Part Three of my 5 part series on the most under-rated albums of the 1990s. By the way, thanks to those of you who emailed and IM'd over the past week. I'm grateful.

It took Minnesota rockers Soul Asylum almost 10 years to break through to mainstream success. Ten long years. They were produced by the same scene that gave us such punk luminaries as Husker Du and The Replacements, but Soul Asylum was lost in the shuffle. I still remember the first time I heard Soul Asylum on the radio. The song was Black Gold. It was such a perfect rock song with a great pop/rock hook. It was just absolutely fabulous. But I was wary of buying a cd for only one song. So I waited for the next single. That was Runaway Train. I knew at that point I had to buy their album, Grave Dancers Union. Since I didn't have a CD player yet at the time, I bought the tape. It didn't leave my player much at all over the next eight months. Needless to say, when the follow up to Grave Dancers Union was released in June of 1995, titled Let Your Dim Light Shine, I ran right out and bought it.

It no doubt helped that I liked the first single to that album as well, Misery. Being 15 and having more emotions running through me than ever before, the lyrics struck something in me. I listen to them now and find them well, stupid, but back then they hit something. I like the music a lot, it's just a good rock song. It's not deep or poignant, it's just a good song.

That theme continues with Shut Down, before the band goes into it's slower alt-countryish mode with To My Own Devices. I've never thought of lead vocalist Dave Pirner as anything great with respect to lyrics. I think he tries to tell a story too often instead of just conveying a feeling. Sometimes, he does both, and this is one of those times. I mean, let's face it, some of these lyrics are plain crap, but I love the lines

whatever the crisis
please don't leave me
to my own devices

I think he perfectly captured the mood of dark and deep depression with those 3 lines.

Throughout this whole album really, Pirner captures the essence of depression and mood swings better than anybody on any previous album. OK, so I KNOW I'm gonna get reamed for that comment (I know I should just because Pirner has some awful lyrics on this record too), but so be it. This whole album is about things changing, facing up to your past, hearts being broken, and everything that makes us as humans depressed.

What Pirner also does throughout the album is sing with a resonation of hope. With songs like Promises Broken and Bittersweetheart, the subject matter is decidedly kind of dark, yet the band's music is upbeat and never much in a "down" mode.

The best song musically on the album is String of Pearls, a schizophrenic like song lyric-wise that deals with the path some pearls take, from cars to delivery rooms to prostitutes. But musically, it's a bit of a departure for the band, incorporating some electronic effects and showcasing the driving drumwork of Sterling Campbell.

Lyrically, the best song is by far the driving pop/punk rocker Just Like Anyone, a song that became the album's second single with a video staring Clare Danes. More than anything, the song is about being an outsider, and I remember sitting and crying because this song fit my life so well at the time, seven years ago. Pirner perfectly captured what it's like to be the outsider looking in, wanting to be the popular person in high school.

The thing that makes this album truly great though is that even when Pirner has a brain fart, the songs are still very good musically. They rock when they should, or they're mellow when they should be, and that's something that most artists couldn't get right if their careers depended on it. Sure, there's the pretentious stuff on here that Pirner probably felt obligated to write, coming out of the scene that he did (Caged Rat, I Did My Best), but even those songs are eminently listenable.

There are those who will say that Grave Dancers Union is a better overall album. That may be true, to be honest, that all depends on my mood, which one I feel is better I mean. I'll tell you though: when you're in a depressed and dark place, I don't know if there are many better albums to help take you out of it than Let Your Dim Light Shine.




Recommended: Yes