From The Promised Land is a 1984 album by Play Dead

Play Dead (band)

Play Dead were an English Goth rock group from Oxford that grew out of the fading English punk scene in 1980. Though the band was identified with groups like UK Decay and Sex Gang Children, the band felt they didn't belong under the "Gothic" title...

, and the original version of the band's Resurrection

Resurrection (Play Dead album)

Originally released in 1984, Play Dead's "Resurrection" is probably the group's most eclectic album. It ranges from synth-based tracks like "Conspiracy" to non-synth like "Pale Fire" and "Sacrosanct."...

(1992). Only 1000 copies of this LP were pressed because the band members decided they were dissatisfied with the album.

When this album

Album

An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...

 was originally released, the same people who gave negative reviews of "The First Flower

The First Flower

The First Floweris Play Dead's debut album, recorded at the Jungle Records studio in March 1983. Originally titled "The First Flower: A Six Track Album," this album came totally unexpected as the group had disappeared since their last record company Fresh Records had gone under. The album was...

: A Six Track Album" practically praised this new album when it was released in May 1984. Conny Plank

Conny Plank

Konrad "Conny" Plank was a German record producer and musician. He was born in Hütschenhausen. His creativity as a sound engineer and producer helped to shape some of the most important and innovative recordings of postwar European popular music, covering a wide range of genres including...

 took notice of Play Dead and turned down a contract to produce U2's "The Unforgettable Fire

The Unforgettable Fire

U2 feared that following the overt rock of their 1983 War album and War Tour, they were in danger of becoming another "shrill", "sloganeering arena-rock band". The success of the 1983 Under a Blood Red Sky live album and the Live at Red Rocks video, however, had given them artistic—and for the...

" to produce Play Dead's next album Company of Justice

Company of Justice

Company of Justice was Play Dead's final studio album. After a series of signing with multiple flopping independent record labels, Play Dead created their own record label called Tanz in early 1985 just after the end of the From the Promised Land tour....

instead.

Remix

When Play Dead released From the Promised Land in early May 1984, the band decided that the sound was too plain and remixed the entire album. Every new version of each song featured more electronics and re-recorded vocals by Rob Hickson. Also, certain drum beats were rearranged, an example is "Walk Away"'s faster-paced introduction. The most notable differences in these remixes when compared to the original versions are in "Walk Away" and "Weeping Blood." "Torn On Desire's" remix seems to have a more toned down guitar. The new versions of "Holy Holy," "No Motive," and "Weeping Blood" are longer than the originals. The new version of the album became the standard version at the time and had a sticker that read "remix" on the front cover.

2007 Version

"From the Promised Land" was re-released on CD on June 18, 2007 in the UK. This is third edition of the title "From The Promised Land" and the fourth edition of the album: a 1992 CD issue with bonus tracks was titled Resurrection

Resurrection (Play Dead album)

Originally released in 1984, Play Dead's "Resurrection" is probably the group's most eclectic album. It ranges from synth-based tracks like "Conspiracy" to non-synth like "Pale Fire" and "Sacrosanct."...

.

Original album

1. "Isabel" (music: Green|Hickson|Smith|Waddleton) – 4:57
2. "Torn On Desire" (music: Green|Hickson|Smith|Waddleton) – 4:30
3. "Walk Away" (music: Green|Hickson|Smith|Waddleton) – 3:45
4. "Pleasureland" (music: Green|Hickson|Smith|Waddleton) – 5:28
5. "Return To The East" (music: Green|Hickson|Smith|Waddleton) – 4:03
6. "No Motive" (music: Green|Hickson|Smith|Waddleton) – 4:12
7. "Holy Holy" (music: Green|Hickson|Smith|Waddleton) – 3:59
8. "Weeping Blood" (music: Green|Hickson|Smith|Waddleton) – 6:19

Remixed version

1. "Isabel" (music: Green|Hickson|Smith|Waddleton) – 4:53
2. "Torn On Desire" (music: Green|Hickson|Smith|Waddleton) – 4:30
3. "Walk Away" (music: Green|Hickson|Smith|Waddleton) – 3:43
4. "Pleasureland" (music: Green|Hickson|Smith|Waddleton) – 5:27
5. "Return To The East" (music: Green|Hickson|Smith|Waddleton) – 4:09
6. "No Motive" (music: Green|Hickson|Smith|Waddleton) – 4:25
7. "Holy Holy" (music: Green|Hickson|Smith|Waddleton) – 4:10
8. "Weeping Blood" (music: Green|Hickson|Smith|Waddleton) – 6:31

2007 version

1. "Isabel" - 4:51
2. "Torn On Desire" - 4:26
3. "Walk Away" - 3:40
4. "Pleasureland" - 5:25
5. "Return To The East" - 4:05
6. "No Motive" - 4:23
7. "Holy Holy" - 4:06
8. "Weeping Blood" - 6:28
9. "Break" - 3:40
10. "Bloodstains" - 4:05
11. "Solace" - 5:36
12. "Pale Fire" - 3:53
13. "Sacrosanct" - 3:40
14. "Conspiracy" - 4:30
15. "Bloodstains Pleasure" - 5:11
16. "Solace (extended version)" - 5:37
17. "Holy Holy (catholic mix)" - 6:12

Personnel

• Rob Hickson - vocals
  Singing
  Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
  
  
• Pete Waddleton - bass
  Bass (instrument)
  Bass describes musical instruments that produce tones in the low-pitched range. They belong to different families of instruments and can cover a wide range of musical roles...
  
  
• Steve Green (play dead) - guitar
  Guitar
  The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
  
  
• Mark "Wiff" Smith - drums
  Drum kit
  A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....