Soul Asylum

Soul Asylum is an American alternative rock band formed in 1981 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Their 1993 hit "Runaway Train" won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Song.

The complete legendary 1993 MTV Unplugged performance, newly mixed from the original tapes and released for Record Store Day 2023 for the first time on vinyl. This double album features sixteen tracks, including four previously unrelease, non-broadcast performances.

Columbia Records and Legacy Recordings are celebrating the 30th anniversary of Soul Asylum’s legendary Grave Dancers Union, with the release of an expanded edition of the band’s 2x Platinum breakthrough album available in high-res digital Dolby Atmos and Sony 360 RA. The expanded 30th anniversary of Grave Dancers Union will also be available as a limited edition 2 LP 12-inch vinyl pressing later this year.

Soul Asylum was formed in Minneapolis in 1983 mixing tuneful but unrestrained punk, hardcore, 1970s rock, country and self-effacing kitsch. One early review described their sound as follows: some unholy mix of Kiss and Hank Williams thrown under the wheels of a runaway train. All elements contributed to the band being credited with a grunge precursor title, a claim often recited in comparisons between pre-Nirvana Minneapolis and Seattle bands. "Change of Fortune" is Soul Asylum's 11th full length studio album.

Since the ’80s, Soul Asylum have been a group known for their raucous but emphatic combination of punk energy, guitar-fueled firepower, and songs that range from aggressive to heartfelt. All of these things are present in spades on the Minneapolis band’s gloriously, joyously loose 13th studio album, 'Slowly But Shirley'. For 'Slowly But Shirley', it also helped that Soul Asylum turned to a familiar name for production: Steve Jordan, who had also produced the band’s 1990 effort 'And the Horse They Rode In On'. Back when they first worked together, the members of Soul Asylum were still figuring out how best to capture their sound in the studio—and Jordan’s approach of having the band play live together in one room was ideal. “He taught us a language of players playing music in the studio,” Pirner says. “Which we were not at the time. We still didn't really understand what you were supposed to do in what order.” Decades later, both parties are in different places. Jordan is currently the drummer for the Rolling Stones, and Soul Asylum remains one of the most inspiring and hardworking bands in the rock scene, having broken through commercially with the double-platinum 1992 album Grave Dancers Union.

Since the ’80s, Soul Asylum have been a group known for their raucous but emphatic combination of punk energy, guitar-fueled firepower, and songs that range from aggressive to heartfelt. All of these things are present in spades on the Minneapolis band’s gloriously, joyously loose 13th studio album, 'Slowly But Shirley'. For 'Slowly But Shirley', it also helped that Soul Asylum turned to a familiar name for production: Steve Jordan, who had also produced the band’s 1990 effort 'And the Horse They Rode In On'. Back when they first worked together, the members of Soul Asylum were still figuring out how best to capture their sound in the studio—and Jordan’s approach of having the band play live together in one room was ideal. “He taught us a language of players playing music in the studio,” Pirner says. “Which we were not at the time. We still didn't really understand what you were supposed to do in what order.” Decades later, both parties are in different places. Jordan is currently the drummer for the Rolling Stones, and Soul Asylum remains one of the most inspiring and hardworking bands in the rock scene, having broken through commercially with the double-platinum 1992 album Grave Dancers Union.

Soul Asylum's Grave Dancer's Union (30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition) features a second LP of bonus, rare tracks recorded from the band’s live performances in 1992 and 1993.

Soul Asylum's breakthrough, million-selling Grave Dancers Union yielded the mega-hit "Runaway Train" and put the band in a whole new league; longtime fans were predictably disappointed with the slick results.