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 by Keavin Wiggins
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Back to Part I

With the success of “Grave Dancers Union” the pressure was on for the group to deliver a new album that would not only please newfound fans but would surpass the magic that made Soul Asylum a best seller. The added pressure of having to top himself caused Dave Pirner to redouble his songwriting efforts to come up with some of the best music of his career. It would take three years for the new album to surface. The band entered the studio changed, not only with a personnel shift with Sterling Campbell taking over on drums but the with a new attitude that they could accomplish anything. The band together with Butch Vig produced the album that would arguably be the best of their career. 

On Jun 6, 1995, “Let Your Dim Light Shine” hit record stores. The band had retained a good portion of their audience from the success of “Grave Dancers Union” and the first single “Misery” became a hit. Although not viewed as nearly as successful as “Grave Dancers Union”, in many ways Dave Pirner’s songwriting on “Let Your Dim Light Shine” far surpassed his earlier work. Songs like “To My Own Devices”, “Promises Broken”, “Eyes of a Child” and “Tell Me When” showcased Dave’s more mature love for acoustic instrumentation and more subtle sound. “Misery”, “Hopes Up” and “Shut Down” still showed that the band could rock when they wanted to but still deliver strong and memorable melodies. “Caged Rat” and “Crawl” were the only two songs to shadow the group’s rawer punk roots but it was the lyrical genius of Dave Pirner the story teller that gave the album it’s best track, “String of Pearls”; A song that starts with a hooker who breaks her string of pearls while standing on a street corner and then tells the wild tale of those who would come in contact with the missing pearl, including a janitor who had lost his wife to another man that was found dead “with his head in a urinal”, the Siameses twin that would become president, the before mentioned cheating wife who would get into a cat fight with her lover’s spouse at his funeral and a preacher who would bring the story full circle when he finds the pearl and returns it to the hooker. That song alone insures Dave Pirner’s place in the rock n roll history books as a master lyricist and one of the most imaginative songwriters of his generation. 

Three years would once again pass before Soul Asylum would return with a new studio album. 1998’s “Candy From a Stranger” marked the band’s greatest departure from their punk rock roots. The angst and overdriven guitars that propelled the songs on their early albums were replaced with softer melodies, acoustic guitars and the alternative rock that put them on the musical map was put aside for music with a more country rock flavor, in many ways landing this album and the band firmly in the alt-country category. The somber tone of the music and lyrics left some listeners depressed and long time fans just didn’t know what to make of this “new” Soul Asylum. Critics blasted the album due to its departure from the winning songwriting formula that won them over in years past. “Candy From A Stranger” was too big a leap for many to accept and album sales reflected that. To be fair, if this album had been released by another band that didn’t have an established history as rockers like Soul Asylum, perhaps a Dave Matthews Band, Ryan Adams or Jeff Buckley, the heavily reflective and sorrowful songs may have been greeted in an entirely different light, in fact embraced and praised by critics and fans alike. But the music from “Candy from a Strange” proved to be much too off the set musical path that Soul Asylum had traveled during their career. Disappointed with the lack of sales and support from their label, the band eventually asked to be released from their contract with Columbia Records. After touring in support of the album, the members headed off to explore their own projects. 

Dave Pirner, who had made several appearances on other people’s albums through the years, decided a change was in order. So he moved from his “rockin” home base of Los Angeles to New Orleans and began work on what would become his debut solo album. 

Revitalized by his new surroundings, Dave delved into the songwriting for his solo album with what appears to have been a reflective perspective. The title “Faces and Names” couldn’t be more apt to describe the music it contains. Some can argue that the music on this album takes off where “Candy From A Stranger” left off. It’s notable that in light of Dave’s solo album, “Candy From A Stranger” might have been better received if it had been a solo effort and not a Soul Asylum album.  While for the most part the songs on “Candy From a Stranger” seemed to not quite hit the mark of what they were intended to be, with “Faces and Names” Dave seemed to have found that extra spark to give the songs that little something extra that was needed to take the songs from being only decent efforts to well-crafted tunes that carry his legacy forward to a new realm. 

In many ways, “Faces and Names” is like Robert Plant’s recent solo album, a collection of tracks that are more or less love songs to music that has inspired him through the years. The first few tracks on “Faces and Names” follow in the alt-country tradition before giving way to new more soulful Dave Pirner that should surprise and delight most listeners. There is a vast divide between the Dave Pirner who started out with a love of punk rock and the Dave Pirner of 2002, a more reflective mature man who turns to a form a music that has proven through the years to be one of the best vehicles for emotional expression, soul. That’s not to say that this is a straight ahead soul album, the songs actually land somewhere in the middle between rock and R&B and while Dave’s unique raspy voice was the perfect match to deliver raunchy alternative hard rock vocals, it is also surprisingly well suited to the power and elegance of the soulful music he explores on “Faces and Names”. 

The album’s title track is perhaps the best in this collection of songs and the most true to the Dave Pirner that became a platinum selling star in the early 90’s. Dave once again spins a masterful, soul searching and imaginative tale with the lyrics to this song. Which carries the listen from an experience of his youth, where a fire broke out at a costume party and he ends up in an emergency room looking back in somewhat regret of the path his life had taken, which is highlighted by a run in with his grade school teacher who shares her disappointment that he didn’t quite measure up to what she expected of him by saying, “What happened son you could have been someone / could have been so much more.” 

It’s this ability to lay out his soul for all to see and his gift for stringing words together in a magical way that has helped make Dave Pirner a star but more importantly helped give him a career that has so far lasted over twenty years. As he delves into the world of a solo artist, he can look to the future with confidence and look back with pride that in many ways he has left his mark. “Faces and Names” begins a new chapter in the life and times of Dave Pirner. And with all good stories, we should all hope to continue to be compelled to turn to the next page as Dave’s story continues to unfold before our eyes. For this chapter Dave tells us the simple truth he has discovered about life as he reflects on where the journey has taken him thus far, “I just sit back and laugh cause the only thing that's changed are the faces and the names.”
 

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