of the show for the first half of I Am I.  Then when you finally could hear him, his voice sounded off.  I long had a theory that his mic wasn't on or was very low in the mix at the beginning of the show and he strained his voice pushing to try to hear himself.  But I've since been informed that sources from the radio broadcast show that he could be heard at the beginning of the show, so that must not have been it.  Hard to say.  But he just didn't sound right.  But still, it was a great show.  Some of the highlights:
-The opening with Billy Joel Geoff in a suit, with the reporters flying around him, and then taking the suit at the end of I Am I was SO cool.
-Mini-Mindcrime suite was really cool.  The fanbase wasn't burned out on it yet and were still hungry for it.  This was a great way to weave it into the presentation without taking away from PL and give enough of the Mindcrime story to have it feel coherent.
-PL the song was EPIC.  The stage setup for it really enhanced the song and the overall vibe.
-The semi-full-band version of Someone Else? is the best of the three.

I first found a single CD partial show at a local store that sold "imports," some of which were actually imports, and others were silver disc bootlegs.   I was thrilled to not only have a recording of the tour, but even moreso that it was a show I attended.  I don't remember if it was culled together from the radio broadcast or was an audience recording, but I think it was the latter.  I do remember the sound quality not being up to par.  Later, I found two different version of the entire show that are much better quality. 

Anyhow, this album...this tour...it came at a good time for a lot of people.  Yeah, the band's popularity fell off quite a bit.  But for a lot of the hardcores, the dark moodiness of this album was welcome as many had the realization that this was a different kind of album...one to just listen to and let wash over you.  As time has passed, I have inched Empire just up above it.  That isn't because I like it any less.  But Empire is just so universally accessible that I can listen to it anytime, whereas Promised Land, despite its complex textures, isn't an album I can just put on for any reason anymore--at least, not as often as Empire.  But still, amazing album.

And, yeah, I had the CD Rom as well.  I had fun exploring the Big Log disk.  The game itself was okay, but I grew tired of it before finding all the totems.  Never did bother finding them all.  Unlike Myst, some of the worlds just seemed to lack cohesion and had you stumble upon the totems just by combination of luck and clicking on every last thing there rather than actually solving a puzzle.  I remember finding Eddie's, and I know I found 1 or two others, but that's it.  Scott's was the one that really gave me fits because I felt like it was hiding right out in plain sight and that I had tried everything and still couldn't find it.  The good thing for me was that the files were TOO organized on the disk, so I was easily able to find the video file for Two Mile High and just watch it even though I hadn't unlocked it by completing the game. 

[KevShmev]

In my opinion the album doesn’t sound cohesive and really doesn’t flow well, like TAC said it feels disjointed.
 

I don't get this at all.  I think it is far more cohesive than anything else they have done, Mindcrime included.  And it is certainly their most diverse album. You get a little bit of everything, with the sounds and styles not staying the same from song to song.  Listen to Damaged, Promised Land and Someone Else?, and then find me another record by the band with three full length songs that different from one another.

And the flow is immaculate.  It really does take you on a journey.

[King Postwhore]

 I remember after the high of Empire I did feel a little let down with this album. But over time it grows on me and usually good albums are growers.

[jjrock88]

I actually liked Promised Land even more when it got reissued in 2003. I think Real World is a fantastic song and fits in perfectly with the album. I think it should have been on the album right from the beginning.