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Delayed Reaction
Formed in the summer of 1981 by high school friends Dan
Murphy, Karl Mueller, and Dave Pirner, Soul Asylum (named Loud Fast Rules
up until 1983) quickly became frontrunners of American college rock, following
in the tradition of fellow Minnesota bands Hüsker Dü and The Replacements.
Landing their first record deal with Twin/Tone in 1984,
Soul Asylum recorded a total of four albums for the local label: Say What
You Will… Everything
Can Happen in 1984 (later re-released as Say What You Will, Clarence… Karl
Sold the Truck), Made To Be Broken, and While You Were Out in 1986, and the
EP Clam Dip & Other Delights in 1988. The band then switched to A&M,
releasing Hang Time in 1988 and And the Horse They Rode In On in 1990 under
that label. Although they enjoyed some success as a live band, Soul Asylum
suffered from low album sales and considered disbanding.
American touring
The band toured relentlessly in its early years opening
up for a variety of other American touring bands and, later, often as
a headliner act after gaining exposure on fellow Minneapolis band Hüsker
Dü's Flip Your Wig tour in early 1986.
Contrasted with some of the
popular underground and alternative styles at the time, new audiences
were struck by the band's onstage swagger, scruffy Midwestern appearance
and extremely loud, frenetic sound - mixing tuneful but unrestrained
punk, hardcore, 1970s rock, country and self-effacing kitsch. One early
review described their sound as "an unholy mix of Kiss and Hank
Williams tossed under a runaway train."
All elements contributed
to the band being credited with a 'grunge precursor' title, a claim often
recited in comparisons between pre-Nirvana Minneapolis and Seattle bands.
Despite critical acclaim locally and internationally, they remained unknown
to a larger U.S. audience and radio market.
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In 1992, they signed with Columbia Records to produce Grave
Dancers Union, a record that would come to transform them from underground
college rockers to international superstars. The first two singles off the
album, Somebody To Shove and Black Gold, both came in at high positions at
the Modern Rock and Album Rock charts, but it was the album's third track that
led them to their major breakthrough. Runaway Train peaked at #5 on the Billboard
Hot 100, raised album sales to double-platinum level, and won Soul Asylum the
Grammy Award for Best Rock Song in 1994.
In 1995, Soul Asylum followed up the success of Grave Dancers Union with Let
Your Dim Light Shine, which climbed to #6 on the Billboard 200 and featured
the #1 Modern Rock track Misery. After releasing Candy From a Stranger in 1998,
the band members took a break from recording and didn't release a new studio
album for the better part of seven years.
They reunited in 2004 to record their
ninth full-length album. Shortly thereafter, Karl was diagnosed with throat
cancer. Up until this point, Soul Asylum had always included Dan, Karl, and
Dave, despite several line-up changes. This changed on June 17th, 2005, when
Karl passed away after finishing his work on the new album. The Silver Lining
was released in 2006 and dedicated to Karl Mueller's life and memory, with
Dan expressing that, "For me, this record
is Karl."
Release of Soul Asylum’s 2012 album Delayed Reaction
On July 17th, 2012, the band released a new album: Delayed Reaction.
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Since
the release of Soul Asylum’s 2012 album Delayed Reaction which All Music called “their
best album in ages” the band has been having some fun in the studio
and following the advice and requests that fans have been making for
years and will now be releasing a series of EP’s to pay tribute
to artists and songs that made an impact on them. The first in the series
no fun intended produced by the band & John Fields will be out digitally
on July 16.
After years of playing random cover song’s at shows the band has taken
that tradition into the recording studio and the result is a series of EP’s
to be released throughout 2013, the first no fun intended features covers
songs from Joy Division, MC5 and Suicide Commandos.
Growing up and being fans of so many band’s the men of Soul Asylum
had to narrow down what songs would be included in this series of EP’s
as for the first three songs David Pirner explains, “We choose Attacking
The Beat from The Suicide Commandos because the band is legendary in the
Minneapolis music scene, guitarist/singer Chris Osgood taught me my first
Ramone’s
chords and is a huge inspiration on all of us.”
As for Joy Division’s Love Will Tear Us Apart “I’ve never
been a goth guy but Love Will Tear Us Apart is one of the greatest songs
ever written, it’s an amazing piece of poetry.” Pirner continues |
And MC5’s Shakin’ Street “MC5 were such a pivotal band in
the inception of punk music, they stood for everything I believed in growing
up and still believe in today, rock n’ roll music can be an agent of
change.” says Pirner
Look for the band this summer on The LP Tour with Big Head Todd, The Wailers
and Matthew Sweet playing their multi-million selling album Grave Dancers Union
from start to finish. The band will soon start recording an album of new material
to be produced by Soul Asylum and John Fields due out early 2014. No fun intended
is the first in a series on EP’s to be release by Soul
Asylum with distribution via TuneCore.
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