Soul Asylum - Hang Time/Clam Dip... demos (198?)

They say that you dance with the one who brought you. In 1988, Soul Asylum along with the likes of such varied names as Wire, Killing Joke, and Red Lorry Yellow Lorry were responsible for yanking my chain to the left end of the dial and keeping it there. The single/emphasis track, "Sometime to Return" on their fourth album (and first for a major) Hang Time, and it's accompanying video was a revelation for me, and I stayed an adherent to the band long after it was fashionable to do so.  By the late-90s just about everyone whoever boasted ties to the Minneapolis quartet let go completely, but at the very least I was still a champion of their halcyon era just presaging their fleeting bit of stardom circa Grave Dancers Union. For me, Soul Asylum never delivered a definitive, front-to-back corker of an album, but Hang Time came mightily close.  Though they had recently kissed Twin/Tone Records goodbye, the restless and loose melees that made 1986' Made to Be Broken and While You Were Out so impressive were still functionally intact when they made the jump to A&M. Hang Time was S/A's last hurrah, so to speak, in letting their rambunctiousness run wild, evident on deeper album cuts, "Little Too Clean" and "Standing in the Doorway."  Dave Pirner and Co. certainly still rocked post-Hang Time, albeit with more polish and noticeably less grit. 

With that, I've decided to share a collection of demos cut in preparation for the album, as well as the Clam Dip and Other Delights ep, also minted in '88 and was the band's final release for Twin/Tone. Most of the songs from both records are represented here and though, it's easy to distinguish these rough drafts from the finished products, Soul Asylum had done their homework and clearly hashed out the arrangements for virtually all the songs prior to heading into the studio with Ed Stasium. This is a nice treat for fans, and not a bad place to delve into if Grave Dancers... is where you got on board.

01. Sometime to Return
02. Ode
03. Secret No More
04. Twiddle Dee
05. Standing in the Doorway
06. Endless Farewell
07. Down on Up to Me
08. P-9
09. Artificial Heart
10. Saving Grace
11. Forever and a Day
12. Just Plain Evil
13. Jack of All Trades
14. Secret No More
15. Just Plain Evil
16. Juke Box Hero
17. Chains
18. Set Me Free
19. P-9

Hear