Soul Asylum
The Silver Lining
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Soul Asylum
The Silver Lining
Columbia Legacy, 2006
RiYL: Golden Smog, Goo Goo Dolls, Replacements |
But that’s not the point.
The Silver Lining, isn’t for new fans; hell, it might not even be for old fans. No, this one is for the band.
And I, for one, don’t have a problem with that at all.
The story behind the record, their first since 1998’s flimsy Candy from a Stranger, practically mimics the band’s own history, which in itself is quite an achievement.
Few bands have seen the depths and heights of Soul Asylum, the little 20-plus-year-old band from Minneapolis that, at one point, was the darling of alternative rock radio before the trappings of superstardom rocketed them up and down the charts so quickly that no one even noticed they hadn’t released an album in eight years.
Starting out in the early ‘80s as the horribly named Loud Fast Rules, Soul Asylum released a handful of DIY punk albums in the vein of Minneapolis rockers Husker Du and the Replacements on Twin/Tone Records. The band hit a groove in 1988, signing to a major label and releasing two stellar modern rock records -- Hang Time and …And the Horse They Rode in On on A&M.
Hang Timecontained singer/songwriter Dave Pirner’s tightest songs to date, as tunes like “Sometime to Return” and “Standing in the Doorway” made minor dents in the college rock charts (remember those listings in the back pages of Rolling Stone, back when that magazine was, you know, good?). The album is also notable because it includes Soul Asylum’s best song, guitarist Dan Murphy’s “Cartoon.”
But neither Hang Time nor Horse received considerable mainstream airplay and the band came close to calling it quits after being called “the next big thing” one too many times.
Fate, though, intervened and the band returned in late 1992 on Columbia Records with Grave Dancers Union, an album that marked a big departure from the loud, guitar heavy pummeling of the band’s earlier records. Grave Dancers, aside from a few numbers, is largely an acoustic album that spawned “Runaway Train,” one of the biggest hits of the 90s, and one of the most despised and overplayed songs of the decade.
The record went platinum and the band went from playing small clubs to selling out huge amphitheaters and headlining summer concert series.
Ah but what goes up must come down, and after a brief brush with fame, Pirner and company -- Murphy, bassist Karl Mueller and a handful of rotating drummers -- hit the ground with a thud with their 1995 follow Let Your Dim Light Shine. After an initial hit with the tongue-in-cheek “Misery,” a so lyrically clever that it flew over everyone’s heads, Dim Light and the band came crashing back to Earth and literally went back to playing the small clubs they left just three years earlier.
Funny thing is, Dim Light is a much better album than Grave Dancers and contains two of the band’s better songs -- Pirner’s “String of Pearls” and Murphy’s “Promises Broken.” The album also rocks much harder than its predecessor, but too many 12-year old girls were listening to heavier bands Green Day, Pearl Jam, and the Foo Fighters to pay any attention.
The band in 1998 released Candy from a Stranger, but you know an album is forgettable when the three best tracks, “Losin’ It,” “Candy from a Stranger,” and “Lucky One,” weren’t even on the record (A limited edition EP released alongside the album included those three outtakes, which were left on the cutting room floor for some reason). After getting stuck opening for bubblegum pop acts Matchbox 20 and Third-Eye Blind, Soul Asylum drifted into obscurity.
But again, fate intervened. After bassist Mueller was diagnosed with lung cancer, Pirner and Murphy pulled the group back together and started recording new material in 2004 and early 2005. Mueller never kicked the disease, though he played on most of the tracks before succumbing in June 2005.
It is interesting, then, that The Silver Lining is perhaps Soul Asylum’s most optimistic, for lack of a better word, album in their history. One thing Pirner can be criticized for falling into the “woe is me” writing trap, putting together song after song that reek of desperation. As their fanbase grew older, these songs lost meaning over time.
The new album, though, is different. While, given the circumstances, one would think The Silver Lining, would be dark and moody, it isn’t. Don’t get me wrong, tunes like “The Great Exaggerator” and “Success is not so Sweet” are typical Pirner fare, but overall, the album marks a new level of maturity and growth for the band.
It is as if by facing Mueller’s impeding death Pirner and Murphy realized that life isn’t all that depressing.
The first tune, “Stand Up and be Strong,” personifies the album. It starts quietly, with dueling electric guitars lightly picking a chord before the song suddenly emerges -- not unlike the proverbial phoenix -- with a growing drumbeat, a pointed guitar lick, and Pirner’s opening line.
“You might be right/ You might be wrong/ You might just think you’re life has gone on for toooo long/ Your knees get weak/ Your heart grows cold/ Your tired of doing everything your told,” Pirner wails.
From there, Pirner writes one of the cleverest apolitical anti-war songs in “Lately,” the catchiest tune on the album. Musically, the song would sound comfortable on Hang Time as it is littered with poignant guitar hooks, steady drums and solid harmonies. Lyrically, it tells the tale of a young wife struggling to raise her baby while her young husband is struggling mentally and physically fighting a war overseas.
“You gotta bring your soldier home/ all those stones have all been thrown/ You’ve got to give a kid a chance/ To get a look at his kid/ and I hope he can live with whatever he did,” Pirner sings in his trademark gravelly soprano.
The album lulls a bit in the middle, with “Crazy Mixed-up World,” “All is Well,” and “Standing Water” get a bit repetitive and tend to drag on.
But things pick up with the heavy “Bus Named Desire,” the groovy “Watcha Need” and “Success is not so Sweet,” an allegorical tune about a woman who survives an abusive relationship that is obviously a nod to the band’s up-and-down history.
“Oxygen,” though, is by far the album’s strongest number. A song that starts slowly, with muted guitars and vocals so low Pirner is practically whispering. The pounding drums and driving bass, however, soon pick up and the song, like a ghost, starts to literally follow the listener around the room. “Always there to remind you/ Before and behind you/ Follows you everywhere you go/ They may say you’re crazy/ But it don’t even phase me/ You’re the sanest one I know,” Pirner sings, perhaps as a tribute for Mueller.
If the album ended there, The Silver Lining, would be a tremendous return for the band. Not a weak track to be found.
But unfortunately, the two worst songs -- “Good for You” and “Slowly Rising” -- close the record. Pirner’s voice seems like it is straining on both, taking away from a decent lyric in “Good for You” and removing the punch from the punchy “Slowly Rising.”
Still, for better or worse, those songs make the record complete. This reviewer may not like it and many fans may end the album after “Oxygen,” but some albums need their warts.
So while The Silver Lining will not burn up the charts again nor will the band’s summer tour be all the rage for the hipster community, none of that matters. All that really matters is that they’re back. They’ve persevered and, like it or not, they’re not going anywhere.
RODEO ROB | An expert on all things "alt," Rob spends his days covering the energy industry and his nights covering the DC-area bars. Raise yer glass especially high to this man, for he has contributed to this site constantly since its creation four years ago.