Customer Reviews

And Horse They Rode in on

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I'm not sure if I think Dave Pirner possesses a real songwriting genius or not. Sometimes, like "Spinnin'" he does. But others, like "Bitter Pill," he doesn't. I wish we got more songs from Dan Murphy on Soul Asylum's albums. I've never heard a song by Dan that I didn't find brilliant.

Fortunately we get one by Dan, "Gullible's Travels," and one he co-wrote with Dave "Easy Street," and both stand as highlights to the album. While the title of the first sounds like the cheesy catchwordy claptrap that's clouding many of the airwaves now, it is actually a very heartfelt song, with excellent lyricism, and an arrangement different than anything Soul Asylum had experimented with before.

The biggest problem with this album is the production. It's still slick, but in a deadedned way, instead of the shimmering Hang Time. You aren't really allowed to hear the music for what it is, as everything is reined in way too soon.

For the most part, though, this is an extraordinary album. And it's sad that it is the last album of that sort we've heard from Soul Asylum to date. Three experiments in mediocrity since this. We'll see, hopefully the next one will be better. If you like this, check out Dan's side-project, Golden Smog (especially the Weird Tales album).

From Made to be Broken through this Soul Asylum had a string of albums almost on par with mid-period Replacements work (I'm a rabid Replacements fan, so I'll always say they're the best of the Minneapolis trinity, but Soul Asylum fanatics will tell you otherwise.), that has proven extremetly influential on music this decade (although the stupid synth-pop that was everywhere in the 80s didn't benefit one whit from it), and is at the very least a place to see where some of your favorite bands got their ideas and how they were influenced.

It's truly an excellent record, a necessity to anyone's record collection. If you've heard "Runaway Train" and are interested in Soul Asylum, get Hang Time or this instead of Grave Dancers Union. Grave Dancers Union is a lousy introduction into this band, as it represents very little of what the band had been about before that record, as well as what they have been about since that record. If you're an alternative/indie rock fan you should already own this. So get it, if you can. The label being out of stock is a bad sign, considering A & M recently went out of business. But I'm sure there is a way it can be found, and you should make it a priority to do so.

I'm not really sure why this album gets knocked as much as it does. It may be between stages in Soul Asylum's career, but judge it on its own merits and it's excellent. It's not as "punky" as their earlier albums and not as slick as the ones they put out from here on out, but just a great rock n roll album.

"Spinnin'" is a great opening track with plenty of energy, followed by another great rocker "Bitter Pill." "Veil of Tears" is probably my favorite SA song ever, driving rock and great lyrics. "Gullible's Travels" is a great Murphy penned track, clever and biting. "Brand New Shine" brings the underlying country tinge of the album to the forefront - it might be a goofy song, but it gets your toes tapping and always brings a smile to my face. "Grounded" and the stellar, sad "We 3" are the best songs in the last third of the album.

This is the Soul Asylum album I grab most often - gets into heavy rotation a few times a year. While it may not be the best representation of the group (especially to those who know "Runaway Train" and little else), but even if you didn't know the band this is just great music to listen to. Make the extra effort to find this album now that it's out of print - you won't be disappointed.

p.s. - by the way, you don't judge an album by its title or cover art - come on!

There is absolutely NO reason to NOT own this record!?!


It's amazing to read the nonsense that people write: "Grunge" wasn't even a blip on the screen when this record was made, as it was a dozen GOOD bands from Seattle (my home) still starving and making rock-n-roll and were you actually buying ANY of those records then ("Begining to take hold"...WTF?!?!) I doubt it, and who judges an album by it's cover?!?


If you get Soul Asylum and understand that they are very much an AMERICAN band like The Replacements and R.E.M., then you'll surely love this record. There's no sign of "grunge", the production is GREAT for a rock record from 1990, and if you can't clearly hear the pop, the punk, and the rock consistency in this ENTIRE record, then you've lost your mind.
If you're going backwards, and dying for another "Runaway Train", you'll be sad for sure.


This is a very clear, and very stable bridge between the Soul Asylum that MTV barely noticed (aside from 120 Minutes) and the one that they couldn't get enough of. It's worth every penny of ANY price!

I love Soul Asylum, and when they put out their latest release, I replaced my back catalog, long lost or worn out. I'd never owned this one, and I listened to it expectantly.
It wasn't much. While there are two songs I absolutely love..Gullibles Travels, which is just brilliant, and We3, which is such drama I can't believe a man wrote it, sings it, and then sold it, which for some reason just made me love it (and to be fair, it's a good song. strong vocals, piano!!, beautiful arrangement)the rest of this album just bored me. It's good points..strong vocals, a definite direction..it's much more cohesive than anything that came before, fewer peaks and valleys. It's bad points...kind of boring with nothing that really reaches out and grabs you. It reminds me, in a much more hardcore way, of Candy From a Stranger. Kind of just there, nothing jumping out.
I didn't dislike it. I didn't like it. It was ok.
I'd steer a new listener toward Hang Time, if they like it hard, or Dim Light, if they like it more complex. This one is no great loss if it never finds its way into your collection.

All of the songs on this CD are great because the lyrics have so much meaning. My personal favourites on "Horse" are "Spinning", "Veil of Tears", and "We 3". I guess I prefer the kind of music Soul Asylum wrote for Grave Dancers Union, Let Your Dim Light Shine and Candy From a Stranger, but their style of writing hasn't changed and that's what I find attractive about their songs.

This is a cd which should be in everybody's stereo. It's a tragic shame that such a gem of sound is shadowed by what most know as the one hit wonder of Runaway Train. Don't get me wrong post-trend soul asylum is just as good as the earlier albums. Runaway Train is indeed one of their greatest songs. I just feel that they should all be appreciated and are sadly not. But there are still plenty of us i'm sure that joyously welcomed their return with The Silver Lining ( yet one more great album to add to an incomparible list of greats ). So to those of you who already know and to those of you who will i hope soon discover, Soul Asylum is and will always be one of the greatest rock bands ever!!!!!!

Chronologically, "And the Horse They Rode in On" is sandwiched between two of Soul Asylum's strongest albums: "Hang Time" and the platinum-selling "Grave Dancers Union." Sonically, the production suffers -- everyone involved seems unsure, like they're searching for a new sound -- this was around the time when Grunge was beginning to take hold, and the group was in transition from independent to major label. So, a lot of the power is taken away from Pirner and Murphy's songwriting. It's so limp, I would've traded in the album a long time ago, except they managed to include one of my all time favorite songs, "Gullible's Travels." If you're a fan of the group, you owe it to yourself to hear that one at least. You'll probably find some others to like, too. I'm picky.

I remember Winona Ryder saying she used to have a crush on another Minneapolis singer and Pirner rival, the Replacements' Paul Westerberg. Then I read an interview with Paul Westerberg where he said Winona was annoying and wished she would quit talking about him. Then one Soul Asylum record sells more copies than the entire Replacements catalog, and the next thing I hear Winona is going out with Pirner. I never did understand that. I mean, at least one person out of the three of them should feel a little degraded, shouldn't they? Do doctors or lawyers ever think about this stuff? Could this be why I still live with my parents? Maybe I could become a celebrity counselor. Winona, are you listening? I can help you!

It'd be hard to make a better American rock and roll record than this one. Displaying a song-writing genius, as well as a well-developed understanding of the roots of American popular music, Soul Asylum produces the first record that comes close to matching the sheer overwhelming beauty of their live show.

While you can certainly hear the hardcore in this one (especially in the /magnificent/ drum work of Grant Young), the roots show through.

It is on the basis of "... Horse" and "Hang Time" that I hold Soul Asylum to be the greatest of American rock bands. Their later pathetic output is irrelevant to the greatness that they attained for an all-to-brief period in 1988-90.

I can't believe how watered down and lifeless this album sounds! SOUL ASYLUM released an absolute winner with "Hang Time", a perfect blend of pop, punk and metal. With "And the Horse They Rode in On", I am truly baffled as to what happened. First off, even if you actually like the music here in, the cover is GOD AWFUL!!! And that title! What was going on Dave Pirner's mind?!?! Now, before you lovers of this album hang me, this release has its moments. "Spinning" starts off great and it's a great follow up song to the "Hang Time" album. But from there, the songs are a mixture of hit and miss with no real stand out tracks. And the production makes SOUL ASYLUM sound as bland as your favorite JELL-O flavor. For an ex-hardcore band this is really a low point. The songs sound as if something's about to happen, but in the end we are left wondering what happened. The irony of it all is that SOUL ASYLUM's so called "sell out" album (you know what album!)has more balls than this release!!! Sad but true, but what's even sadder is that Dave Pirner is actually a good songwriter and I'll have to wonder what made his mind so dry as to put this mediocre album out!

This is (in my opinion) Soul Asylem's 3rd best CD. I gave it 5 stars at first but dropped a star when I thought about the super genius behind Let Your Dim Light Shine and Grave Dancers Union. Still it is definately worth adding to any fan's or non-fan's collection.