PROMISED LAND

Promised Land is a deep,dark painting of introspection. The songs are haunting and dark, quite a dramatic turn from Empire. Most of us know the story of the album being recorded in a log cabin on an island in the Pacific-NorthWest. The band had a lot of things to work through at that point, and Promised Land became their canvas in which to paint their issues with. The PL album is when the Ryche were at their peak musically as we all sadly know that Chris De-Garmo the very talented guitarist/lyricist would leave after one more record. There is something for everyone on this record, "I am I" and "Damaged" kick off the disk in a flurry of fury while songs like "Out Of Mind" and "Bridge" and "Promised Land" settle us down into a dark tunnel of introspection and thought. "Disconnected" is a song we all can relate to at various times in our lives and songs like "One More Time" and "Someone Else" offer a flcikering vision of light in a still otherwise dark and beautiful tapestry this record is. I would strongly recommend this CD. It's not quite a masterpiece, but it is a brilliant piece of work. Further I would recommend that for those considering it that you buy the 2003- Promised Land reissue as there are some new tracks on it. One of which is the expanded electric version of "Someone Else" and the haunting song "Real World" which imo should have been on the PL CD.