timeline

Soul Asylum

A Minneapolis rock band that spent a decade on the independent circuit before Runaway Train made them a worldwide hit in 1993.

Origin
Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States
Years active
1981-present
Genres
alternative rock, grunge, country rock, punk rock
Labels
Twin/Tone, A&M, Columbia, 429 Records, eOne, Blue Elan
Also known as
Loud Fast Rules

Minneapolis

Dave Pirner, Dan Murphy and Karl Mueller formed the band in 1981 as Loud Fast Rules, with Pat Morley on drums. Pirner sang and played drums at first. In 1983 the group took the name Soul Asylum and Pirner moved to rhythm guitar. Grant Young replaced Morley in 1984, the year the band released its first record, the nine-song Say What You Will..., on Twin/Tone. Bob Mould of Husker Du produced it.

Made to Be Broken and While You Were Out followed in 1986. Early that year the band toured with Husker Du, and Soul Asylum was a contemporary and friend of both Husker Du and the Replacements. Two of the band's songs had appeared in 1982 on Barefoot and Pregnant, a cassette compilation on Reflex Records. A cassette-only release, Time's Incinerator, appeared in 1986 as well, and in 1989 the band put out a collection called Clam Dip & Other Delights.

A major label

In 1988 Soul Asylum signed to A&M and released Hang Time, their first record for a major label. Lenny Kaye and Ed Stasium produced it, and one reviewer said the pair gave the band more gloss and a sound with greater definition. Murphy's Cartoon was one of three singles. Rolling Stone and AllMusic each gave the album four stars out of five, though it did not chart.

A&M issued And the Horse They Rode In On in 1990, produced by Steve Jordan. Sales were poor and Pirner was having trouble with his hearing, so the band considered splitting up. Instead they played acoustic shows and moved to Columbia.

Runaway Train

Grave Dancers Union came out on 6 October 1992 with Michael Beinhorn producing. Somebody to Shove reached number one on the Modern Rock chart, and Black Gold followed it. Zack Snyder directed the videos for both. The third single, Runaway Train, became the band's biggest hit, reaching number five on the Billboard Hot 100 and number seven in the UK. Its video, in which photographs of missing children appeared on screen, was directed by Tony Kaye. The song won a Grammy for Best Rock Song in 1994. The album reached number eleven on the Billboard 200.

On 20 January 1993 the band played at Bill Clinton's first inauguration. Joey Huffman joined on keyboards that year. Let Your Dim Light Shine (1995), produced with Butch Vig, yielded the Top 20 single Misery, but Young was dismissed and replaced by Sterling Campbell. Candy from a Stranger (1998) sold poorly and Columbia dropped the band. The band's music also reached film: Kevin Smith used it in Clerks, Clerks II and Chasing Amy, Pirner scored the last of those, and Smith directed the video for Can't Even Tell. In 1997 the band played a benefit prom in Grand Forks, North Dakota, after the Red River flood, and the recording was released in 2004 as After the Flood.

Since

Mueller was diagnosed with throat cancer in May 2004. A benefit at the Quest in Minneapolis that October raised more than $50,000, and Bob Mould and Grant Hart played together on the night. Mueller died on 17 June 2005. Tommy Stinson and Michael Bland joined late that year, and The Silver Lining, built around Mueller's final recordings, appeared in July 2006. Mueller's widow, Mary Beth Mueller, founded the nonprofit Kill Kancer in his memory in 2014.

Murphy announced his departure on 9 October 2012, the year of Delayed Reaction. Change of Fortune followed in 2016 and Hurry Up and Wait in 2020, and the band released Slowly but Shirley, its thirteenth studio album, in 2024. Murphy also played in Golden Smog, a side project formed in 1988. His later projects include Grapefruit Moon Gallery in 2003 and The Scarlet Goodbye, whose album Hope's Eternal came out on 24 March 2023. Ryan Smith has played lead guitar for Soul Asylum since 2016, and Jeremy Tappero has been the bass player since 2020.

Members

Records

Songs

Husker Du, The Replacements, Golden Smog, Bob Mould

Where to go next

Official

Reference

Discography and data

Writing and criticism

Interviews

Live performance archives

Film and video

Fan sites and communities

Sources

  1. Soul Asylum, Wikipedia
  2. Dan Murphy (musician), Wikipedia
  3. Soul Asylum interview with Dan Murphy, Perfect Sound Forever (2023-02)
  4. Dave Pirner of Soul Asylum, Songfacts (2013-12-04)
  5. Soul Asylum, Robert Christgau
  6. Dave Pirner, Wikipedia
  7. Runaway Train oral history, Spin (2013-07)