THE SILVER LINING - Soul Asylum
Soul Asylum gave us the big “I Love the ’90s” set piece “Runaway Train,” even performing it at President Bill Clinton’s first inauguration, only to disappear soon after. Now the band is back with its first studio recording in eight years and its last with bassist Karl Mueller, who died last year. Mixing pop melody and garage grit, “The Silver Lining” is an old-school alternative rock album full of oversize riffs and open-hearted hooks. Dave Pirner’s moody rasp still has that scratchy, spine-tingling quality. While some cuts are flooded with cliches (”Stand Up and Be Strong”), “Bus Named Desire” leads a raunchy Aerosmith blues into a soaring chorus that conjures Cher’s 1998 smash “Believe,” and on sunset anthem “Standing Water,” power chords come crashing like perfect waves. Welcome back. Billboard
