Forgotten Album of the Month: Soul Asylum

Forgotten Album of the Month: Soul Asylum

Everybody knows Soul Asylum now but back in 1988, they were just another struggling punk band out of the Midwest who had just stepped into the big time by signing with A&M. When they released their major-label debut and their fourth record overall, Hang Time, there were big hopes for the record and for the band and unfortunately, those hopes were dashed as the record fell into the deepest obscurity any rock record of the ‘80s could. Fortunately though, the record has been rediscovered over the years and people have realized how great they were before “Runaway Train.”
The record starts off with “Down on Up to Me” and one of the best opening riffs in recent rock history, with crunch and power behind it, the album begins and immediately one is taken with how catchy it is while being almost devoured by a wall of noise. One of the best songs the band has ever written, “Cartoon” almost stops the record cold with the power and feeling and emotion that has the power to take your breath away.
This record is also where the band began to diversify with different styles of music with their own touch. Songs like “Marionette,” “Twiddly Dee” and “Jack of All Trades” show the band flirting with hardcore punk and very impressively, folk. It also shows the band’s rarely seen humorous side with a full-on joke cover of Terry Jacks’ repulsively ludicrous “Put the Bone In” with all their friends joining in for an excellent close to an excellent album. Why “Cartoon” didn’t become the massive hit it was made for is still a question but it’s failure set the band up for real success when it came ‘round four years later. So take a listen and realize that there was always much more to this band than just “Runaway Train” and “Misery.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEKJTYRp26E (Cartoon)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HRA_9MxO3k (Sometime to Return)

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