# Joe Smooth — Promised Land

Joe Smooth’s Promised Land (1987) is No. 2 in our Balearic ranking. The full verdict, and where to hear it.

- **Released:** 1987
- **Label:** DJ International
- **On one list:** Balearic
- **Updated:** 2026-08-31
- **Artist:** [Joe Smooth](https://waxonia.com/artist/joe-smooth/)
- **Canonical page:** https://waxonia.com/track/joe-smooth--promised-land/

## What we say

### No. 2 in [Balearic](https://waxonia.com/genre/balearic/)

Chicago house as gospel, and the record that closed Ibiza nights and then Shoom nights. Utopian in a way house rarely permits itself.

## Analysis

11 sections, no single moment the energy jumps to, 20% of it spent climbing.

- **Tempo:** 123 BPM — holds throughout
- **Dynamic range:** 2.7 dB — compressed hard — very little between the quiet and the loud
- **Length:** 5:06

- `0:00` A · **intro**, instrumental — opens the record below its own average energy — playing: drums
- `0:31` B · **build** (bar 17), instrumental — energy and brightness climbing without a break — playing: drums, bass, vocals, other
- `1:02` C · **peak** (bar 32), sung — sits at the top of this record's range — playing: drums, bass, vocals, other
- `1:18` B · **breakdown** (bar 40), instrumental — energy falling away mid-record, percussion thinning — playing: drums, bass, vocals, other
- `1:49` C · **peak** (bar 56), sung — sits at the top of this record's range — playing: drums, bass, vocals, other
- `2:04` B · **build** (bar 64), instrumental — energy and brightness climbing without a break — playing: drums, bass, other
- `2:34` C · **peak** (bar 79), sung — sits at the top of this record's range — playing: drums, bass, vocals, other
- `2:50` B · **breakdown** (bar 88), instrumental — energy falling away mid-record, percussion thinning — playing: drums, bass
- `3:36` B · **steady** (bar 111), instrumental — holding a level — the groove, neither rising nor falling — playing: drums, bass
- `3:52` D · **steady** (bar 119), sung — holding a level — the groove, neither rising nor falling — playing: drums, bass, vocals, other
- `4:38` D · **outro** (bar 143), sung — the closing fall — playing: drums, bass, vocals, other

**What is playing.** Separated into parts by a source-separation model, so each lane is the instrument it names.

- **drums:** the drum kit, separated from the mix
- **bass:** the bass part, separated from the mix
- **vocals:** the voice, separated from the mix
- **other:** everything else — synths, guitars, keys, strings

Measured from the YouTube master on 2026-08-29. Section labels describe how the energy
moves, not musical form. Anything we were not confident enough to state is omitted
rather than hedged.

## Listen

[Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Joe%20Smooth%20Promised%20Land) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=BJyD_TPeJAI)

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Hand-curated by Waxonia. We host no audio; all links point to streaming platforms.