Soul Asylum’s First Twin/Tone Albums Receive Expanded Reissues From Omnivore

Soul Asylum first hit the Minneapolis music scene in late 1981. Core members Dave Pirner, Dan Murphy and Karl Mueller met at local punk rock shows. With all the incredible bands they saw in those days, like Hüsker Dü and The Replacements, it was daunting for them to share the same stages but, ultimately, it inspired them to work all that much harder. Soul Asylum stood out immediately because of that work ethic and their smart, punky hard rock sound.They made four records for hometown labelTwin/Tone Records before moving  on to the majors; first A&M, then Columbia, where they scored two platinum albums and won a Best Rock Song Grammy® for “Runaway Train.” They even played Bill Clinton’s 1993 inauguration gala.

The first two Twin/Tone releases, 1984’s Say What
 You Will . . . Everything Can Happen and 1986’s Made To Be Broken, both originally produced by Bob Mould of Hüsker Dü, have been remastered and thoughtfully expanded by Omnivore Recordings and are due out July 20, 2018.

This reissue of Soul Asylum’s debut, Say What
 You Will . . . Everything Can Happen,collects the original album, plus rare 
outtakes and demos from the band’s
 early years, including an unreleased
 song and many long-out-of-print tracks.
 The packaging provides an array of never-before-seen photos, artwork, and hand-written lyrics from Pirner’s collection. It also includes a brilliant historical essay, written by academic Robert Vodicka, that illuminates Soul Asylum’s lasting importance.

The Made To Be Broken set contains 15 bonus tracks, nine of which are previously unreleased. It includes an impassioned, thought-provoking, frequently hilarious essay— written by legendary Bay Area music journalistGina Arnold  — that puts Soul Asylum’s influence in perspective and tells the story of how the band’s live show knocked the writer flat.

Both reissues were co-produced by Twin/Tone Records co-founder and Replacements
 manager Peter Jesperson, who first signed Soul Asylum, and Grammy® winner Cheryl Pawelski, with remastering by Grammy® winner Michael Graves.

According to Jesperson, an early observer of the Twin Cities scene: “When this band first hit the Minneapolis scene they went toe-to-toe with some heavy (and healthy) competition, and, remarkably, they held their own. Soul Asylum achieved an international prominence the others didn’t but these reissues are their punky roots and will make you feel like you were there.”

Say What You Will … Everything Can Happen  Track Listing:

1. Long Day
2. Voodoo Doll
3. Money Talks
4. Stranger
5. Sick Of That Song
6. Walking
7. Happy

8. Black And Blue

9. Religiavision

Bonus Tracks:

10. Draggin Me Down
    11. Do You Know
11. Spacehead
12. Broken Glass
13. Masquerade
14. Black And Blue (Demo) – Loud Fast Rules
15. Job For Me (Demo) – Loud Fast Rules
16. Cocktails (Demo) – Loud Fast Rules*
17. Nowhere To Go (Demo) – Loud Fast Rules
18. Out of Style (Demo) – Loud Fast Rules
19. Your Clock (Demo) – Loud Fast Rules
20. Propaganda – Loud Fast Rules
21. Bad Moon Rising – Proud Crass Fools
22. Happy – Proud Crass Fools

* Previously Unissued

Made To Be Broken  Track Listing:

1. Tied To The Tracks
2. Ship Of Fools
3. Can’t Go Back
4. Another World, Another Day
5. Made To Be Broken
6. Never Really Been
7. Whoa!
8. New Feelings
9. Growing Pain
10. Lone Rider
11. Ain’t That Tough
12. Don’t It (make your troubles seem small)

Bonus Tracks:

13. Long Way Home
    14. Another World, Another Day (Alternate Version)*
    15. Fearless
    16. Freeway
    17. The Snake
    18. Hey Bird
    19. Friends
    20. Can’t Go Back (Alternate Version)*
    21. Swingin’*
    22. Lost In Your Face*
    23. Catch Me If You Can*
    24. Song Of The Terrorist*
    25. To Go There*
    26. 20 Year Itch*
14. Ramblin’ Rose*

* Previously Unissued