Soul Asylum

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by cgw, Oct 11, 2017.

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  1. cgw

    cgw Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Upstate NY
    No real Soul Asylum thread.

    Who is a fan (I know some of you are) and what is their best work?
    First rate Minneapolis 80's alternative band or second rate after Husker Du and The Replacements?
    Other opinions?


    I have to say I am coming from almost complete ignorance about them.
    I know Runaway Train, but that was it. I didn't know them from Collective Soul.
    They were popping up on the best bands of the 80s thread (how I knew there are some fans here).
    I checked them out a bit a my first thought was that they sounded a bit like Husker Du. One Wikipedia later and sure enough they came out of the same scene.
    That's all I know.
     
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  2. GodShifter

    GodShifter Forum Member

    Location:
    Dallas, TX, USA
    I went with Dan Murphy to get him a haircut before a gig. Didn’t like gig or his haircut. That’s all I got.
     
  3. shelflife

    shelflife Forum Resident

    Location:
    Florida
    I liked ...and the Horse They Rode In On. "Nice Guys (Don't Get Paid)" is a GREAT song.

    Hang Time has its moments, too.
     
  4. eelkiller

    eelkiller One of the great unwashed

    Location:
    Northern Ontario
    I cry every time I hear their Terry Jacks cover. :shake:
     
  5. chodad

    chodad Hodad

    Location:
    USA
    I like Hang Time, it had a retro '70s sound.
     
  6. intv7

    intv7 Senior Member

    Location:
    Boston, MA, USA
    I'm a fan. The early stuff on Twin Tone is very similar to Husker Du and early Replacements -- they all came out of that Minneapolis scene in the '80s. Personally, I find that material touch and go -- some of it's great, though.

    A&M signed them around 1988, around the time that the major labels were starting to pick up alternative bands, and neither of the two albums they did for the label made much impact on the mainstream. Both of them are pretty good late-'80s alternative rock records.

    I'm probably in the minority around here, but I think they really came into their own and did their best stuff while signed to Columbia. Grave Dancers Union, Let Your Dim Light Shine and Candy From a Stranger are among my favorite albums of the '90s.
     
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  7. cdash99

    cdash99 Senior Member

    Location:
    Mass
    They did a live album from a ND high school after a flood that’s a fun listen.
     
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  8. snipe

    snipe Forum Resident

    Location:
    Jonesboro, AR
    I've been a fan since the early 90s when they hit big. They've got a couple of "greatest hits" type compilations that don't have much overlap:
    "Closer to the Stars: The Twin Tone Years" covers their earlier stuff, and "Black Gold: The Best of SA" covers more of their 90s stuff after hitting it big with Runaway Train.
    I'll also second @cdash99's suggestion of After the Flood. Live stuff with some contemporary covers for a school prom in '97.
     
  9. Bob C

    Bob C Forum Resident

    Location:
    So Cal
    Made To Be Broken!
     
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  10. egebamyasi

    egebamyasi Forum Resident

    Location:
    Worcester, MA
    First time I saw them they opened for Husker Du in Boston. They played a great cover of Aerosmith's Seasons Of Wither. On that night they were the better band. Made To Be Broken and Hang Time are excellent albums. And The Horse They Rode In On has some of their best songs but the production is weak. Grave Dancer's Union is a bit more commercial but it's still a strong album. Not a big fan of amything after that. They were a GREAT live band.
     
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  11. Saint Johnny

    Saint Johnny Forum Resident

    Location:
    Asbury Park
    I love Hang Time, and The Horse... Kinda lost interest after that.
     
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  12. johnny 99

    johnny 99 Down On Main Street

    Location:
    Toronto
    Hang Time (1988) (their best album and more polished than the previous Twin Tone albums but still terrific throughout)
    And The Horse They Rode In On (1990) (strong follow up)

    -These two are on A&M and are out of print and hard to find-

    ---------------------------------------------------

    Grave Dancers Union (1992) (a good album with their best known material and not a bad place to start)
    Candy From A Stranger (1998) (an underrated album by them that's not bad at all)

    -----------------------------------------------

    Made To Be Broken
    While You Were Out
    (both from 1986 on Twin Tone)

    Recommended if you like the A&M albums; this is where the band started finding it's sound, although they're rougher and thrashier sounding.
    ----------------------------------------------------
    I've liked Soul Asylum for years and got to see them here in Toronto in the summer and they were really good! I also met Dave Pirner after the show and hung out with him for about 20 minutes chatting about music, Toronto, the series "Treme", New Orleans...; he's a really great guy (and quite funny too!)
     
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  13. John54

    John54 Senior Member

    Location:
    Burlington, ON
    Runaway Train is a contender for my top 10 songs of the '90s. I have about a top 13 because it's hard to decide ...
     
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  14. nodeerforamonth

    nodeerforamonth Consistently misunderstood

    Location:
    San Diego,CA USA
    Love them. Favorite album is "While You Were Out". Seen them a few times back in the day.
     
  15. nodeerforamonth

    nodeerforamonth Consistently misunderstood

    Location:
    San Diego,CA USA
    Had no idea. Going to have to pick this up!
     
  16. nodeerforamonth

    nodeerforamonth Consistently misunderstood

    Location:
    San Diego,CA USA
    Soul Asylum has some great songs, including my favorite song of all time "Sometime To Return".

    Hate the ballads that they started doing more and more often. When they were at their peak though, hardly anyone could touch them.
     
  17. MusicMatt

    MusicMatt Quality over Quantity

    Location:
    California, U.S.A.
    "Cartoon" is one of my favorite songs of all time. Great band.
     
  18. nodeerforamonth

    nodeerforamonth Consistently misunderstood

    Location:
    San Diego,CA USA
    lol... I guess I did have an idea about this live album. I just checked my extensive Soul Asylum stack of CDs (which includes lots of promos with exclusive cuts). I already own it. I guess it's time to break it out (again) and give it a listen!
     
  19. vamborules

    vamborules Forum Resident

    Location:
    CT
    I love Soul Asylum. They're one of the best rock band ever as far as I'm concerned

    In my opinion, their best album is Hang Time which has previously mentioned incredible songs 'Cartoon 'and 'Sometime To Return. Next would be either Made To Be Broken or And The Horse They Rode In On. Actually, 'Horse' might be the best one to start with. Very accessible but not quite as commercial as GDU yet. But you really can't go wrong with any of their first six or seven albums. They did a lot of really good stuff.

    Here they are blazing through 'Sometime To Return' and 'Marionette' on MTV back in 1988. Both songs are on Hang Time.

     
  20. vamborules

    vamborules Forum Resident

    Location:
    CT
  21. vamborules

    vamborules Forum Resident

    Location:
    CT
    Okay I guess that's a couple more than a few but like I said...I love Soul Asylum.
     
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  22. vamborules

    vamborules Forum Resident

    Location:
    CT
    Also, as far as the Husker Du and Replacements thing, I think Soul Asylum were initially kind of looked as also-rans compared to those two bands, and then when GDU hit big they were dismissed as lightweights, basically for being too successful. So they kind of got it from both ends there.

    The Husker Du connection is interesting though. Soul Asylum were kind of their 'baby brother' band at first. Bob Mould produced Soul Asylum's firs two records and the two bands toured together quite a bit. It's interesting because by most accounts Bob didn't like The Replacements. But he/they did like Soul Asylum.
     
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  23. Malina

    Malina Forum Resident

    Location:
    NYC
    I feel bad for the singer as he could not afford to take a shower.
     
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  24. Dodoz

    Dodoz Forum Resident

    Location:
    France
    I love Soul Asylum. Their 1986 album "Made to Be Broken" still sounds remarkably good, especially for having been released in 1986.



    I remember when "Runaway Train" was a hit and all these early independent albums and a couple of albums on A&M were everywhere in the stores. I wonder WHO bought them :) I've never met anybody who was into Soul Asylum. They've always been a very solitary interest of mine.
     
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  25. HfxBob

    HfxBob Forum Resident

    I own a bunch of their CD's.
     
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