Search - Soul Asylum :: Let Your Dim Light Shine

How do you follow your big break-through?

campervan9 | San Diego, California United States | 06/07/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"You have to admit it -- Soul Asylum had their work cut out for them on this one. After Runaway Train and Grave Dancer's Union sold I don't even know how many million copies a few years before (I know that it was a lot), they followed it with Let Your Dim Light Shine. The first single (and first track), Misery, had me hooked from the first time I heard it on the radio, and the rest of the album, though not quite as strong as Grave Dancer's Union, doesn't disappoint -- the best recommendation I can give is to start with Grave Dancer's Union, and if you like it, don't hesitate to pick this one up too.After Misery, I Did My Best, Eyes of a Child, and To My Own Devices are great ballads. Just Like Anyone is a wonderful mid-tempo rocker, kind of in the Somebody to Shove/Black Gold vein. I don't like Caged Rat -- it sounds like a kind of thrown away grunger from a band that doesn't play hard grunge well, but most of the rest of the album is good listening."

"frustrated incorporated"

Rich Latta | Albuquerque, NM - Land of Entitlement | 05/21/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

""Misery" is far and away the standout track on this album. It's a perfect pop song, much more tuneful and catchy than anything else here. There's some other good stuff, but some of it is pretty lackluster and almost irritating to be honest. "Shut Down" is pretty good. I like about half of "String of Pearls." As another reviewer here noted, the lyrics are a bit embarrassing at times. And let's face it, when it comes to hard rocking, this band is far from the hardest, although they often deliberately go for a mellower direction on this album.



I thought "Misery" would be a huge hit when I first picked up the single. It seemed to perfectly ridicule the marketing of teen-age angst while celebrating it at the same time. Some of the other reviewers here who criticized the lyrics just didn't get them: they're pretty brilliant. Now I understand why this song didn't take off - it hits a little too close to the bone for the tastes of your average angst-rock fan. I think in some way it reveals a little too much, something they'd rather not consider (especially while trying to rock out)."