Black Gold: The Best of Soul Asylum [Original recording remastered]

Soul Asylum | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 26, 2000)
• Original Release Date: September 26, 2000
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B00004YC1M
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,136 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #28 in Music > Alternative Rock > American Alternative > General

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Soul Asylum were, in many ways, two distinct bands. Prior to signing with Columbia, Soul Asylum scored minor hits with "Cartoon" and "Sometime to Return." Their hard-won reputation, however, was not as a singles band. Instead, the group built its fan base via incessant touring and a string of hard-charging, heart-on-sleeve albums, including the wonderful Made to be Broken and While You Were Out. Soul Asylum's later years brought the hits ("Runaway Train," "Misery"), the MTV exposure, and the change in the band's style from gritty rock to hook-driven pop. Fans of the band's latter, more commercial period should find this disc interesting, since the set is dominated by this material. There are some treats for rarity hunters, however. A live recording of "Closer to the Stars," an acoustic reading of "Stranger," and a previously unreleased track called "Lonely for You" beef up this collection. While Black Gold certainly could have been more complete, for fans of latter-period Soul Asylum, this is a good starting point, albeit one missing most of the group's most important and interesting early work. --S. Duda

Product Description

Includes top 40 hits runaway train and misery A live recording of 'closer to the stars,' an acoustic reading of 'stranger,' and a previously unreleased track called 'lonely for you' beef up this collection

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars punk+pop+grunge=good, October 6, 2002

By 

H3@+h "Over 1500 reviews!" (thanks for the helpful review votes) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Black Gold: The Best of Soul Asylum (Audio CD)

Im not familiar with much old Soul Asylum, so I cant say whats missing other than "Easy Street". But I do know that what is on here is great stuff. All the bigger 90's hits you would expect, plus good songs I didn't know and a few live/unreleased tracks. It's a great thing to have for the person who needs only one Soul Asylum disc, especially at 19 tracks and 70+ minutes. Don't be in Misery, get this.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good Starting Place, December 1, 2000

By 

Jenifer (Minnesota) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Black Gold: The Best of Soul Asylum (Audio CD)

This CD is a good starting place to check out the band. It has some of the great older songs like "Closer to the Stars", "We 3" and "Cartoon", hits like "Misery" and "Runaway Train", and some rarities on it. I was never able to track down "Lonely For You" on the import single, so I'm very happy to own it now on this. It's a beautiful song. I would have liked to have seen "Promises Broken" included instead of "Summer Of Drugs", mainly because "Summer Of Drugs" is a cover. It's still a very good collection of Soul Asylum material and next to a live show, gives a good feel for what they are about.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Best of from 1993 and Beyond, December 25, 2003

By 

Bill Drake (Amherst, MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Black Gold: The Best of Soul Asylum (Audio CD)

The sad truth is that Soul Asylum is not the band on this album. They may have become the band on this album but for almost 15 years they were a much better and more complete band. Success came after ...the horse they rode in on and Hang Time, but for me their peak was much earlier with Made To Be Broken and While You Were Out, both of which albums were left out.

Never forget that Soul Aslyum started in 1979 as Loud Fast Rules and then changed their name to Soul Aslyum because they didnt want to be seen as a HC band.

And where are the Time's Incinerator songs? How many people even know about this album? Its too bad that Sould Asylum will be thought of as a 90s bad because they are so much more than that.