Future musical direction

Discuss any aspect of Soul Asylum, their music, and the band's members.
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Homesick
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Future musical direction

Post by Homesick »

Now that the guys themselves have said they're working on new material, I thought it would be a good time to see what kind of material you would most like it to be: If the band releases new tracks or even a new album, what musical direction would you like to see them take?

As for me, I would actually be excited if they further developed the pop-inspired sound they have going in Be On My Side and Let's All Kill Each Other. What I'd most like to see, however, is a combination of the latter half of Candy From A Stranger (specifically Blood Into Wine, Lies of Hate, and Cradle Chain) plus Standing Water, and maybe a tad of the old New World. I think they all have something of an otherworldly feel that I would love to see applied to an entire album.

In any case, the awesomeness of The Silver Lining makes me confident that anything they're working on will be awesome as well.
Jakob Kallin, webmaster of EnterTheSoulAsylum.com

sheryl
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Re: Future musical direction

Post by sheryl »

I generally like what they do, but I'm your polar opposite in wanting more of the tv theme song type songs. I'm not really terribly fond of either of the two songs you mentioned. I don't really like the anthemic poppy stuff. Stand up and be Strong made me want to stab my own eyes out, for instance. A song that a three year old child can (and did)sing flawlessly, proving that it has all of the lyrical complexity of "the itsy bitsy spider" really more or less fails to impress.

I don't know that there's any real demographic for the type of songs they do that I like the best, though, since they all seem to be so different.
Never Really Been, Closer to the Stars, No Mans Land, Cartoon, Watcha Need, P9, the outtakes from Candy....

I'm not a huge fan of most of the singles, with Somebody to Shove and Without a Trace being the exceptions.

Having babbled all of that with no direction whatsoever, really I'll just be happy to have new music. Chances are good there will be something in it I like. I don't think they've ever put out a record that didn't have at least SOMETHING I liked, although some were more heavily weighted in one direction or the other.

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zany
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Re: Future musical direction

Post by zany »

well, just in case, sheryl - you should probably listen to any new stuff while far away from any knives.

mystic_spiral_3
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Re: Future musical direction

Post by mystic_spiral_3 »

Homesick wrote:Now that the guys themselves have said they're working on new material, I thought it would be a good time to see what kind of material you would most like it to be: If the band releases new tracks or even a new album, what musical direction would you like to see them take?
Gangsta rap yo. ;) Or the guys singing that Five song that Fritzi (I think) mentioned.

Kidding, kidding.

I'd like to see "Freak Accident" and "Directions" make the new album.

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Re: Future musical direction

Post by sheryl »

knives??????????


three hours later I finally get it. eye stabbing :) phew!

the thing about that song....when i first heard it it was nearly the undoing of the cd. i was close to taking it out and just not listening to the rest of it. all i could think was "what kind of kindergarten shit is this??" i was kinda mad.

the rest of the cd came through for me though....but later on i watched an interview dan and dave did, and dave mentioned that they had only put that song on the record because michael liked it so much. he said they hadn't wanted to because they thought it was overly simple.

i had just come into the room when that segment of the interview came on, and as he said that I stopped, scowled at him, and snapped "Y'think?!" at the tv and then realized i was probably taking it just a little too seriously =P

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Re: Future musical direction

Post by dells »

I also hated Stand Up and be Strong at first. It was just way to outright "preachy" for me. I prefer my musical therapy sessions' to be less literal, but fun and still uplifting, like Get On Out and Keep It Up on GDU. Tempered with the drunkin fun of April Fool, the ironic fun of Without A Trace, and the impish sly wink of Sun Maid, Grave Dancer's is perfect music therapy without coming off as preachy.

That being said, Stand Up has grown on me, and now I focus on it's fun energy, rather than the literal lyrics. Off the top of my head, without consulting the lyrics page for Stand Up, I can't think of any lyrical Pirnerisms in that song. It's the most "Un-Dave" song I've ever heard of his. I've come to like it over time, but I do sometimes mute it when I visit their MySpace page, but then, I visit that page fairly often and simply don't want to hear Stand Up every time.

Sorry I rambled on and on about 1 song. To get back to the topic, no matter what they come out with, I'm looking forward to hearing it, and I'm sure I'll enjoy it, especially in a live setting.

dells

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lune ellise
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Re: Future musical direction

Post by lune ellise »

mystic_spiral_3 wrote:Gangsta rap yo. ;) Or the guys singing that Five song that Fritzi (I think) mentioned.

Kidding, kidding.
You remembered correctly, it was me who mentioned the boy band :lol:

This is a very interesting thread you started up, Homesick. Although I do feel quite the same as others here (who would just be happy to hear something new from Soul Asylum), it is just as important to really ask myself: "what am I really expecting from Soul Asylum? What would I prefer them doing, and what kind of songs that would not suit my preferences?". This is not important for the band, mind, (because the hell they can do whatever they want with their talents), but it is important for me as a fan - an evaluation of my obsession if you will.

From my point of view, it is incredible how Soul Asylum transcends from style to style. I guess this is overlooked by older fans since they have been with the band for so long, and their materials just flows continuously. For me, as someone who just heard of Soul Asylum about a year ago, it is very interesting how I can listen to a different sound if I were to listen all their albums in one month. The band's evolution certainly appealed to me: from trashy funk-punk of Say What You Will, to power pop Silver Lining. There is no doubt that the mystery of what they will do next attracted me the most in the band.

If they were to release an album, I would love to hear all their styles in one album. Imagine cramming all their 9 LPs in one disc. It would be awesome! It would also be like Soul Asylum's story - though not as self-absorbed because they never wrote about themselves, do they?

What I would not want is something that sounds forced. This does not mean I dislike hit songs like Runaway Train or Misery. As the band said - "they write the song, others make it a hit". I would not want Dave or Dan to write a hit. They never did, and I hope they would not start now.

I also do not want overwrought, self-proclaiming songs. These songs are not appealing to me at all! These includes stupid songs like dancing, love songs that sound like it would be a sin if the girl doesn't fall for the guy, emo songs... I like subtlety. Let the lyrics be as is and leave us listeners to interpret it on our own. Of course, Soul Asylum never did these kind of songs before, so I am confident.
"There's no such thing as a man-tamed girl."
My reviews of Soul Asylum albums: http://fritzi.gironella-cdo.com/search/ ... l%20asylum

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Re: Future musical direction

Post by Closer »

I never liked Stand Up And Be Strong that much either. I do like it live because it has that anthem vibe to it and it's something people can sing along to... like this Peru fan http://nl.youtube.com/watch?v=HP4Fo9qc3ZI I just had to post it because it cracked me up when I heard it, and in case the person who is singing along happens to read this, which I doubt, but... I don't mean it in a negative way.

About the new musical direction if there will be new songs coming out... I think there will be some more rocking songs because they've been playing live a lot and Dave has been using his electric guitar more than acoustic guitar with previous tours, I believe. But I could be completely off about that. Lyrically I kinda missed the angst driven songs on The Silver Lining as on the previous three albums because I could always relate to that in some way and I doubt that they will make a return because I'm sure he's happier now and that's good for him. So I think it'll be more punky/rocking songs and maybe even a little bit more experimental than on The Silver Lining

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Re: Future musical direction

Post by CrazyLittleWoman »

dells wrote: Off the top of my head, without consulting the lyrics page for Stand Up, I can't think of any lyrical Pirnerisms in that song. It's the most "Un-Dave" song I've ever heard of his.

dells
I, too, hated "Stand Up and Be Strong" from the first listen -- and have skipped it from then on. I disliked it for exactly the reasons Dells mentioned: it doesn't sound like Dave Pirner wrote it. There are no Pirnerisms in the lyrics. It's utterly predictable. There are none of those little surprises -- either in the music or in the lyrics -- that are the hallmark of Dave Pirner's songwriting.

The live version has gradually grown on me, largely due to one particular performance of it, but I still skip it when I listen to TSL.

Back on topic.

One of the things I like about Soul Asylum is that they seem to do whatever the hell they want to and don't trouble themselves too much about the expectations of others. I hope that continues.

I always thought The Silver Lining sounded like a transition album.

So, I'd like to see them take us all completely by surprise with music that is unexpected, but which, when listened to chronologically with the other albums, somehow fits and makes sense as just the next stage in the evolution of their music. I have no idea what that might sound like, but I'm dying to find out.

Of course, the lyrics should be chock full of Pirnerisms from beginning to end! (As long as I'm wishing... ;) )
"Dave Pirner was the coolest motherfucker to wield a low-strung telecaster who isn't called Keith Richards." -- Ginger (Wildhearts)

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Re: Future musical direction

Post by Homesick »

CrazyLittleWoman wrote:So, I'd like to see them take us all completely by surprise with music that is unexpected, but which, when listened to chronologically with the other albums, somehow fits and makes sense as just the next stage in the evolution of their music.
Second!
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