Soul Asylum
"Grave Dancers Union"

THE REVIEW

Soul Asylum are the typical example of an underground band that achieves success thanks to a single ("Runaway Train") that arrived at the right time (1992, at the peak of the golden years of alternative rock) and then disappears from the eyes of the general public. Clearly, as often history teaches us, there is much, much more behind all this. In fact, before this "Grave Dancers Union," the band had released a solid five studio albums and had built a strong reputation among fans thanks to a series of live performances where the strength of their punk roots merged with an increasingly evident country heritage. Indeed, this album marks the most pronounced stylistic shift in their history. Besides having more and more dollars around their name, there are increasingly more soft tracks with strong "roots" connotations (something that won't please many early fans) like "The Sun Maid," "Homesick," and "New World," all accompanied by major label production and sometimes by orchestral sections with a conductor. Although even this softer side of the record is still always above satisfactory, with the compositional peak of an eternal "Runaway Train," it is with the harder rest of the lot that Dave Pirner and company earn the admiration of many rockers, thanks to the bold infectious energy of "Somebody To Shove," "Black Gold," and especially "Without A Trace," which, once heard and made your own, convinces you to dream of hitting the roads of rural America and never coming back...