PROMISED LAND

This album is definitely better than Empire and probably even better thean Mindcrime. The pompous sounds are gone and it's much better that way. The atmosphere is really dark, almost frightening, the best way to listen to it would be with the lights off. The best moments are two powerful heavy songs that start the album - "I am I" and "Damaged" , "Out of mind" and "Lady Jane" - beautiful ballads with that scary feeling, and the best song is saved for last - "Someone else", just a simple piano background and a majestic performance by Geoff Tate at his best. It's a pity that the band didn't go on like this on Hear in the Now Frontier. The reason I don't give 5 stars is that the cd contains some weaker tracks - "Disconnected", "My Global Mind", and the title track "Promised Land", which is not bad at all, but a bit too long and sometimes boring.