Misconceptions you've had about Soul Asylum

Discuss any aspect of Soul Asylum, their music, and the band's members.
Bono
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Re: Misconceptions you've had about Soul Asylum

Post by Bono »

I heard Runaway Train on radio before I ever knew what the guys looked like so the first time I saw the video for Runaway Train Dav'es image was not at all what I was expecting. Also when I bought GDU and listend for the first time I was shcoked by the sound of Somebody to Shove cause after only ever hearing Runaway Train it also was not what I was expecting.

After hearing GDU though I immediatley started doing research and started ordering their back catelogue from HMV. I felt so cool not only knowing they had 6 other albums and had them all on order :lol: I was like the only "legit" Soul Asylum fan in my parts cause I had all thier albums when most people just thought they had them all cause they owned GDU
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Homesick
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Re: Misconceptions you've had about Soul Asylum

Post by Homesick »

Here's a major one that I somehow forgot earlier: When I first heard Never Really Been after just discovering Soul Asylum, I assumed that in their early career they had changed singers, because that guy singing Never Really Been didn't sound anything like GDU-era Dave to me.
Jakob Kallin, webmaster of EnterTheSoulAsylum.com

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zany
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Re: Misconceptions you've had about Soul Asylum

Post by zany »

Homesick wrote:Here's a major one that I somehow forgot earlier: When I first heard Never Really Been after just discovering Soul Asylum, I assumed that in their early career they had changed singers, because that guy singing Never Really Been didn't sound anything like GDU-era Dave to me.
that's an awesome one!! :) :) if i hadn't heard people on here describe early-dave-singing before i heard it i probably would've wondered the same thing!

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OneLovedBand
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Re: Misconceptions you've had about Soul Asylum

Post by OneLovedBand »

My misconception was that Soul Asylum was a strictly alternative/punk sounding band. I associated them with the sound of "Somebody To Shove" but even though I had heard "Runaway Train" before, I didn't know it was theirs because it sounded like a soft metal band did it to me. I was happy to discover the versitility of their musical style. (I like the alternative sound too now, I was a bit on the fence about it in the early 90s. I went into the 90s liking rock/soul/new wave)

I also thought they were from Seattle, not Minneapolis. (I was still living in Madison, WI at the time, not MN)

VERY glad I went to see them live, even though I wasn't sure I was going to like it given my lukewarm acceptance of grunge at the time. It was shocking and nice to have been proven so wrong. : )

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Yaz McBoo
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Re: Misconceptions you've had about Soul Asylum

Post by Yaz McBoo »

I don't know about this being a "misconception" but in the '90s I picked up all the current CD singles but hadn't delved into their 80s albums yet (except for Hang Time, which I found in a local store early on). So, for years, I thought Closer to the Stars was just a b-side. Had no idea it was an album tune, and originally sounded much different, LOL.

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Re: Misconceptions you've had about Soul Asylum

Post by dells »

I loved Somebody To Shove (and that super sexy scruffy lead singer in the video, of course!) the very first time that I heard it, and had the TV on MTV almost non-stop in order to catch it every time the video came on. I was too broke to be able to splurge on the CD, but wouldn't have anyway, because lyrics are important to me, and I just couldn't support promoting an artist with violent lyrics (about wanting to shove someone). But thankfully, with all of those times of watching the video, I managed to very quickly realize that he was NOT talking about wanting to shove someone, but that he was wanting someone to shove HIM. Then, since the song was in heavy MTV rotation around the time of my birthday, my nephew bought me the CD for my birthday(He knew I loved the song & band & was grateful that I had invited him to live with me so that he could stay in ND to finish HS with his friends when his mother moved to Texas). After absorbing the entire CD's lyrical content, It became clear to me that (IMO) Dave was indeed talking about wanting someone to basically shove him off of his pity pot, so to speak. That really spoke to me, and that song def shoved me off of my own pity pot, then the upbeat, fun Keep It Up was my personal cheerleader, getting me motivated to get off of my own personal "Runaway Train" of depressive thinking and force myself make some decisions to improve my situation to eliminate some of my stress.

Dave's writing for his own therapeutic outlet during that pre-GDU time (when he didn't know if the band would be able to continue before the success of GDU) really helped me as well, so I'm SO THANKFUL that I was mistaken about my first impression that his lyrics in Shove were promoting violence.

That must have been a widespread misconception, because there is an interview clip available on Youtube (thanks again, Mike, for collecting & uploading so many SA clips!) in which Dave specifically addressed this particular misconception, & he made sure to point out that "I'm saying that I want someone to shove ME".
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Re: Misconceptions you've had about Soul Asylum

Post by mystic_spiral_3 »

Interesting story. I think I heard "Somebody to Shove" on the radio a few months before "Runaway Train" got big. I had a similar thought: "he wants to shove people, how mean!" I guess I wasn't paying attention to the lyrics then either!

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triumph3434
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Re: Misconceptions you've had about Soul Asylum

Post by triumph3434 »

I had some thoughts on this thread but no real misconception story, LOL, here were my thoughts as I read. in order....

"man caged rat is a good song"...

"Great lyrics in never really been"....

"that acoustic Closer to the stars is amazing"...

"Keep it up is a great song as well, great lyrics"...

Thats it, just reminded of great songs.

I also wonder how I heard Spinnin first. What radio station was I listening to that was playing Spinnin from horse?? 99% of people heard Runaway train on radio first but somehow I had gotten horse before GDU came out at the age of maybee 13ish... Did Spinnin get any radio play?

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OneLovedBand
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Re: Misconceptions you've had about Soul Asylum

Post by OneLovedBand »

triumph3434 wrote:I also wonder how I heard Spinnin first. What radio station was I listening to that was playing Spinnin from horse?? 99% of people heard Runaway train on radio first but somehow I had gotten horse before GDU came out at the age of maybee 13ish... Did Spinnin get any radio play?
I keep thinking that maybe I heard "Sometime To Return" before I started listening to SA but can't place it. (Not sure that I did either, only that it sounded familiar when I got Hang Time.) I listened to WMAD in Madison, WI for a while around 1990 & at the time they were kind of like The Current in Mpls., playing all kinds of lesser known and eclectic music. Heard all kinds of deep cuts from musicians I know, & lots of unfamiliar musicians as well. Anyway, if I did hear it before, I'm guessing that's where I heard it. Maybe you heard "Spinnin'" on a similair type of station?

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triumph3434
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Re: Misconceptions you've had about Soul Asylum

Post by triumph3434 »

Yea, I just cant remember, i heard it enough to know it by name and get the album.

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