Silver Lining
"It's funny," Dave Pirner ponders in "Success Is Not So Sweet," one of a dozen songs on Soul Asylum's first album since 1998, "how the players can't survive the game." Pirner has obviously come to realize that with accomplishment comes consequence, but with Soul Asylum, it also has brought resilience. After rising from barstool misfits to international pop stars in the early '90s, the band was ostensibly shot out of the sky. Two subsequent records failed to live up to the million-sellerGrave Dancer's Union. Pirner's New Orleans home got caught in the middle of Hurricane Katrina. And founding member Karl Mueller lost his battle with cancer. Yet here they are with album number nine, sporting a trace more big league sparkle, but with the frayed cleverness and rock-solid musicianship that their fans know best. Pirner's melody-rich musings "Stand Up and Be Strong," "Lately," and "Bus Named Desire" allow ample elbow room for guitarist Dan Murphy, and his bittersweet ballads hearken back to gold records and runaway trains. Sure, success may come with a price. But it can also have a silver lining.--Scott Holter