Soul Asylum

Originally a Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA-based garage hardcore band, Soul Asylum spent their early years under the yoke of comparisons with the more fêted Replacements and Hüsker Dü. Indeed, Bob Mould has been known fondly to describe Soul Asylum as "our little brothers", and was on hand as producer for their first two long-playing sets. Their roots in hardcore are betrayed by their original choice of name, Loud Fast Rules. Their first formation in 1981 centred around the abiding creative nucleus of Dave Pirner (b. 16 April 1964, Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA; vocals/guitar) and Dan Murphy (b. 12 July 1962, Duluth, Minnesota, USA; guitar), alongside Karl Mueller (b. 27 July 1963, Minneapolis, USA; bass) and Pat Morley (drums). Together they specialized in sharp lyrical observations and poppy punk. Morley left in December 1984 to be replaced, eventually, by Grant Young (b. 5 January 1964, Iowa City, Iowa, USA), who arrived in time for Made To Be Broken.
As their music progressed it became easier to trace back their heritage to the 60s rather than 70s. Hang Time, their third album proper, was the first for a major. It saw them move into the hands of a new production team (Ed Stasium and Lenny Kaye), with a very apparent display of studio polish. The mini-album that was meant to have preceded it (but ultimately did not), Clam Dip And Other Delights, included their dismantling of a Foreigner song, "Jukebox Hero", and a riotous reading of Janis Joplin's "Move Over". When playing live they have been known to inflict their renditions of Barry Manilow's "Mandy" and Glen Campbell's "Rhinestone Cowboy" on an audience. Though The Horse They Rode In On was another splendid album, the idea of Soul Asylum breaking into the big league was becoming a progressively fantastic one (indeed, band members had to pursue alternative employment in 1990, during which time Pirner suffered a nervous breakdown). However, largely thanks to the MTV rotation of "Somebody To Shove', the situation was about to change. In its aftermath they gained a prestigious slot on the David Letterman Show before support billing to Bob Dylan and Guns N'Roses, plus a joint headlining package with Screaming Trees and the Spin Doctors on the three-month Alternative Nation Tour. Soon they were appearing in front of a worldwide audience of 400 million at the 1993 MTV Awards ceremony, where they were joined by R.E.M."s Peter Buck and Victoria Williams for a jam of their follow-up hit, "Runaway Train'. With Pirner dating film starlet Winona Ryder, the profile of a band who seemed destined for critical reverence and public indifference could not have been more unexpectedly high, and Grave Dancers Union was a major success. However, in 1995 the band announced that their next studio sessions would avoid the overt commercial textures of their previous album, although subsequent reviews of Let Your Dim Light Shine were mixed. They also recruited their fourth drummer, Stirling Campbell, to replace Grant Young; however, Campbell left the band in 1997. They reconvened Soul Asylum for 1998"s Candy From A Stranger, the band's most relaxed and intimate recording. Pirner and Murphy also record as part of Golden Smog, together with the Jayhawks' Gary Louris (guitar) and Marc Perlman (bass).

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