Promised Land (Dar Williams album)

Promised Land is the seventh album by Dar Williams, released on September 9, 2008, on Razor & Tie. It was her first studio album in three years.

Promised Land
Studio album by
ReleasedSeptember 9, 2008 (2008-09-09)
GenreFolk
LabelRazor & Tie
ProducerBrad Wood
Dar Williams chronology
My Better Self
(2005)
Promised Land
(2008)
In the Time of Gods
(2012)

Reception

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Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusicStarStarStarHalf star[1]
Paste(commendable)[2]
PopMattersStarStarStarStarStarStar[3]

Slant Magazine called Promised Land "perhaps her strongest start-to-finish album since 1996's Mortal City.[4] A review from The Washington Post said the album "lacks any musical growth" though a "newcomer to her music might appreciate the tunes."[5]

The album entered the Billboard 200 album chart at No. 95, making it the highest-charting album of her career.[6]

Track listing

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

  1. "It's Alright" – 3:27
  2. "Book of Love" (Dar Williams, Lara Meyerratken) – 3:34
  3. "The Easy Way" – 3:31
  4. "The Tide Falls Away" (Dar Williams, 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, Chris Collingwood) – 3:34
  11. "Midnight Radio" (Stephen Trask) – 4:27
  12. "Summerday" (Dar Williams, 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.[7] "Troubled Times" is a cover of a Fountains of Wayne song from that band's 1999 album Utopia Parkway.

References

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