Soul Asylum

This article covers the US band; for the song of the same name by the group The Cult see Sonic Temple .

Soul Asylum
2010 in Urbana (Illinois)
General information
Genre (s)	Alternative rock
founding	1983
Founding members
Vocals , guitar	Dave Pirner
guitar	Dan Murphy
bass	Karl Mueller †
Drums	Grant Young
Later members
Drums	Sterling Campbell
bass	Tommy Stinson
Drums	Michael Bland

Soul Asylum is an American alternative rock - band , by the hit 1992 Runaway Train has become known.

Band history

Soul Asylum was formed in 1983 as the successor to the band Loud Fast Rules , founded in 1981 by Dan Murphy ( guitar ), Karl Mueller ( bass ) and Dave Pirner ( drums ) in Minneapolis , Minnesota ; the band name was an allusion to the loud and fast paced hardcore punk that the band played. In the founding year of Soul Asylum Grant Young came as a drummer in the band; Pirner switched to the guitar and took over the vocals. The first album by the band Say What You Will, Clarence ... Karl Sold the Truck was released in 1984 on the Twin / Tone label . In addition to the bands Hüsker Dü and The Replacements , which were also from TwinCities and were very successful at the time , Soul Asylum initially only played a subordinate role.

After two more releases and tours, the band got a record deal with the major label A&M in 1988 , where they released two albums, Hang Time and Soul Asylum and the Horse They Rode in On . These sold poorly and the band considered breaking up. To make matters worse, they had lost their reputation in the indie rock camp due to their major contract and their slow change of style to more melodic tones . At times Dan Murphy and Dave Pirner also played with the Minneapolis supergroup Golden Smog .

In 1990 the band got a new recording deal, this time with Columbia Records . Due to their previous commercial failure, Murphy and Pirner went on an acoustic tour of North America as Murphy and Pirfinkle , during which they also wrote and played new songs. These songs were recorded for the band's next album, Grave Dancers Union , which was released in 1992. This album was a huge commercial success and was awarded several platinum records. The single Runaway Train rose to number 5 in the US charts ; the album rose to number 11 in the album charts. The music video for Runaway Train featured photos of missing children. Some of these children were actually found and reunited with their families. In 1994 Soul Asylum received a Grammy for best rock song for this single . On January 20, 1993, the band played at the inauguration ceremony of US President Bill Clinton .

Grant Young left the band after the recordings of Grave Dancers Union and was replaced by Sterling Campbell, who had already recorded most of the drum parts on the album. In 1995 the follow-up album Let Your Dim Light Shine was released , which made it to number 6 in the album charts, but was not as big a success as its predecessor. During this time, the band, especially Dave Pirner because of his relationship with Winona Ryder , made headlines in other areas as well. Because of this affair, rumors of dissolution also emerged, but these were not confirmed.

As a result, things calmed down a bit for the band. They released another album, a best-of collection and a live album. Since they are friends with the film director Kevin Smith , they have also appeared on the soundtracks of his films, especially Chasing Amy . They also contributed their own song to the soundtrack of Clerks - Die Ladenhüter with Can't Even Tell , as well as the Golden Smog song Superstar . Dave Pirner released his first and so far only solo album Faces and Names in 2002 .

In 2004 it became known that bassist Karl Mueller was suffering from throat cancer. As a result, there were some benefit concerts for him so that he could pay his medical bills. At one of these concerts in Minneapolis in October 2004 some of the Twin Cities' most famous names played: Paul Westerberg , the Gear Daddies and Bob Mold , who was on stage for two songs with his former partner at Hüsker Dü , Grant Hart . Since Mueller was in relatively good shape at the time of the concert, he was also on stage with Soul Asylum. They later recorded another album together; however, the cancer returned and Mueller died in June 2005.

In June 2006 the album The Silver Lining was released , which contained new material 8 years after the release of Candy from a Stranger . The album was recorded before Mueller died, so the bass parts were still recorded by him. On the drums worked as a new member of the band Michael Bland .

Discography

Albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
1992	Grave Dancers Union	DE8th gold (32 weeks)DE	AT2 gold (21 weeks)AT	CH4th gold (22 weeks)CH	UK27 gold (25 weeks)UK	US11 × 2 Double platinum (76 weeks)US	Chart entry in Europe only in 1993
1994	Insomniac's Dream	-	AT39 (1 week) AT	-	-	-
1995	Let Your Dim Light Shine	DE32 (9 weeks) DE	AT21 (7 weeks) AT	CH23 (9 weeks) CH	UK22 (4 weeks) UK	US6th platinum (21 weeks)US
1998	Candy from a Stranger	-	-	-	-	US121 (2 weeks) US
2006	The silver lining	-	-	-	-	US155 (1 week) US
2012	Delayed reaction	-	-	-	-	US160 (1 week) US

More albums

• 1984: Say What You Will ...
• 1986: Made to Be Broken
• 1986: While You Were Out
• 1986: Time's Incinerator
• 1988: Clam Dip & Other Delights (mini album with 6 tracks)
• 1988: Hang Time
• 1990: And the Horse They Rode in On
• 2004: After the Flood: Live from the Grand Forks Prom
• 2016: Change of Fortune

Compilations

• 1998: The Candy Sampler
• 2000: Black Gold: The Best of Soul Asylum
• 2001: Runaway Train
• 2006: Closer to the Stars - Best of the Twin Tone Years

Singles

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
1993	Runaway Train Grave Dancers Union	DE4th gold (34 weeks)DE	AT3 gold (18 weeks)AT	CH2 (28 weeks) CH	UK7 (19 weeks) UK	US5 gold (26 weeks)US
	Somebody to Shove Grave Dancers Union	-	-	-	UK32 (6 weeks) UK	-
	Without a Trace Grave Dancers Union	DE44 (11 weeks) DE	-	-	-	-
1994	Black Gold Grave Dancers Union	-	-	-	UK26 (4 weeks) UK	-
1995	Misery Let Your Dim Light Shine	DE75 (6 weeks) DE	-	-	UK30 (3 weeks) UK	US20 (14 weeks) US
	Just Like Anyone Let Your Dim Light Shine	-	-	-	UK52 (1 week) UK	-
1996	Promises Broken Let Your Dim Light Shine	-	-	-	-	US63 (5 weeks) US

More singles

• 1985: Tied to the Tracks
• 1988: cartoon
• 1988: Sometime to Return
• 1988: Standing in the Doorway (Promo)
• 1988: Just Plain Evil (Promo)
• 1990: Something Out of Nothing
• 1990: Spinnin '
• 1990: Easy Street (Promo)
• 1992: Somebody to Shove
• 1992: 99% (promo)
• 1993: Summer of Drugs (Promo)
• 1994: Insomniac's Dream
• 1998: I Will Still Be Laughing
• 1998: Losin 'It (EP, Promo)
• 2006: Stand Up and Be Strong (Promo)

Music videos

• Black gold
• Easy Street
• I Will Still Be Laughing
• Just like anyone
• Misery
• Promises Broken
• Runaway Train
• Without a trace
• Somebody to Shove

swell

1. ↑ ^{a b} Chart sources: Singles Albums Billboard 200 / Gold / Platinum database DE AT CH UK US

Web links

Commons : Soul Asylum  - Collection of Images

• Official website (English)
• Soul Asylum at Allmusic (English)
• Soul Asylum at Discogs (English)
• Soul Asylum at laut.de