Published on Sep 3, 1998
I once read somewhere that
Grave Dancers Union was a “last-gasp” effort from Dave
Pirner and Soul Asylum. The decision had been made that if this
album didn’t take off, the band would call it a day. On the
strength of the first three songs and the fanatical devotion of
alternative rock radio, the album did, in fact, take off, and
became the “breakthrough” album for Soul Asylum.
Now, I’m someone who, quite frankly, never did like the song
“Runaway Train”; I thought it was too sappy and slow. Six years
after
Grave Dancers Union came out, my opinion of this song
remains the same, no matter how many times I pull this tape out of
the Pierce Archives (where we’re still Sammy Sosa supporters) and
give it a shot on the old JVC tape deck. Fact is, while Soul Asylum
has become known for these slower songs, they’re at their best when
they pull out all the stops and rock out.
There are traces of this in the other big radio hit “Black
Gold,” though even this song has gotten on my nerves thanks to the
constant bombardment alternative radio has given it over the years.
(Hey, program directors: lighten up. The band has put out two other
albums since then… any reason you ignored
Candy From A Stranger?) The “minor” of the hits, “Somebody
To Shove,” captures the essence of Soul Asylum much better for
me.
No, wait, that actually isn’t true. For of the great songs on
Grave Dancers Union, the best are some of the tracks that
didn’t make it onto the radio. “Keep It Up” earns the title of
“Single That Never Was”; if any song begged to be lifted from the
album and sent out across the airwaves, this was the one. And while
it wouldn’t have gotten airplay due to one little word, “99%” is a
feedback-laden paradise that challenges the images of Soul Asylum
that the casual fan might have had.
Granted, there are some weak moments on
Grave Dancers Union, such as the brief, mistaken dip into
country rock on “New World” and the
Sgt. Pepper influences on “The Sun Maid,” a song that is far
too slow. Still, these moments aren’t many.
Grave Dancers Union is an album that you won’t truly
appreciate until you’ve given it a few spins. Sure, there will be
some songs you’ll like on the initial listen – and I’m willing to
bet those are the singles. But once you’ve spent a little more time
with the album, you’ll appreciate many of the songs that weren’t
chosen to be singles – songs, in fact, that were better than any of
the three singles themselves.
Soul Asylum could have easily packed things in after being
dropped from A&M after the commercial failure of
And The Horse They Rode In On, but they decided to give it
one more chance with
Grave Dancers Union. For that, we should be thankful.