Soul Asylum

Formed of drummer Dave Pirner, guitarist and backing vocalist Dan Murphy and bassist Karl Mueller, before Pirner move to lead vocalist, Loud Fast Rules released two songs on the Reflex Records cassette “Barefoot and Pregnant in 1982. In 1983 the named changed to Soul Asylum and the band soon developed a devoted following around the Misseapolis/St. Paul’s area through dynamic stage shows and the honing of the rage of punk, the classic guitar power of rock and emotively entrenched lyrics of soul.

The band’s debut album “Say What You Will… Everything Can Happen” arrived in 1984 on an exclusive LP and cassette released through Twin/Tone Records, produced by Hüsker Dü’s Bob Mould. Soul Asylum’s sophomore album “Say What You Will, Clarence… Karl Sold the Truck” featured all of the previous albums’ songs plus additional material.

Two albums made the light of day in 1986 “Made to Be Broken” and “While You Were Out” and marked the replacement of Pat Morley with Grant Young. The two album’s earned the band critical success within the alternative rock genre and led to a relentless touring schedule and a swelling fan base.

After signing with A&M and crafting the EP “Clam Dip & Other Delights”, a parody of A&M founder Herb Alpert’s iconic “Whipped Cream & Other Delights” album, Soul Asylum released their fifth studio album “Hang Time” in 1988. Produced by Lenny Kaye “Hang Time” has long been considered Soul Asylum’s finest, most melodic and powerfully emotional album, which saw approval from the alternative genre and college radio.

With increasingly high expectations from A&M, and after the disappointing release of their subsequent album “And the Horse They Rode In On” in 1990 – a semi-live album – the band were dropped from A&M. Riding the indie wave of Nirvana’s “Nevermind”, Soul Asylum landed a deal with Columbia and released the album “Grave Dancer’s Union” to considerable radio airplay and MTV rotation. The album spawned the single “Runaway Train” which peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard singles chart and earned the band a Grammy for Best Rock Song.

Soul Asylum failed to maintain such popular appeal and their two subsequent albums “Let Your Dim Light Shine” in 1995 and “Candy from a Stranger” in 1998 were comparative flops both in terms of critical recognition and commercial sales. After a considerable cooling-off period Soul Asylum’s next release arrived in 2006 with the album “The Silver Lining” and later “Delayed Reaction” in 2012.