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. It includes the hit "Misery," which was parodied by "Weird Al" Yankovic as "Syndicated Inc." on his album Bad Hair Day.

Let Your Dim Light Shine
Studio album by
Soul Asylum
ReleasedJune 6, 1995
Recorded1994–1995
GenreAlternative rock
Length49:59
LabelColumbia
Producer
Soul Asylum chronology
Grave Dancers Union
(1992)		 Let Your Dim Light Shine
(1995)		 Candy from a Stranger
(1998)
Singles from Let Your Dim Light Shine
  1. "Misery"
    Released: 1995
  2. "Just Like Anyone"
    Released: 1995
  3. "Promises Broken"
    Released: 1996

This was the first Soul Asylum album with drummer Sterling Campbell, who had previously provided half of the drums on Grave Dancers Union.

The album's title comes from a lyric of the song "Promises Broken."

Reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]
Chicago Tribune[2]
Christgau's Consumer GuideB+[3]
Entertainment WeeklyB[4]
Los Angeles Times[5]
Q[6]
Rolling Stone[7]
Spin7/10[8]

AllMusic gave a mostly critical summary of Let Your Dim Light Shine, with Stephen Thomas Erlewine commenting that the music "isn't quite as impressive" compared to previous efforts, and moreover that this element is easily overlooked because of the "self-importance" of the lyrics.[1]

Track listing

All songs written by David Pirner unless noted otherwise.

  1. "Misery" – 4:24
  2. "Shut Down" – 2:51
  3. "To My Own Devices" – 2:59
  4. "Hopes Up" – 3:45
  5. "Promises Broken" (Murphy, Marc Perlman) – 3:14
  6. "Bittersweetheart" – 3:34
  7. "String of Pearls" – 4:56
  8. "Crawl" (Stephen Jordan, Pirner) – 4:00
  9. "Caged Rat" – 3:03
  10. "Eyes of a Child" – 3:35
  11. "Just Like Anyone" – 2:47
  12. "Tell Me When" (Pirner, David Samuels) – 3:42
  13. "Nothing to Write Home About" – 3:14
  14. "I Did My Best" – 3:46

For the Japanese release of Let Your Dim Light Shine, an additional track was added to the album. It was a cover of the Descendents song "Hope". Note that "Bittersweetheart" fades out at 3:17, but the guitar feedback remains, therefore "Bittersweetheart" quickly segues into "String of Pearls". The running time of both songs equals about 8 minutes and 30 seconds long.

Personnel

Soul Asylum

Additional musicians

Production

Charts

Album

Chart (1995) Peak

position

US Billboard 200 Album Chart 6

Singles

Year Single Chart Position
1995 "Misery" The Billboard Hot 100 20
Mainstream Rock Tracks 2
Modern Rock Tracks 1
"Just Like Anyone" Mainstream Rock Tracks 11
Modern Rock Tracks 19
1996 "Promises Broken" The Billboard Hot 100 63
Mainstream Rock Tracks 29
Adult Contemporary 29

References
  1. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Let Your Dim Light Shine Review". AllMusic. Retrieved 2018-04-19.
  2. Kot, Greg (1995-06-08). "Pirner's Folly". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2018-04-19.
  3. Christgau, Robert (2000-10-15). "Soul Asylum: Let Your Dim Light Shine". Christgau's Consumer Guide: Albums of the '90s. Macmillan Publishing. ISBN 9780312245603.
  4. Browne, David (1995-06-09). "Let Your Dim Light Shine". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2018-04-19.
  5. Hochman, Steve (1995-06-04). "Album Review: Soul Asylum Is Searching With Its 'Dim Light'". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 2018-04-19.
  6. "Let Your Dim Light Shine Review". Q. July 1995. p. 124.
  7. Gardner, Elysa (1998-02-02). "Soul Asylum: Let Your Dim Light Shine". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 2007-10-02. Retrieved 2018-04-18.
  8. Arnold, Gina (July 1995). "Soul Asylum: Let Your Dim Light Shine". Spin. SPIN Media LLC. p. 71.



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