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
Released	June 6, 1995
Recorded	1994–1995
Genre	Alternative rock
Length	49:59
Label	Columbia
Producer	Butch Vig Soul Asylum
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
"Misery" Released: 1995 "Just Like Anyone" Released: 1995 "Promises Broken" Released: 1996

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
Chicago Tribune	[2]
Christgau's Consumer Guide	B+[3]
Entertainment Weekly	B[4]
Los Angeles Times	[5]
Q	[6]
Rolling Stone	[7]
Spin	7/10[8]

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."

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

• Dave Pirner – lead vocals, rhythm guitar, keyboards, trumpet, producer
• Dan Murphy – lead guitar, backing vocals, producer
• Karl Mueller – bass guitar, producer
• Sterling Campbell – drums, percussion, vocals, producer

Additional musicians

• Trini Alvarado – backing vocals
• John Devries – backing vocals
• Joey Huffman – organ, piano, mellotron
• Eric Pierson – guitar (on "Hopes Up", and "Caged Rat")
• Jane Scarpantoni – cello
• Dave Schramm – pedal steel guitar (on "I Did My Best")
• Tim Ray – piano, electric piano

Production

• John Siket – engineer

• Butch Vig – producer
• Andy Wallace – mixer
• Howie Weinberg – mastering

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.