Though not a true concept album like Operation: Mindcrime, Promised Land is an engaging conceptual-esque song cycle unified by simarily themed songs and myriad sound effects. From the opening collage of 9:28 AM we get right into the "story" with I Am I, which, along with The Bridge, was a minor album rock radio hit. Other standout tracks include Out of Mind, the epic title track, One More Time, and the personal, moving closing track Someone Else? which is made all the more poignant as it's arrangement consists solely of piano and Geoff Tate's world-class vocals. This is possibly the band's best set of lyrics ever, they are, for the most part, intensely personal, moving, and, at times, uplifting. Out of Mind, with it's conveyings of guilt and the sense of perspective it gives you, and the all too typical father/son story in The Bridge are the standouts in the lyrical department. The music and overall arrangements are also the best and most dense that Queensryche has ever put together. Though not their top album (that honor still belings to Mindcrime) this is one of their most interesting, and certainly one of their best.