Soul Asylum Releases MPLS UNPLUGGED Live Album
Dave Pirner, Ryan Smith, Jeremy Tapparo and Michael Bland are joined by Ivan Neville, STRINGenius and the Robert Robinson Gospel Singers.
Soul Asylum has released MPLS Unplugged via Blue Elan Records, a new live album recorded at Minneapolis' historic State Theatre on April 20, 2023, nearly 30 years to the day after the band's landmark 1993 MTV Unplugged performance. Leading the album on release day is 'Stand Up and Be Strong,' which takes its place alongside new versions of songs spanning more than four decades of the band's career.
The connection to 1993 runs throughout MPLS Unplugged, but this isn't a recreation of that night. Three decades later, MPLS Unplugged reaches across the band's entire career, revisiting songs heard during the original session with more than three decades of music that followed, including 'Misery,' 'Freak Accident' and 'If I Told You.' It also brings two longtime live favorites, 'What Will Become of Me' and 'Farmer John,' to an album for the first time.
Frontman Dave Pirner is joined by guitarist Ryan Smith, bassist Jeremy Tapparo and drummer Michael Bland, along with Ivan Neville on keyboards. Neville was part of the band's original 1993 MTV Unplugged session, providing a direct link between the two performances. This time around, the arrangements are expanded by the STRINGenius string quartet and the Robert Robinson Gospel Singers, giving the songs a different setting while keeping the focus on Pirner's writing and the band itself.
Among the album's 20 tracks are two that Soul Asylum fans have known for years but have never before had on an official album. 'What Will Become of Me,' first performed live in 1995, became a longtime fan favorite despite never being released. 'Farmer John' similarly became a fixture of the band's live shows without ever finding its way onto a record. MPLS Unplugged finally gives both songs a permanent home.
'Stand Up and Be Strong,' originally released on 2006's The Silver Lining, is the focus track for today's release. Here, the song sits comfortably alongside material from across Soul Asylum's history, from early favorites 'Never Really Been' and 'Made To Be Broken' to 'Somebody to Shove,' 'Runaway Train,' 'Misery' and later songs including 'Freak Accident.' Rather than treating the catalog as something fixed in time, MPLS Unplugged shows what happens when a band that has spent decades playing these songs together approaches them from a different angle.
The album was first introduced with a new version of 'Misery,' followed by the long-awaited release of 'What Will Become of Me' and, most recently, 'Freak Accident.' The latter brought STRINGenius more prominently into the arrangement, gently expanding on the original without losing its quieter character.
More than 30 years separate Soul Asylum's two Unplugged performances, and much has happened in between. The 1993 appearance came on the heels of Grave Dancers Union and the band's breakthrough into the mainstream. MPLS Unplugged comes from a band with decades more songs, shows and history behind it. The setting may call back to an important moment in Soul Asylum's past, but the album belongs firmly to the band they are today.
Tracklisting for MPLS Unplugged (CD, LP)
Side A:
1. The Storm Is Passing Over
2. Somebody To Shove
3. Crazy Mixed Up World
4. String of Pearls
5. Without A Trace
Side B:
1. Freak Accident
2. Lately
3. Misery
4. Never Really Been
5. Runaway Train
Side C:
1. What Will Become of Me
2. Stand Up and Be Strong
3. Homesick
4. Black Gold
5. If I Told You
Side D:
1. The Sun Maid
2. New World
3. Farmer John
4. Eyes Of A Child
5. Made To Be Broken
Photo Credit: Tony Nelson
Photo Credit: Tony Nelson
