Delayed Reaction

Editors’ Notes Soul Asylum was always a melodic, guitar-based group, long before it cracked mainstream charts and radio stations with hook-filled alternative rock. While the Minneapolis band became adept at handling midtempo tracks and ballads, it still managed a decent chunk of heartland rockers along the way. In 2012—aided by The Replacements' Tommy Stinson on bass and Prince's Michael Bland on drums—Soul Asylum's Dave Pirner and Dan Murphy work through a varied collection of tunes. Moving outward from their punk roots, they find inspiration with the easy, acoustic-based rock of "By the Way" and the barroom merriment of "Let's All Kill Each Other." Strings accentuate the downcast ballad "I Should've Stayed in Bed." A nightclub-lounge feel drives "Cruel Intentions," while "Gravity," "Into the Light (Breaking Horses)," and "Pipe Dream" stick close to the traditional Soul Asylum sound. Pirner still sings like a man with a tortured heart, and Murphy's guitar solos are concise and pack a cathartic punch.