Black Gold: The Best of Soul Asylum

• Artist: Soul Asylum
• Rating:
• Release Date: September 26, 2000
• Type: Compilation (best of)
• Genre: Rock

Review

Unusually, for a best-of by a band that started indie and didn't become stars until hooking up with a major, Black Gold: The Best of Soul Asylum spans their entire pre-2000 career, starting with a 1985 track from their second LP. Naturally, their output on the major label that issued this compilation, Columbia, is emphasized; there are just four songs from the Twin/Tone era, and nothing at all from their 1984 debut, Say What You Will Clarence...Karl Sold the Truck. So it's mostly Soul Asylum the 1990s stars you hear here. Its appeal to collectors, and simultaneous aggravation to completists who have most of this but need everything, is guaranteed by the inclusion of a few rarities. There are previously unreleased live versions of "Stranger" (from MTV Unplugged) and "Closer to the Stars" and the Candy From a Stranger outtake "Lonely for You." There's also the song that's actually titled "Candy From a Stranger," although, oddly, this didn't make it onto the actual Candy From a Stranger album; before this compilation, it was only released on a commercially unavailable promo CD. And, finally, there's "Summer of Drugs" from the benefit album Sweet Relief: A Benefit for Victoria Williams. In addition, Lenny Kaye, who produced the band's Hang Time LP, contributes liner notes. ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track Title	Composers	Performers	Time
Just Like Anyone (Lyrics)	Dave Pirner	Soul Asylum	(2:47)
Cartoon (Lyrics)	Dan Murphy	Soul Asylum	(3:53)
Closer to the Stars [Live][#]	Dave Pirner	Soul Asylum	(3:52)
Somebody to Shove (Lyrics)	Dave Pirner	Soul Asylum	(3:15)
Close (Lyrics)	Dave Pirner	Soul Asylum	(4:34)
String of Pearls (Lyrics)	Dave Pirner	Soul Asylum	(4:52)
Tied to the Tracks	Dave Pirner	Soul Asylum	(2:43)
Runaway Train (Lyrics)	Dave Pirner	Soul Asylum	(4:27)
Sometime to Return (Lyrics)	Dave Pirner	Soul Asylum	(3:30)
Misery (Lyrics)	Dave Pirner	Soul Asylum	(4:26)
We 3 (Lyrics)	Dave Pirner	Soul Asylum	(4:08)
Without a Trace (Lyrics)	Dave Pirner	Soul Asylum	(3:40)
I Will Still Be Laughing (Lyrics)	Dave Pirner	Soul Asylum	(3:45)
Black Gold (Lyrics)	Dave Pirner	Soul Asylum	(3:56)
Summer of Drugs (Lyrics)		Soul Asylum	(4:06)
Candy from a Stranger	Dave Pirner	Soul Asylum	(4:16)
Stranger [Live][#]	Dave Pirner	Soul Asylum	(4:07)
Can't Even Tell (Lyrics)	Dave Pirner	Soul Asylum	(3:14)
Lonely for You [Live][#] (Lyrics)	Dave Pirner	Soul Asylum	(4:09)

Credits

Dave Pirner (Photography), Michael Beinhorn (Producer), Dave Pirner (Vocals), Bob Mould (Producer), Soul Asylum (Producer), Howard Fritzson (Art Direction), George Drakoulias (Producer), Smay Vision (Design), Ed Stasium (Producer), Dave Pirner (Horn), Toby Wright (Producer), Butch Vig (Producer), Dave Pirner (Guitar), Joey Huffman (Keyboards), Karen Grotberg (Keyboards), Karl Mueller (Bass), Mark Seliger (Photography), Chris Kinsey (Producer), Michael Blair (Producer), Lenny Kaye (Compilation Producer), Soul Asylum (Compilation Producer), John Christiana (Packaging Manager), Tim Ray (Keyboards), Ivan Neville (Keyboards), Dave Pirner (Keyboards), Jason Stang (Photography), Lenny Kaye (Producer), Grant Young (Drums), Daniel Corrigan (Photography), Danny Clinch (Photography), Ed Stasium (Keyboards), Valerie Phillips (Photography)

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)