# Let Your Dim Light Shine

Let Your Dim Light Shine is the seventh studio album by American rock band Soul Asylum, released June 6, 1995, on Columbia Records. Critically, it suffered in comparison to its predecessor, Grave Dancers Union, the band's breakout release. It includes the hit "Misery", which was parodied by "Weird Al" Yankovic as "Syndicated Inc." on his album Bad Hair Day.
It was the first Soul Asylum album with drummer Sterling Campbell, who had previously played drums on half of the tracks on Grave Dancers Union.
The album's title comes from a lyric of the song "Promises Broken".

## Reception

Professional ratings :
| Review scores ||
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic | |
| Chicago Tribune | |
| Christgau's Consumer Guide | B+ |
| Entertainment Weekly | B |
| Los Angeles Times | |
| Q | |
| Rolling Stone | |
| Spin | 7/10 |
AllMusic gave a mostly critical summary of Let Your Dim Light Shine, with Stephen Thomas Erlewine commenting that the music "isn't quite as impressive" compared to previous efforts, and moreover that this element is easily overlooked because of the "self-importance" of the lyrics.

## Track listing

All songs written by David Pirner unless noted otherwise.
* "Misery" – 4:24
* "Shut Down" – 2:51
* "To My Own Devices" – 2:59
* "Hopes Up" – 3:45
* "Promises Broken" (Dan Murphy, Marc Perlman) – 3:14
* "Bittersweetheart" – 3:34
* "String of Pearls" – 4:56
* "Crawl" (Stephen Jordan, Pirner) – 4:00
* "Caged Rat" – 3:03
* "Eyes of a Child" – 3:35
* "Just Like Anyone" – 2:47
* "Tell Me When" (Pirner, David Samuels) – 3:42
* "Nothing to Write Home About" – 3:14
* "I Did My Best" – 3:46
For the Japanese release of Let Your Dim Light Shine, an additional track was added to the album. It was a cover of the Descendents song "Hope". Note that "Bittersweetheart" fades out at 3:17, but the guitar feedback remains, therefore "Bittersweetheart" quickly segues into "String of Pearls". The running time of both songs equals about 8 minutes and 30 seconds long.

## Personnel

Soul Asylum
* Dave Pirner – lead vocals, rhythm guitar, keyboards, trumpet, producer
* Dan Murphy – lead guitar, backing vocals, producer
* Karl Mueller – bass guitar, producer
* Sterling Campbell – drums, percussion, vocals, producer
Additional musicians
* Trini Alvarado – backing vocals
* John Devries – backing vocals
* Joey Huffman – organ, piano, mellotron
* Eric Pierson – guitar (on "Hopes Up", and "Caged Rat")
* Jane Scarpantoni – cello
* Dave Schramm – pedal steel guitar (on "I Did My Best")
* Tim Ray – piano, electric piano
Production
* John Siket – engineer
* Michael Stern – engineer (non credited)
* Butch Vig – producer
* Andy Wallace – mixer
* Howie Weinberg – mastering

## Charts
### Singles

Chart performance for singles from Let Your Dim Light Shine :
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
| 1995 | "Misery" | US Billboard Hot 100 | 20 |
| 1995 | "Misery" | US Mainstream Rock Tracks | 2 |
| 1995 | "Misery" | US Modern Rock Tracks | 1 |
| 1995 | "Just Like Anyone" | US Mainstream Rock Tracks | 11 |
| 1995 | "Just Like Anyone" | US Modern Rock Tracks | 19 |
| 1996 | "Promises Broken" | US Billboard Hot 100 | 63 |
| 1996 | "Promises Broken" | US Mainstream Rock Tracks | 29 |
| 1996 | "Promises Broken" | US Adult Contemporary | 29 |

## Certifications

Certifications for Let Your Dim Light Shine :
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
| Canada (Music Canada) | 2× Platinum | 200,000$^^$ |
| United States (RIAA) | Platinum | 1,000,000$^^$ |
| $^^$ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |||