Soul Asylum

Once described as "an unholy mix of Kiss and Hank Williams tossed under a runaway train,” Soul Asylum is a game-changing force in rock music. Formed 1981 and hailing from Minneapolis, Minnesota, the quartet is considered by many to be the first grunge band.

Having won over fans with its shaggy appearance and sense of Midwestern bluster while touring with Hüsker Dü, Soul Asylum soon garnered a loyal cult following with its mix of punk, hardcore, classic rock, and funk. But it wasn’t until the early 1990s with the release of albums like Grave Dancer’s Union and Let Your Dim Light Shine that the band officially took off.

Soul Asylum’s melancholy hits like “Misery” and “Somebody to Shove” were anthems for Generation X, while the video for “Runaway Train,” featuring notes on real-life child runaways and ending with a hotline number for helping troubled kids, introduced a sense of moral responsibility to the hard rock scene. Soul Asylum’s live shows, meanwhile, were brash and wild blasts of pure rock and roll, stripped of image and unadulterated by gimmicks.

Soul Asylum is known for its 1990s multi-platinum releases, but the band is still making music today, proving that the road-dog heart of rock and roll knows no boundaries or fads.