Promised Land (Dar Williams album)

Promised Land
Studio album by Dar Williams
Released September 9, 2008
Genre Folk
Label Razor & Tie
Producer Brad Wood
Dar Williams chronology

My Better Self
(2005)		 Promised Land
(2008)		 In the Time of Gods
(2012)

Promised Land is a Dar Williams album released September 9, 2008 on Razor & Tie, the label that has released almost all of her albums. It was her first studio album in three years.

Track listing

All songs are written by Dar Williams if not noted otherwise.

  1. "It's Alright" – 3:27
  2. "Book of Love" (Dar Williams and Lara Meyerratken) – 3:34
  3. "The Easy Way" – 3:31
  4. "The Tide Falls Away" (Dar Williams and Gary Louris) – 2:46
  5. "Buzzer" – 2:57
  6. "The Business of Things" – 2:31
  7. "You Are Everyone" – 4:30
  8. "Go to the Woods" – 2:54
  9. "Holly Tree" – 4:13
  10. "Troubled Times" (Adam Schlesinger and Chris Collingwood) – 3:34
  11. "Midnight Radio" (Stephen Trask) – 4:27
  12. "Summerday" (Dar Williams and Rob Hyman) – 3:22

The song "Buzzer" was inspired by the Milgram experiment; "Midnight Radio" is a cover of a song from Hedwig and the Angry Inch, written by a friend of hers from college.[1] "Troubled Times" is a cover of a Fountains of Wayne song from that band's 1999 album Utopia Parkway.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [2]
Paste 75/100 (commendable)[3]
PopMatters [4]

Slant Magazine called Promised Land "perhaps her strongest start-to-finish album since 1996's Mortal City.[5] A review from The Washington Post said the album "lacks any musical growth" though a "newcomer to her music might appreciate the tunes."[6]

The album entered the Billboard 200 album chart at #95, making it the highest charting album of her career.[7]

References

  1. ↑ Dar Williams: Time, Tides And Empty Spaces, from the website of National Public Radio's Weekend Edition Sunday
  2. ↑ Allmusic review
  3. ↑ Paste 75/100 review
  4. ↑ PopMatters review
  5. ↑ Review of Promised Land from Slant Magazine
  6. ↑ Review of Promised Land from The Washington Post
  7. ↑ ...Dar Williams Enters Top 100 with Highest Charting Album, a September 2008 Razor & Tie press release