''Grave Dancers Union'' is the sixth studio album by American

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commerci ...

band

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 band was originally called Loud Fast Rules, with a lineup consisting of Dav ...

and was released in 1992. The album spent 76 weeks on the US '' Billboard'' music charts and was certified triple-

platinum Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver". Pla ...

in 1993, establishing Soul Asylum as one of the most successful rock groups of the first half of the 1990s.

Overview

During recording of ''Grave Dancers Union'', producer

Michael Beinhorn Michael Beinhorn is a North American record producer, composer, author and musician. He has produced albums for Red Hot Chili Peppers, Soundgarden, Hole, Violent Femmes and Marilyn Manson. Career 1977-1983: Early Years, Material, Herbie Hanco ...

grew dissatisfied with drummer Grant Young's performance and brought in Sterling Campbell. He and Campbell would each wind up playing on half the record. Due to the band's reluctance to admit that a session musician was involved in the album's recording, Campbell was credited as "percussionist." Young would continue as the band's drummer for touring duties after the album was released, until he was dismissed and officially replaced by Campbell prior to the recording of their next album, ''

Let Your Dim Light Shine ''Let Your Dim Light Shine'' is the seventh studio album by American rock band Soul Asylum, released June 6, 1995 on Columbia Records. Critically, it suffered in comparison to its predecessor, '' Grave Dancers Union'', the band's breakout release ...

''. The single "

Runaway Train A runaway train is a type of railroad incident in which unattended rolling stock is accidentally allowed to roll onto the main line, a moving train loses enough braking power to be unable to stop in safety, or a train operates at unsafe speeds d ...

", released in June 1993, reached number five on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and won a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

for best rock song in 1994. Though the album had sold moderately well to that point, the breakout success of that single was a major factor in the album's eventual multi-platinum sales figures. The album cover features a photograph by Czech

photographer A photographer (the Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who makes photographs. Duties and types of photographers As in other ...

Jan Saudek Jan Saudek (born 13 May 1935) is an art photographer and painter. Jan Saudek's art work represents a unique technique combining photography and painting. In his country of origin, Czechoslovakia, Jan was considered a disturbed artist and oppres ...

titled "Fate Descends Towards the River Leading Two Innocent Children", which was taken in 1970. The album's title comes from the line "I tried to dance at a funeral,

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

style, I joined the Grave Dancers Union, I had to file", from the song "Without a Trace."

Track listing

Personnel

Soul Asylum *

Dave Pirner David Anthony Pirner (born April 16, 1964) is an American songwriter, singer, and producer best known as the lead vocalist and frontman for the alternative rock band Soul Asylum. Early life and work Pirner was born in Green Bay, Wisconsin and gr ...

– lead vocals, rhythm guitar * Dan Murphy – lead guitar, backing vocals * Karl Mueller – bass * Grant Young – drums Additional musicians * Sterling Campbell – percussion * Booker T. Jones III – Hammond organ * Kraig Johnson,

Gary Louris Gary Louris (born March 10, 1955) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter of alternative country and pop music. He was a founding member of the Minneapolis-based band the Jayhawks and their principal songwriter and vocalist after the ...

– backing vocals * Meridian String Quartet – strings * Sonny Kompanek – arranger, conductor Production *

– arranger, celeste, glockenspiel, producer, horn arrangements * Chris Shaw - engineer * Eric Anderson, Bruce Ross – additional engineering * David Michael Dill, Dan Gellert, Bill Smith – assistant engineers * Andy Wallace – mixing * David Leonard – mixing of "The Sun Maid" * Steve Sisco – mixing assistant * Wally Traugott – mastering * Francesca Restrepo – art direction, design *

– photography

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Singles

Certifications

Awards

Grammy Awards

References

{{Authority control Soul Asylum albums 1992 albums Columbia Records albums Albums produced by Michael Beinhorn