• Voto:
Inizio questo 2006 di recensioni, con un buonissimo album, di una ottima band ahimè troppo in fretta finita nel dimenticatoio. I Soul Asylum di David Pirner, originari del Minnesota, pubblicano questo che sarà il loro migliore album in termini di vendite nel 1992, appena dopo il loro passaggio sotto Major Columbia Sony records. Conosciuti, forse, ai più per alcuni singoli di successo quali "Misery" e "Runaway Train" (contenuta su quest'album) i Soul Asylum si sono sempre contraddistinti in tutti i loro album per una buona capacità compositiva, ottima melodia e la capacità di creare belle canzoni rock forse semplici e radiofoniche ma di buona presa.
Il meglio ad oggi, stà tutto su questo "Grave Dancers Union". La già citata "Runaway Train" che all'epoca uscì accompagnata da un video serio e toccante che parlava di ragazzi scomparsi. Quando uscì, il video conteneva immagini e foto di ragazzi/e effettivamente scomparsi in quelle zone in cui poi veniva trasmesso il video stesso. Il loro rock non è nulla di nuovo sotto il sole, però è onesto, ben suonato, variegato e supportato dall'ottima voce di David Pirner ora graffiante e roca, ora dolce e melodica.
Troviamo così due ottime song "New World" e "The Sun Maid" dal sapore folk-rock impreziosite, la prima da un ottimo arrangiamento di archi che regala atmosfere delicate e albeggianti; mentre la seconda arricchita dalla presenza di fiati insieme al cantato, quasi sussurrato, suona come una rilassante ninna. Ma non è tutto c'è anche la semi-punk-rock "Somebody to Shove" che fà l'accoppiata con "Get on Out" o la Zeppeliniana "April Fool" che vanta un ottimo riff veramente accattivante che si ripete insistentemente per tutta la canzone. Ulteriore song degna di nota è "99%" che grazie alla voce filtrata ed alla chitarra ben distorta sfiora la definizione di noise-rock. C'è poi a mio parere un piccolo gioiello di melodia, intensità e gioia, "Without a Trace" imperniata sul dialogo chitarra acustica ed elettrica, batteria sincopata nel ritornello ed inserti tastieristici che regalano a tutta la canzone grande solarità.
Se li conoscete solo di nome questo album è un buon antipasto in attesa di sentire qualcosa di nuovo da parte di un buon gruppo che dopo svariati problemi e ben otto anni di assenza, per marzo 2006 dovrebbe pubblicare qualcosa di nuovo.
Elenco tracce testi samples e video
01 Somebody to Shove (03:15)
Grandfather watches the grandfather clock
And the phone hasn't rang for so long
And the time flys by, like a vulture in the sky
Suddenly he breaks into song
I'm waiting by the phone
Waiting for you to call me up and tell me I'm not alone
I'm waiting by the phone
Waiting for you to call me up and tell me I'm not alone
Hello, speak up, is there somebody there?
These hang ups are getting me down
In a world frozen over with over exposure
Let's talk it over, let's go out and paint the town
Cause I'm waiting by the phone
Waiting for you to call me up and tell me I'm not alone
Cause I want somebody to shove
I need somebody to shove
I want somebody to shove me
You're a dream for insomniacs, prize in the Cracker Jack
All the difference in the world is just a call away
And I'm waiting by the phone
Waiting for you to call me up and tell me I'm not alone
Yes I'm waiting by the phone
I'm waiting for you to call me, call me
and tell me I'm, tell me I'm not alone
Cause I want somebody to shove
I need somebody shove
I want somebody to shove me
Yes I want somebody to shove
I need somebody shove
I want somebody to shove me
03 Runaway Train (04:26)
Call you up in the middle of the night
Like a firefly without a light
You were there like a blow torch burning
I was a key that could use a little turning
So tired that I couldn't even sleep
So many secrets I couldn't keep
Promised myself I wouldn't weep
One more promise I couldn't keep
It seems no one can help me now
I'm in too deep
There's no way out
This time I have really led myself astray
Chorus
Runaway train never going back
Wrong way on a one-way track
Seems like I should be getting somewhere
Somehow I'm neither here nor there
Can you help me remember how to smile
Make it somehow all seem worthwhile
How on earth did I get so jaded
Life's mystery seems so faded
I can go where no one else can go
I know what no one else knows
Here I am just drowning in the rain
With a ticket for a runaway train
And everything seems cut and dry
Day and night, earth and sky
Somehow I just don't believe it
CHORUS
Bought a ticket for a runaway train
Like the madman laughing at the rain
Little out of touch, little insane
It's just easier than dealing with the pain
CHORUS
Runaway train never coming back
Runaway train tearing up the track
Runaway train burning in my veins
I run away but it always seems the same
05 Homesick (03:34)
I want to live with you
In the fifth demension
In a dream I've never had
Cause I just can't live like this
In a world like this
I just want a kiss goodbye
We are not of this world
And there's a place for us
Stuck inside this fleeting moment
Tucked away where no one owns it
Wrapped up in a haste,
And by mistake got thown away
And oh, I am so homesick
But it ain't that bad
Cause I'm homesick for the home I've never had
I know I sometimes get annoyed
I know just where I'm at
This is my song of joy
And now I know there are no secret tricks
No correct politics
Just liars and lunatics
And we are not of this world
And there's a place for us
Stuck inside this fleeting moment
Tucked away where no one owns it
Wrapped up in a haste,
And by mistake got thown away
And oh, I am so homesick
But it ain't that bad
Cause I'm homesick for the home I've never had
And though I would not take it personally
It's just the child in me
I never really knew how much I had
And woe is me, I am so homesick
But it ain't that bad
Cause I'm homesick for the home I never had
08 April Fool (03:45)
Quittin' after one more last one
Tired of playin' the clown
If I want your opinion I'll ask ya
I can get myself down
Night driving without headlight
Wearin' sunglasses too
Lookin' good but sure don't feel right
Anything to be cool
Doin' hopscotch with my legs tied
Jumpin' rope in wet cement
Black leather in midday sunshine
All your mother's money's spent
Doin' time on the metal detector
Like to drown in your pool
Coverin' up everything that's defective
Anything to be cool
A burning heart could be so cool
Won't you be my fashion victim
Come on, I'm an April Fool for you
Holdin' on to what's left of real life
Anything to be cool (x4)
A burning heart like an April Fool
Won't you be my fashion victim
Come on, I'm an April Fool
I'm a mid-spring snowfall, joke's on you
I'm an April Fool for you
I'm an April Fool for you
I'm an April Fool
(x3)
09 Without a Trace (03:33)
I fell in love with a hooker
She laughed in my face
So seriously I took her
I was a disgrace
I was out of line
I was out of place
Out of time to save face
See the open mouth of my suitcase
Saying "Leave this place...
Leave without a trace..."
Leave without a trace
I tried to get a good job
With honest pay
Might as well join the mob
The benefits are okay
Standing in the sun with a popsicle
Anything is possible
With a lot of luck and a pretty face
And some time to waste
Leave without a trace...
Leave without a trace...
I tried to dance at a funeral
New Orleans style
I joined the Grave Dancers Union
I had to file
Trying to do the right thing
Play it straight
The right thing changes from state to state
Don't forget to take your mace
If you're out working late
I liked to see your face
You left without a trace
Leave without a trace
10 Growing Into You (03:13)
You never grow out of mischief making
You never grow out of taking
You never grow out of complicating
When simple things are waiting
But I'm growing into you, I'm growing into you
There's one thing that I know that's perfectly clear
You never grow out of fear, you never grow out of fear
You never grow out of contemplating
When it ain't worth debating
You never grow out of mistake making
You never grow out of faking
But I'm growing into you, I'm growing into you
There's one thing that I know that's perfectly clear
You never grow out of fear, you never grow out of fear
I'm growing into you, I'm growing into you
There's one thing that I know that's perfectly clear
You never grow out of fear, you never grow out of fear, you never grow out of fear
You never grow out of fear, you never grow out of fear, you never grow out of fear
And will I ever, ever, ever get over it, get over it...
11 99% (03:59)
I don't own you but I know you're mine
Never disown you, never treat you unkind
But once in a while, you get on my nerves
Once in a while, you get what you deserve
I need you ninety-nine percent of the time
Ninety-nine percent of the time (x3)
If I asked you what's on your mind
Would you say me, would they be thoughts unkind
But once in a while, I'm not myself
Once in a while, I think you're someone else
I want you ninety-nine percent of the time
Ninety-nine percent of the time (x3)
Let's move in together
Happily ever after
I can't touch you but you feel so f*cking fine
Let's just stay like this and waste some more time
Once in a while, you get in my way
Once in a while, you know I've got to say
I love you ninety-nine percent of the time
Ninety-nine percent of the time (x3)
Carico i commenti... con calma
