Misconceptions you've had about Soul Asylum

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

Post by Homesick »

I have a very vague memory that I might have started a thread like this quite some time ago, but I'll take my chances and post it anyway.

What are some misconceptions you've had about Soul Asylum?

These are some of mine:
  • Back when I only knew about Runaway Train, I thought that Soul Asylum were a Christian band! Something about their name, their lyrics, and the fact that their video encouraged people to help missing kids really made it seem to me like they were the sort of hip, young Christian musicians who could appeal to teenagers.
  • The first song I heard off Let Your Dim Light Shine was Caged Rat, so at first I got the idea that the band had completely departed from their style on Grave Dancers Union and recorded an entire album of screaming and psychedelic tunes.
  • The first time I heard Lately, it was only a short preview from an online record store. The lyrics I heard were, "She's a good friend of mine but I can't take the place of her man anytime / And it won't be long / 'Til he's coming home." This gave me the impression that the song was about somebody cheating on her husband with a good friend.
  • The copy of Grave Dancers Union that I bought also included a few live tracks (Insomniac's Dream), one of which was Stranger. That recording (with the harmonica) sounded so close to their style at the time of Grave Dancers Union that I thought it was from their previous record, not something recorded ten years earlier.
Jakob Kallin, webmaster of EnterTheSoulAsylum.com

spodiba
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Re: Misconceptions you've had about Soul Asylum

Post by spodiba »

When I heard Runaway Train for the first couple of times on the radio, I thought the lead singer was old, really old, Bob Dylan old. I was in real shock when I found out that Dave is actually pretty young and I actually fell in love with his voice and then the song and then the band.
Later I'll remember more of my misconceptions about the band

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philipgar
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Re: Misconceptions you've had about Soul Asylum

Post by philipgar »

Most common ones I hear are:

GDU was their first album
They're still around?

Phil

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zany
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Re: Misconceptions you've had about Soul Asylum

Post by zany »

when i first got into them (runaway train days) i assumed GDU was their first album. i think because the tape had sides labeled 13 and 14 i somehow figured it out or heard somewhere that there were older albums.

at first i thought We 3 was written specifically for the movie chasing amy.

i assumed what i heard about candy from a stranger being a bad album, was true (big mistake!)

spodiba wrote: I thought the lead singer was old, really old, Bob Dylan old.

this cracked me up - bob dylan's not "really" old in my mind... i mean esp back then he was only like 50 ish.

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

Post by Yaz McBoo »

I got into their catalog backwards.. I bought all the singles in the 1990s, before getting any of their pre-Hang Time records.. So for the longest time I thought Closer to the Stars and Never Really Been were previously unreleased outtakes, not simply live versions of actual old album tracks... The acoustic version of Closer to the Stars is the "original version" in my mind.

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AlyssaJones
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Re: Misconceptions you've had about Soul Asylum

Post by AlyssaJones »

  • Before I really got into them I kinda thought they were one of those emo bands that sings about broken hearts and suicide. I'm glad I was wrong about that! I don't know why, maybe it was something about their name or more likely some of their um...album covers. It's a good thing I had never seen the Artificial Heart video because that just may have turned me off of them forever.

    I thought their primary fanbase was teenagers.

    I used to think Dave's last name was pronounced peer-nur, nor pur-nur.

    When I saw them in Pittsburgh for the first time, I actually mistook Tommy for Dave! I saw Tommy standing over by the side of the stage and I said to my brother, "Is that Dave Pirner?" and he was like, "no". I know they look nothing like each other, but I could tell Tommy was in the band and it had been a long, long while since I'd seen a picture of Dave so I forgot what he looked like.

    I used to think that I'd never ever get to see them.

    I thought my mom would never ever like them in a million years :x (Dave was MY boyfriend first)
I probably have more...I'll post them if I think of any.

spodiba
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Re: Misconceptions you've had about Soul Asylum

Post by spodiba »

AlyssaJones wrote:
  • I know they look nothing like each other, but I could tell Tommy was in the band and it had been a long, long while since I'd seen a picture of Dave so I forgot what he looked like.
What!?! :o How could you mistake Tommy for Dave? :lol:
How could you forget Dave's face? :lol:

spodiba
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Re: Misconceptions you've had about Soul Asylum

Post by spodiba »

zany wrote:
spodiba wrote: I thought the lead singer was old, really old, Bob Dylan old.

this cracked me up - bob dylan's not "really" old in my mind... i mean esp back then he was only like 50 ish.
Well, actually, when you think of it, Dave was in his late 20s when they recorded RT, so Bob Dylan is quite old in my mind compared to Dave. And especially since I heard, actually "heard" RT for the first time just over a year ago, that makes the age difference even bigger, cause Bob Dylan is older now.
OK, I hope this babbling makes some sense :)

Woohoo, my 100th post!

barbieqkiller
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Re: Misconceptions you've had about Soul Asylum

Post by barbieqkiller »

Uhm...

I first heard them on a radio show in -89 and I thought they were kinda' thrash/punk blabalbla but then I bought all their previous records and then continued to buy every new release since then. That's when I discovered their diversity and though for nostalgic reasons I love the older records since I've listened to them the longest. I really like the others, and also I never thought my dad wold approve, and nowadays he is a big fan :)

I never thought I would meet anyone who knew about them, but I did meet one guy in -96

One true misconception is that all people know about them is their hit Runaway Train, sadly this happens a lot (at least the ones I've met, then again I live in a small country where people are more focused on local bands)

I had no idea that they were so involved in politics, that was a nice surprise!

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zany
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Re: Misconceptions you've had about Soul Asylum

Post by zany »

spodiba wrote: Well, actually, when you think of it, Dave was in his late 20s when they recorded RT, so Bob Dylan is quite old in my mind compared to Dave. And especially since I heard, actually "heard" RT for the first time just over a year ago, that makes the age difference even bigger, cause Bob Dylan is older now.
OK, I hope this babbling makes some sense :)

Woohoo, my 100th post!
hmm so you're comparing recent bob dylan age to RT-dave-age? .... well... i guess i see what you're saying ;) i still think it's funny though!
(and bob i still don't think you're "really" old.. at least you're younger than my dad! good for you!)

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