Grave Dancers Union

Grave Dancers Union
Cover art by Jan Saudek
Studio album by Soul Asylum
Released	October 6, 1992
Recorded	February−May 1992
Studio	The Power Station and River Sound, New York City Pachyderm Discs, Cannon Falls, Minnesota Cherokee Studios, Hollywood
Genre	Alternative rock grunge[1]
Length	44:42
Label	Columbia
Producer	Michael Beinhorn
Soul Asylum chronology
And the Horse They Rode In On (1990) Grave Dancers Union (1992) Let Your Dim Light Shine (1995)
Singles from Grave Dancers Union
"Somebody to Shove" Released: May 5, 1992 "Black Gold" Released: January 1993 "Runaway Train" Released: June 1, 1993

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
Calgary Herald	B[3]
Christgau's Consumer Guide	[4]
Entertainment Weekly	A[5]
The Philadelphia Inquirer	[6]
Q	[7]
Rolling Stone	[8]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[9]
Spin Alternative Record Guide	6/10[10]

Grave Dancers Union is the sixth studio album by American alternative rock band Soul Asylum and was released in 1992. The album features the single "Runaway Train", which reached number five on the Billboard Hot 100 and was the biggest hit of the Soul Asylum's career. The album is certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for sales of two million copies in the United States.

Overview

During recording of Grave Dancers Union, producer Michael Beinhorn grew dissatisfied with drummer Grant Young's performance and brought in Sterling Campbell. He and Campbell would each wind up playing on half the record.^[11] Due to the band's reluctance to admit that a session musician was involved in the album's recording, Campbell was credited as "percussionist." Young would continue as the band's drummer for touring duties after the album was released, until he was dismissed and officially replaced by Campbell prior to the recording of their next album, Let Your Dim Light Shine.^[12]

The single "Runaway Train", released in June 1993, reached number five on the Billboard Hot 100 and won a Grammy Award for best rock song in 1994. Though the album had sold moderately well to that point, the breakout success of that single was a major factor in the album's eventual multi-platinum sales figures.

The album cover features a photograph by Czech photographer Jan Saudek titled "Fate Descends Towards the River Leading Two Innocent Children", which was taken in 1970.

The album's title comes from the line "I tried to dance at a funeral, New Orleans style, I joined the Grave Dancers Union, I had to file", from the song "Without a Trace".

Track listing

All tracks are written by Dave Pirner

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Somebody to Shove"	3:15
2.	"Black Gold"	3:57
3.	"Runaway Train"	4:26
4.	"Keep It Up"	3:48
5.	"Homesick"	3:34
6.	"Get on Out"	3:30
7.	"New World"	4:04
8.	"April Fool"	3:45
9.	"Without a Trace"	3:33
10.	"Growing into You"	3:13
11.	"99%"	4:00
12.	"The Sun Maid"	3:50

2008 edition bonus tracks

No.	Title	Length
13.	"Somebody to Shove" (live acoustic)
14.	"Stranger" (live)
15.	"Without a Trace" (live electric)
16.	"Black Gold" (live electric)
17.	"Never Really Been" (live electric)
18.	"Runaway Train" (live electric)

Personnel

Soul Asylum

• Dave Pirner – lead vocals, rhythm guitar
• Dan Murphy – lead guitar, backing vocals
• Karl Mueller – bass
• Grant Young – drums

Additional musicians

• Sterling Campbell – percussion
• Booker T. Jones III – Hammond organ
• Kraig Johnson, Gary Louris – backing vocals
• Meridian String Quartet – strings
• Sonny Kompanek – arranger, conductor

Production

• Michael Beinhorn – arranger, celeste, glockenspiel, producer, horn arrangements
• Chris Shaw - engineer
• Eric Anderson, Bruce Ross – additional engineering
• David Michael Dill, Dan Gellert, Bill Smith – assistant engineers
• Andy Wallace – mixing
• David Leonard – mixing of "The Sun Maid"
• Steve Sisco – mixing assistant
• Wally Traugott – mastering
• Francesca Restrepo – art direction, design
• Jan Saudek – photography

Charts

Weekly charts Weekly chart performance for Grave Dancers Union Chart (1992–1994) Peak position Australian Albums (ARIA)[13] 63 Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[14] 2 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[15] 30 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[16] 8 Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ)[17] 39 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[18] 7 Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[19] 6 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[20] 12 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[21] 4 UK Albums (OCC)[22] 27 US Billboard 200[23] 11 US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard)[24] 1

Year-end charts Year-end chart performance for Grave Dancers Union Chart (1993) Position Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[25] 22 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[26] 49 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[27] 27 US Billboard 200[28] 35

Singles

Chart performance for singles from Grave Dancers Union

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1992	"Somebody to Shove"	Modern Rock Tracks[29]	1
1993	"Black Gold"	Mainstream Rock Tracks[29]	4
		Modern Rock Tracks[29]	6
	"Runaway Train"	Adult Contemporary[29]	15
		Mainstream Rock Tracks[29]	3
		Modern Rock Tracks[29]	13
		The Billboard Hot 100[29]	5
		Top 40 Mainstream[29]	2
	"Somebody to Shove"	Mainstream Rock Tracks[29]	9
	"Without a Trace"		6
		Modern Rock Tracks[29]	27

Certifications

Certifications for Grave Dancers Union

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Austria (IFPI Austria)[30]	Gold	25,000^*
Canada (Music Canada)[31]	2× Platinum	200,000^^
Germany (BVMI)[32]	Gold	250,000^^
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[33]	Gold	25,000^^
United Kingdom (BPI)[34]	Gold	100,000^^
United States (RIAA)[35]	2× Platinum	2,000,000^^
^* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

1. Hill, John. "10 Era Defining Grunge Albums That Turned 25 in 2017". Loudwire.
2. Sullivan, Denise. "Grave Dancer's Union – Soul Asylum". AllMusic. Retrieved November 13, 2011.
3. Bell, Mike (October 18, 1992). "Recent Releases". Calgary Herald.
4. Christgau, Robert (2000). "Soul Asylum: Grave Dancers Union". Christgau's Consumer Guide: Albums of the '90s. Macmillan Publishers. ISBN 0-312-24560-2. Retrieved August 13, 2012.
5. Robbins, Ira (October 23, 1992). "Grave Dancers Union". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on April 25, 2009. Retrieved August 13, 2012.
6. Wood, Sam (December 8, 1992). "Soul Asylum: Grave Dancers Union (Columbia)". The Philadelphia Inquirer.
7. "Soul Asylum: Grave Dancers Union". Q (74): 121. November 1992.
8. Diehl, Matt (January 21, 1993). "Soul Asylum: Grave Dancers Union". Rolling Stone: 49.
9. Harris, Keith (2004). "Soul Asylum". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 759–60. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
10. Aaron, Charles (1995). "Soul Asylum". In Weisbard, Eric; Marks, Craig (eds.). Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. pp. 368–369. ISBN 0-679-75574-8.
11. Klobuchar, Tim. "Former Drummer Finds Asylum Away From Rock". Young's Resort. University of Minnesota. Archived from the original on November 25, 2002. Retrieved November 13, 2011. The beginning of the end for Young's Soul Asylum career actually started during the recording sessions for Grave Dancers Union.
12. Peisner, Dave (July 24, 2013). "Wrong Way on a One-Way Track: The Oral History of Soul Asylum's 'Runaway Train'". Spin. Retrieved May 19, 2019.
13. Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (PDF ed.). Mt Martha, Victoria, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 260.
14. "Austriancharts.at – Soul Asylum – Grave Dancers Union" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved October 30, 2021.
15. "Dutchcharts.nl – Soul Asylum – Grave Dancers Union" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved October 30, 2021.
16. "Offiziellecharts.de – Soul Asylum – Grave Dancers Union" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved October 30, 2021.
17. "Album Top 40 slágerlista – 1993. 51. hét" (in Hungarian). MAHASZ. Retrieved November 25, 2021.
18. "Charts.nz – Soul Asylum – Grave Dancers Union". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 30, 2021.
19. "Norwegiancharts.com – Soul Asylum – Grave Dancers Union". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 30, 2021.
20. "Swedishcharts.com – Soul Asylum – Grave Dancers Union". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 30, 2021.
21. "Swisscharts.com – Soul Asylum – Grave Dancers Union". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 30, 2021.
22. "Soul Asylum | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved October 30, 2021.
23. "Soul Asylum Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved October 30, 2021.
24. "Soul Asylum Chart History (Heatseekers Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved October 30, 2021.
25. "Jahreshitparade Alben 1993". austriancharts.at. Retrieved October 30, 2021.
26. "Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts". GfK Entertainment (in German). offiziellecharts.de. Retrieved October 30, 2021.
27. "Schweizer Jahreshitparade 1993". hitparade.ch. Retrieved October 30, 2021.
28. "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 1993". Billboard. Retrieved October 30, 2021.
29. "Grave Dancer's Union Billboard Singles". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved November 13, 2011.
30. "Austrian album certifications – Soul Asylum – Grave Dancers Union" (in German). IFPI Austria. Retrieved November 7, 2021.
31. "Canadian album certifications – Soul Asylum – Grave Dancers Union". Music Canada. Retrieved November 7, 2021.
32. "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Soul Asylum; 'Grave Dancers Union')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved November 7, 2021.
33. "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards ('Grave Dancers')". IFPI Switzerland. Hung Medien. Retrieved November 7, 2021.
34. "British album certifications – Soul Asylum – Grave Dancers Union". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved November 7, 2021.
35. "American album certifications – Soul Asylum – Grave Dancers Union". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved November 7, 2021.